Green Key attending FITUR travel fair in Madrid

The annual large travel fair, FITUR, was held in Madrid (Spain) on 18-22 January 2017 with the participation of Green Key

This year, representatives of both Green Key International and Green Key Spain attended the large tourism fair.

Green Key attended the opening ceremony of the 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development with speeches by the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, ministers from Georgia, Honduras and Spain as well as the EU Commissioner being responsible for tourism and the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO.

During the event, Green Key also attended various best practice presentations and roundtable discussions related to sustainability as well as met with existing and potential partners.  

Green Key supporting UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017

UN has declared 2017 as the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017), and as Green Key in all work aims at influencing the hospitality and tourism industry we will be an active participant in the IY2017

The World Tourism Organization is the UN agency in charge of IY2017 that has given Green Key the official status as “Friend of IY2017”.

Green Key participated in the official launch of IY2017 on 18 January 2017 at the international tourism fair FITUR in Madrid.

Many current activities of Green Key are already supporting sustainable tourism for development, and at international as well as at national level the planned Green Key activities, seminars and events in 2017 will be connected to IY2017.

Green Key also plans to develop new activities in the framework of IY2017, such as new material supporting sustainable tourism at the Green Key establishments, the organisation of a best practise competition, celebrating World Tourism Day in September, etc. 

All IY2017 activities organised by Green Key will be registered on the official IY2017 website that will be established shortly. 

Green Key launched in South Korea

Green Key’s presence globally is still increasing with Foundation for Environmental Education’s member organisation in South Korea (Lifesaving Society Korea) deciding to launch the implementation of the Green Key programme

JongRae Kim, Green Key national operator in South Korea, would like to encourage hotels and other tourism establishments in South Korea to contact Lifesaving Society Korea for more information about Green Key and the benefits of joining the programme. Lifesaving Society Korea presents Vision 2020 to promote and execute the renowned sustainable development programmes in South Korea, and Green Key is one of the core programmees. 

Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Director of the Green Key programme welcomes the new national management from South Korea that will support Green Key’s increasing presence in East Asia.

---

Contact details to Green Key South Korea:

Lifesaving Society Korea, 1505 Ho, 2Cha IS BizTower, 79-1, Yangpyeong-dong 4-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Zip code 150866, Seoul, South Korea

Radisson Blu Riga makes honey beer from its very own beehives

Green Key awarded Radisson Blu Elizabete Hotel in Riga (Latvia) not only hosts beehives on its rooftop, but also brews its very own honey craft beer. 

Almost a year ago a down-to-earth Latvian country guy came into a typical corporate hotel, not expecting these guys to have a different outlook on life. Oh boy… was he wrong! When he approached the hotel staff about placing a couple of beehives on the hotel’s rooftop, it didn’t take much convincing. And why not? Bees as a species are under major threat – this year seven bee species were added to the endangered species list. Besides, Riga is known as an extremely green city due to all the parks, and Radisson Blu Elizabete is located in its very heart. So, Jānis Šnikvalds (The Bee Guy) and Gerhard Erasmus (The Hotel Guy) agreed to do give it a try last summer.

On 7 June 7, Jānis and his team placed 12 beehives on the hotel’s rooftop. They had the most amazing view from their homes – a green, peaceful park, filled with blooming linden trees, surrounded by bustling city life. The bees seemed to be 100% satisfied with the new environment, and, as of day one, were happily collecting the finest pollen from linden trees. After only six weeks Jānis reported that the hives were full, and the bees managed to collect no less than 30 liters of honey…per hive!

The honey is a perfect welcome gift for hotel guests. Besides, linden honey is one of the most valuable and best varieties of honey, an excellent product that will keep you healthy during rainy autumn evenings and windy winter days.

But there was still honey left! What to do with it? After a meeting with the brewers from Madonas Craft Beer it was decided: Radisson Blu Elizabete would get its very own honey beer! After many months of work it’s finally there: BEEER. The name brings together Blu – the hotel, Bee – our busy little friends, and Beer – the drink.The logo, created by designer Jolanta Jonikāne, is the result of a social media contest.

So, stop by at Radisson Blu Elizabete for a drink and try the refreshing, homemade honey BEEER!

Source: Blog.radissonblu.com

Sokos Hotel Ilves’ new year’s resolution – 100% recycling of waste!

The Green Key awarded hotel Sokos Hotel Ilves in Tampere, Finland has a high goal for 2017: To recyclye 100% of the waste that is produced in the establishment. Looking at their achievements in the past, this goal doesn’t seem so far away.

The information given to the tourists in the Sokos Hotel Ilves says the following: "The energy saved from recycling one bottle will power a 5 watt led lamp for 20 hours (this one changed from original 60 W light bulb-> 5 W led)" and "One recycled aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours"

From 2015 to 2016, the Sokos Hotel Ilves already managed to reduce the amount of unrecycled waste by over a half from five tons to around 2 tons. To improve the recycling, the hotel launched different initiatives and activities which involves both the staff and the guests. For example, the hotel took part in the waste reduction week, and encourages their guests to recycle their waste with the help of Green Key recycling information in every room. In addition, the hotel tries to raise awareness about food waste among tourists by displaying related information during the breakfast buffet.

According to the hotel manager, Kati Vihma, the biggest challenge in reducing the amount of mixed waste was to encourage the staff to take leadership in the project. However, she is pleased to see that the interest in recycling has risen among the employees, which is reflected in the increased number of staff trainings that deal with this topic. 

Another information sign of the hotel says "The energy used to make one can from raw materials could be used to make 20 recycled cans" and "every year the average dustbin contains enough unreleased energy for 3500 showers"

Start the new year by doing something good: compensate CO2 emissions from your travels through the Global Forest Fund!

The new year usually starts with a list of new year's resolutions. For some, it starts with new pins on the world map. Why not combining your travels this year with some good actions to support saving the climate? Through the Global Forest Fund, you can compensate the CO2 emissions from your travels and support tree-planting and educational activities in schools!

Travelling affects the climate and the environment that we live in and depend on. To protect our climate, we need to try to alleviate the effects of travelling by plane, car, boat, train, etc. The Global Forest Fund has been established by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) to offset CO2 emissions from flight travel. FEE is also the organisation in charge of the international management of the Green Key programme.

The non-profit Global Forest Fund invests 90% of its income directly into tree planting and other CO2 compensation efforts that are combined with environmental education activities.

If you would like to contribute to the Global Forest Fund, you can calculate your CO2 emissions and do your donation here.

Happy New Year - and thank you for helping to save our planet!

. 

Successful year for Green Key's carbon and water measurement tools

In 2016 Green Key launched two new tools for measuring the carbon emission and water consumption of tourism accommodation. The tools were well received by the hotel industry as the statistics for 2016 show. 

The first tool which was launched in March this year was the carbon calculation tool which calculates the total CO2 consumption, the carbon footprint per occupied room on a daily basis and the carbon footprint per area of meeting space on an hourly basis.

In November, the water calculation tool was also published on Green Key's website. Similar to the carbon footprint tool, the water footprint tool calculates the resource use for the total reporting period, per occupied room on a daily basis, and per meeting space on an hourly basis.

In total, the tools on the Green Key website were used over 500 times in 25 countries all over the world. 

The aim of the tools is to help tourism accommodation to get an overview of their CO2 emission and water consumption, and to give them a standardised method for monitoring the changes in the subsequent years. The carbon and water calculations follow the “Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative” (HMCI) tool and the "Hotel Water Measurement Initiative" (HWMI) tool developed by the International Tourism Partnership.

The HCMI tool and the HWMI tool on Green Key's website have been kindly supported by Lucart Group and Radisson Hotel Group.

A brighter future for refugee youth at Green Key awarded Park Inn by Radisson Leuven

The refugee crisis has had an impact all across Europe with thousands of young people suddenly finding themselves in new place. All of them with their own hopes and dreams of a better life. Here we take a closer look at the stories of Hasan, Ajmal and Zia, three young Park Inn team members that each have a powerful story to tell.  

After arriving in Belgium as refugees, social workers placed the boys in Don Bosco, a vocational school which admits youngsters without papers and gives them specialized support and follow-up. In the refugee centers they all learnt and took Dutch classes. All three have since taken jobs at Park Inn by Radisson Leuven where they continue to develop and build a brighter future.

This is the story of how Hassan, Ajmal and Zia found not only a job in Belgium, but a path to a brighter future with the opportunity to learn & develop where everyone benefits.

The “Adding Color to Lives” project at Park Inn by Radisson connects hotels with their local communities. One of the main goals of the project is to give young people from difficult backgrounds, the chance to express themselves.  As part of the project, Park Inn by Radisson Leuven works closely together with local youth organizations and schools like Minor N’Dako and Don Bosco in hopes of making an impact in people’s lives.

Read the full story about Ajmal, Zia and Hassan at http://blog.parkinn.com/a-brighter-future-for-refugee-youth-at-park-inn-by-radisson-leuven/. 

Green Key and EKOenergy enter a collaboration agreement

EKOenergy and Green Key have decided to enter an agreement to promote the use of sustainable energy in the hospitality and tourism sector worldwide

EKOenergy is a non-profit organisation specialised in issues related to sustainable energy. The organisation furthermore runs an international ecolabel for renewable electricity. Electricity with the EKOenergy ecolabel fulfils strict environmental criteria and raises money for new renewable energy projects.

The two initiatives works in different fields but have many characteristics in common: a) the organisations function as an umbrella network of national/local environmental organisations; b) the two initiatives started in Europe, but are now rapidly developing on a global scale; c) both organisations work towards a sustainable future through behavioural change and promotion of sustainable use of resource; and d) both entities are offering an eco-label as a way for clients to communicate about their ecological choices.

EKOenergy and Green Key will actively exchange experiences, provide each other with relevant information and inform each other about opportunities and challenges in the markets. Green Key will use the expertise of EKOenergy in the development of tools for Green Key establishments within the field of sustainable energy, and EKOenergy is planning to set up an international campaign focusing on green energy in the hotel sector.

Steven Vanholme, Program manager of EKOenergy is excited about the cooperation: "Green Key and EKOenergy are healthy, fast growing initiatives, but as the world is confronted with immense ecological challenges, more needs to be done. This cooperation will help both of us do more and move faster".

Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Director of Green Key, adds: “We are pleased to announce this cooperation enabling Green Key to strengthen our expertise as an ecolabel with a big focus on sustainable energy management, and EKOenergy is an excellent partner to support our efforts.”

Contact and further information about EKOenergy: Steven Vanholme, Tel. +358 505687385, Steven.Vanholme@sll.fi, www.ekoenergy.org.