Posadas Group, in alliance with Green Key Mexico, launches the Meaningful Travel Programme

Posadas Group, a leading Mexican hospitality group, launched a new initiative that focuses on applying new practices for even more sustainable tourism.

©Posadas Group

The focus on social well-being of guests and employees, preserving natural resources and maintaining the natural environment for the future are just a few examples of actions taken by the Posadas Group. Currently, 150 Posadas Group hotels are Green Key certified, and the first three hotels have already been part of the Green Key programme for six years. Green Key Mexico, managed by the Foundation for Environmental Education in Mexico (FEE Mexico), is therefore a close allied partner when adopting measures and good practices that help to protect and care for the environment.

This alliance resulted in outstanding outcomes, such as:

• The measurement and regulation of the flow in 2,700 faucets and shower heads.

• The verification of more than 27,000 rooms for responsible use of water.

• The creation of 21 urban orchards-gardens as part of sustainable experiences for tourists.

• The generation of 700 kg of compost which was used to fertilise green areas.

• The segregation of coffee waste, with an annual average per hotel of 200 kg dry weight.

The verification of door seals and gaskets on 342 refrigeration and freezing equipment to save energy and ensure their energy efficiency. To achieve these results, the green committees of the various establishments of the Posadas Group are actively involved in the daily decisions towards more sustainability. These green committees currently consist of 500 very engaged staff members.

Recently, the Posadas Group has introduced the Meaningful Travel Programme. This programme focuses on enhancing sustainable tourism through, for example, the protection and promotion of human rights, caring for health and well-being of guests and employees, following international social norms, transparency and ethical behaviour, and working towards reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals on all three levels of sustainability (environmental, social and economic).

During the launch event of the programme, José Carlos Azcárraga, CEO of Posada Group, said:

“ We have already accomplished a lot, but we know that there is still room for more. We will do this hand in hand with experts in the field of sustainability and education, such as the Foundation for Environmental Education."

To learn more about the Meaningful Travel Programme, click here.

Green Key signs a cooperation agreement with Aurinkomatkat to make the hospitality industry greener

Aurinkomatkat and Green Key have entered a cooperation agreement to increase the awareness about sustainable practices in the hospitality industry and to encourage hospitality businesses to take positive action. 

© Aurinkomatkat

Aurinkomatkat is Finland’s largest tour operator, and the goal of Aurinkomatkat is to assure that future generations can continue to enjoy the diversity of the world. There are various sustainable actions that Aurinkomatkat are taking to reach this goal. One of them is to establish long-term local partnerships with local hotels, tour operators and entrepreneurs to create a source of livelihood for the local community. Another very important aspect of Aurinkomatkat's sustainability work is to cooperate with stakeholders who are taking actions toward sustainability.

Aurinkomatkat has a wide range of hotels holding an environmental certification.  The object of the cooperation agreement between Green Key and Aurinkomatkat is to further increase the awareness about the sustainability certification among Aurinkomatkat hotel partners, staff and customers.

Green Key is a leading eco-certification programme for hotels and other establishment categories with currently more than 3,700 certified establishments in 60 countries worldwide. The certification is based on compliance with a strict set of internationally recognised criteria that are regularly confirmed through on-site audits and a subsequent independent third-party verification. The Green Key programme is managed by the international charity, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), and its national member organisations in 40+ countries.

“We are excited to start this cooperation with Green Key to increase the awareness about the sustainability certification among hotels. We have over 200 environmentally certified hotels in our selection and our aim is to increase the amount going forward,” says Annika Rusanen, Sustainability Manager at Aurinkomatkat.

Green Key International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, added a few words about this cooperation agreement:

“We are very happy to have the cooperation with Aurinkomatkat, which gives us the possibility to increase the awareness about Green Key and the importance of our certification in the hospitality industry. We appreciate this opportunity to further ensuring a greener hospitality industry. The importance of joining a certification programme, such as Green Key, not only shows the commitment of the hospitality and tourism operators towards sustainability but also raises awareness and creates behavioural changes among staff, suppliers and guests.”

To learn more about Aurinkomatkat, click here. 

To learn more about Green Key, click here.

Green Key partner Werner & Mertz Professional undergoing Green Transformation

Werner & Mertz is transforming their professional products to more sustainable versions, by changing their formulas, packaging material, and applying a circular economy model. The importance of the adequate use of cleaning products within the tourism and hospitality sector has already been a part of the Green Key for years, and the recent developments within the company Werner & Mertz are therefore considered as another important step for a more sustainable industry.

© Werner & Mertz Professional

The Professional Division of Werner & Mertz was established in 1971 and specializes in providing high-quality cleaning and sanitizing products for professional sectors, such as Building Care, Kitchen Hygiene, Facility Care or the Hospitality Sector. Their professional products are offered under the brand names Green Care Professional and Tana Professional. The company has already pursued a comprehensive, forward-looking sustainability strategy for years, featuring environmentally compatible and biodegradable ingredients for cleaning products, as well as innovative, recyclable packaging.

In the process of applying the circular economy model, the company has steadily been modifying its Tana Professional products. The next big development of the company is happening in 2022.  As Part of the “Go Green” project, the formulas and packaging of several Tana Professional brand products are being reworked and optimised for a sustainable circular economy.

Green Key International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, added a few words on the importance of circular economy for Green Key:

“ The circular economy model is also one of the sub-goals of Green Key’s GAIA 2030 strategic plan, which addresses the encouragement of positive actions on critical environmental issues. We are very happy that Green Key partners are applying this model and showing the importance of the circularity of natural resources and energy. “

The new product formulas contain a greater share of plant-based raw materials, which are biologically degradable and are, therefore, suitable for a return to the biological cycle.

“With our choice of ingredients for Green Care Professional, we are setting standards today for ecological products that often deliver better cleaning performance,” said Dr. Paula Barreleiro, Head of Formula Development at Werner & Mertz Professional.

“We are following this path with “Go Green”. In pursuit of our goals, we are applying our experience and technology of our closed loop sustainability concept for the Green Care Professional brand.”  

In the future, many of the reworked products will bear the respected eco credentials such as the Cradle-to-Cradle certificate, EU Ecolabel and the Austrian Ecolabel.

“These certifications are a visible sign that we are raising the sustainability of our customers to a new level with our product conversions. We see this as the most promising way to a circular future,” says Xiaoming Bai.

 For more information about the “Go Green” project, click here.  

The Hotel Association of Canada and The Foundation for Environmental Education sign a Co-Existence Agreement to streamline Sustainability Certification

The agreement was established to increase awareness about the two sustainability programmes globally and to support the hospitality industry to make more sustainable choices.

The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) and The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a Co-Existence Agreement allowing both parties to collaborate in servicing the sustainability certification needs of hotel companies and corporations under the name of HAC’s Green Key Global in the USA & Canada and FEE’s Green Key in countries outside USA & Canada.

“We are delighted to be working alongside FEE in this game-changing agreement,”  said Susie Grynol President & CEO of The Hotel Association Canada. “This will simplify the  sustainability certification process for brands, eliminating the need to duplicate efforts, and allowing all hotels to benefit from third-party certification.”

“ We are proud to be entering into a closer cooperation with HAC that will better accommodate the needs of international hotel chains, thereby strengthening the sustainability of the global hospitality industry“, added Daniel Schaffer, CEO of FEE.

For more information on HAC’s Green Key Global, click here.

For more information on FEE’s Green Key, click here.