Green Key launches new campaign #UnlockTomorrow

Green Key International is launching a new Social Media campaign to celebrate establishments that joined the programme in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic, and to highlight the importance of rethinking the future of tourism and building back better. Each week, we will showcase a new establishment.

2020 was a truly challenging year for the worldwide tourism industry. From the smallest B&B to the biggest tour operator, everyone in the tourism sector was in the grip of the global COVID-19 pandemic. And although 2021 has started just as gloomy, the long-awaited vaccine gives hope that the tourism industry could soon breathe a sigh of relief.

While humankind was facing many challenges due to the pandemic, the environment got a much-needed break from our activities. From crystal clear waters in the canals of Venice to a boost in numbers of rare sea turtles in Thailand, there were plenty of stories about nature taking back her space all around the world.

When looking at tourism destinations as a whole, we also realised how important it is to maintain the diversity of social, economic and cultural activities for destinations to be more resilient and provide a better support system for local communities. Several Green Key awarded establishments showed their solidarity in these difficult times by donating food to charities and opening their doors to accommodate homeless people or healthcare workers that needed to isolate.

To ensure that these stories are not forgotten as past anecdotes of this historic event, it is now our responsibility to build on the lessons learned and ensure that we resume tourism activities with consideration for local communities and the environment.

Many establishments realised this early in the pandemic and decided to prepare themselves for the future by joining the Green Key programme and working towards meeting the criteria for the award.

While in the past pursuing a sustainability label like Green Key may have been considered an initiative for a niche segment of the tourism sector, nowadays establishments see sustainability labels as a tool to adapt to our changing world and become more sustainable and resilient for the future.

To acknowledge the efforts our newcomers made despite the challenges they faced during the pandemic, and to inspire others to start their sustainability journey towards a better tomorrow, over the course of the next weeks we will showcase Green Key awarded establishments that joined our programme in 2020.

We are kicking off this campaign with the Landal Resort Maria Alm in Austria which joined the Green Key programme in September 2020. The apartments in the resort are entirely heated through the local biomass power stations and the hotel's own hydroelectric power plant. Besides the hydroelectric power station, the resort also focuses on raising awareness and educating guests about the adequate separation of waste. For this purpose, eleven waste rooms with more than 80 waste bins, divided among ten houses, guarantee a smooth and proper waste separation.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see all featured establishments in this campaign!

Green Key welcomes a new partner: Story Hospitality

STORY Hospitality, an integrated and innovative hospitality management platform, is partnering with Green Key. This partnership aims to support all hotels under STORY Hospitality portfolio with tools and resources for sustainability certification.

The partnership with Green Key is part of a broader initiative within STORY Hospitality to encourage and promote an environmentally-conscious focus within its hotels and amongst team members. STORY Hospitality strives to continuously communicate its sustainable efforts to its guests to create awareness and encourage them to join in the simplest practices to reach lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Claudio Capaccioli, CEO of Story Hospitality, says: “At STORY Hospitality, we have a strong commitment to sustainability and our mission is to continually look for ways to preserve and protect natural resources by reducing waste and energy while providing the best of experiences and services to our guests. We are delighted to have partnered with Green Key, the world’s leading sustainability certification programme for the hospitality industry. Green Key will support us by strengthening our sustainable practices across all our properties”.

Besides being enthusiastic about this new partnership, CEO Claudio Capaccioli reflects on the importance of integrating sustainability in the hospitality sector and the responsibility the latter carries:

“The hospitality industry plays a key role in the UAE and it’s important that the sector recognises their responsibility towards sustainability especially in the current scenario. We are looking forward to having all our hotels receiving the Green Key recognition for its sustainability efforts soon”.

Green Key is very happy to welcome STORY Hospitality and start this collaboration with the goal of making sustainability the number one priority!

Finn Bolding Thomsen, Green Key International Director, adds: “As the world’s leading eco-label with awarded establishments in 65 countries, we are experienced in working with sustainability at hotels in different parts of the world. We are very proud to be chosen as STORY Hospitality’s certification programme partner and we are looking forward to the cooperation.”

For more information about STORY Hospitality visit https://story-hospitality.com/. 

Green Key hotel receives recognition for its focus on sustainability and eco-living practices

Green Key awarded Hotel Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel (Greece) has received the Gold and Platinum Green Awards in the category Services for its overall sustainability strategy and programme “Kallichoron Goes Green”, aiming to reduce carbon footprint and encourage travellers to embrace sustainable practices during their holidays.

Kallichoron’s great achievements during the pandemic

Green Key is thrilled to highlight the results at Kallichoron. Reaching these achievements under the current conditions the world is living in is very special. However, there has been a positive interest in sustainability within the hospitality industry. In this particular moment, Green Awards have rewarded the businesses which have shown agility, adaptability and have perceived the business disruption caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to revise their business model and bring sustainability to their core strategy. This is precisely what our Green Key awarded Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel has been able to do.

Some reflections from the Co-founders

Besides making us proud, Kallichoron Co-founders have shown their appreciation and desire to keep striving for more sustainable tourism:

Maria Mavroudi, Co-founder and General Manager: “We are delighted to receive this award, which is special to us, as it reflects our commitment to work towards sustainable tourism, support local community and welfare. Purpose defines the identity of a business and the reason it exists, forming the benchmark for every decision. At Kallichoron, and as we grow as a hotel business, what drives everything we do is our collective and individual commitment to operate in a responsible manner and in line with our values. The trust of our guests, community and our people place at Kallichoron, alongside our high standards to ethical behaviour, is fundamental to our actions and this award encourages us to work harder."

Carolina Alkalai, co-founder and Hotel Manager of Kallichoron continued "This award is yet another incentive to continue offering great, innovative services to our guests, in a sustainable manner and with responsibility. And it is the right thing to do for our planet and future generations. Thank you for your support all these years, and we hope we don’t ever disappoint!”

Green Awards

Green Awards were organized for the first time this year by the Boussias Group, under the auspices of the Panhellenic Association of Chemical Engineers and the Environmental Scientists of Greece (EPPE) and the support of HSBC Bank and KLORANE.

Keep up the good work!

Green Key is proud to see the growth of Kallichoron with regard to sustainability. We hope this development continues and we look forward to seeing your progress and devotion to sustainable tourism.

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For additional information about Kallichoron Hotel:

www.kallichoron.gr

For more info about Green Awards:

https://www.greenawards.gr

Green Key partner NH Hotel Group now one of the most sustainable companies worldwide

Green Key Partnerships

Green Key partner NH Hotel Group stands out as one of the most sustainable leaders in the hospitality industry. Due to its efforts, NH has placed itself in the top three of the hospitality industry and has been recognized by the prestigious Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Green Key International is delighted to see how one of our main hospitality partners, NH Hotel Group, stands out as one of the most sustainable leaders in the hospitality industry. The evaluation made by SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) awarded NH Hotel Group ‘the best in class’ in nine out of the 23 criteria evaluated: Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Fiscal Strategy, Environmental Report, Climate Strategy, Social Report, Indicators of Labour Practices, Development of Human Capital, and Occupational Health and Safety.

Great achievements for NH Hotel Group

An important achievement regards the categories where NH Hotel Group reached the highest scores possible: Customer Relationship Management; Fiscal Strategy; Environmental Report; Climate Strategy; Social Report and Development of Human Capital.

Maarten Markus, Managing Director Northern Europe: “sustainability is very important in NH Hotel Group's business operations and hotel services. I am very proud of these assessments: they motivate us to focus even more on corporate social responsibility in 2021. We are preparing for a sustainable future in order to maintain our exemplary function within the hotel industry.”

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) index

Additionally, NH Hotel Group received another recognition for their efforts in becoming a sustainable company. The group has been awarded a B-rating by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Climate Change index, an international, non-profit organization that promotes sustainability.

With that being said, we are more than proud to see NH Hotel Group’s sustainable performance grow and we wish them more success for the upcoming year!

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For more information about NH Hotel Group Corporate Responsibility Policy:

https://www.nh-hotels.com/corporate/responsible-and-sustainable-company

For more information about SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA):

https://www.spglobal.com/esg/csa/

Next FIFA World Cup to be climate neutral through cooperation with QGBC

The Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), the Green Key National Operator in Qatar, is supporting the countries efforts in hosting the first climate-neutral FIFA World Cup. For that purpose, the QGBC is proactively working on transforming the hospitality industry of the country towards a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly future.

Photo: © Qatar Green Building Council

The Qatar Green Building Council, the Green Key National Operator in Qatar, highlighted the efforts done to support Qatar’s quest to deliver the world’s first climate neutral FIFA World Cup. The aim is to do so through transforming the hospitality sector to operate efficiently, be more sustainable and more environmentally friendly.

When Qatar received the confirmation to host the next FIFA World Cup in 2022, the country committed to putting all efforts into hosting a a carbon-neutral event. After setting this goal, the Qatar Green Building Council, a non-profit, membership-driven organisation providing leadership and encouraging collaboration in conducting environmentally sustainable practices for green building design and representative for a sustainable tourism industry, became one of the event’s biggest stakeholders.

In order to make the hospitality sector in Qatar more sustainable, the industry needs to proactively work on reducing food waste, invest in renewable energies, reduce the amount of energy-intensive systems and most importantly, develop new methods to make the use of the scare resource water more efficient.

Ruba Hinnawi, technical specialist at the Qatar Green Building Council explains:

We are expecting around 1.5 million visitors to come here, we can only imagine the stress that this will put on our infrastructure, our services, and our environment.

Due to the tremendous pressures that the upcoming FIFA World Cup will put on the ecosystems of the country, the Qatar Green Building Council further increased the promotion of the Green Key programme. The efforts undertaken should also strengthen a more sustainable hospitality industry in general, even after the World Cup. According to Ruba Hinnawi, a vast variety of hotels in Qatar advocate and positively respond to the criteria and measurements provided by Green Key. As a result, big hotels such as the Sheraton Grand Doha and Mandarin Oriental Doha, amongst others, have already been certified with the Green Key.

A video, produced by the Qatar Green Building Council, the BBC StoryWorks and the World Green Building Council Series should showcase the profound effect buildings have on the quality of people’s lives and the role the green buildings movement can play in tackling the climate emergency. This video can be rewatched under the following link.

Hotel's own hydroelectric power station

The high-quality apartments of the Landal Resort Maria Alm in Austria are entirely heated through the local biomass power stations and the hotel's own hydroelectric power plant. Landal GreenParks is therefore continuing their consistent pursuit of climate neutrality and realising a sustainable, nature-oriented holiday park in the midst of a breathtaking mountain world.

Photo: © Landal Resort Maria Alm

The exclusive holiday resort Landal Resort Maria Alm is located in the centre of the Austrian village Maria Alm, offering a beautiful view towards the Hochkönig massif. The resort, which is situated next to the small river Urslau, was built as a project of the Jägerbau GmbH, a company based in the state of Vorarlberg. As part of this project, an area that has previously been used as a sawmill has been redesigned. To run the sawmill, its owners, the Lohninger family, have already since 1906, relied on the renewable energy hydropower. In 2012, the family began to convert and modernise the hydropower plant, now supplying the entire resort, with a capacity of approximately 550 beds with electricity and heat (about 800,000 kWh heat per year). During absolute peak times, the biomass power plant, which is also located in Maria Alm and the Salzburg AG, the regional energy- and infrastructure supplier additionally provide heat and energy. In addition to the apartments, also the e-charging station of the resort is supplied with electricity from the power plant. 

Besides the hydroelectric power station, the resort also focuses on raising awareness and educating guests about the adequate separation of waste. For this purpose, eleven waste rooms with more than 80 waste bins, divided among ten houses, guarantee a smooth and proper waste separation.

In addition to engaging in these big, environmentally friendly actions, the Landal Resort Maria Alma also focuses on smaller details, which are equally important for a more sustainable future. These actions include, for example, washing machines in the flats that allow the guests to choose whether to bring their own towels or order them from the resort. This way, the resort additionally saves resources as towels are usually changed daily. However, guests are only provided with another towel package under a small fee. Besides that, the coffee machines of the apartments are also equipped with biodegradable capsules.

The Landal Resort Maria Alm offers one hundred thirteen high-quality flats in ten chalet houses with space for up to 12 people each. Spacious living/dining rooms, fully equipped kitchens, elegant bathrooms, covered balconies and terraces as well as a fireplace and infrared sauna in the luxury category ensure a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. In addition, the resort offers a top infrastructure including reception, indoor swimming pool (25m² pool), paddling pool, fitness room, massage and beauty area, Bollo children's club, playground, lift and one ski room per house. Finally, a sports shop with ski rental, ski school and children's beginners' area directly in front of the resort ensure to cover the needs of ski- and snow excited guests. In the traditionally furnished restaurant Lilli's with bar, lounge and large sun terrace, the ingredients for its culinary delights are mainly produced within close proximity to the hotel. The bakery, supermarket and bus station are right next to the resort. Therefore, visitors of the resort can leave their car in the underground car park for the entirety of their stay and move around with more sustainable means of transport

To read more about the resort, follow this link.

1,000 photovoltaic panels on the rooftop of The Westin Dragonara Resort

The Westin Dragonara Resort, located in Malta’s seaside town of St. Julian’s, has just completed the installation of 1,000 photovoltaic panels over an area measuring 3,100 square metres on the Hotel’s roof space.

Photo: © The Westin Dragonara Resort

The photovoltaic installation will reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint by approximately 600 tons annually, the equivalent of planting a staggering 35,000 trees. The installation on the rooftop of The Westin Dragonara Resort consists of 1,000 photovoltaic panels each of 365 Wp capacity with eight invertors (total capacity 336kW) covering 3,100 square metres of the Hotel’s roof.

The photovoltaic system is anticipated to generate approximately 15% of the typical annual electricity consumption of the hotel.

First opened in 1997, and having just completed a €40 million full renovation in 2020, The Westin Dragonara Resort has been at the forefront of Maltese hospitality. Perfect for business travellers and families alike, the hotel is a wellness retreat with innovative amenities, including Westin’s award-winning Westin Heavenly® Bed, uniquely designed with plush, pillow-top construction for premium comfort and support allowing guests to experience a night of restorative sleep. 

 Michael Camilleri Kamsky, General Manager of The Westin Dragonara Resort explains:

Over the years, The Westin Dragonara Resort has already taken many steps towards reducing our carbon footprint, some of which include our ECO Certification, Green Key Certification, Blue Flag Certification as well as our sustainable Westin Meetings programme. Through the latest investment in this photovoltaic technology, we are utilising our rooftop to run a more sustainable and eco-friendly hotel. 

Additional information on the The Westin Dragonara Resort can be found at westinmalta.com

Stay connected to Westin: @westinmalta on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook

Green oasis to handle stress during pandemic

The employees of the Fiesta Inn Monterrey Fundidora in México found an innovative way to fight the stress and negative influence of the pandemic on their well-being by creating their own, personal oasis on the rooftop of the hotel.

Photo: © Fiesta Inn Monterrey Fundidora Mexico Hotel.

The pandemic does not only hit the hospitality industry economically, but also has negative effects on the mental health and well-being of the employees within the sector.

One of the hotels that proactively worked on increasing the emotional well-being of their employees is the Fiesta Inn Monterrey Fundidora, México by Grupo Posadas. Within the hotel group, work-related stress of their staff seemed to increase during the pandemic. This stress often appeared due to social distance regulations and constantly having to wear a mask during working hours, amongst others. As a result, the management and employees of the hotels started to brainstorm about possibilities to counteract the decreasing physical and emotional well-being of the team.

One of the staff members contributed to the innovative idea of installing a rooftop garden and relaxation area on the 7th floor of the hotel. All other employees were immediately excited about it and started to come up with different possibilities for their individual contributions. As a result, the employees of the hotel, which is situated in the city of Monterrey, started to collectively work on the creation of the beautiful oasis.

The management was able to observe that all the employees designed the garden with lots of love and hope and with the prospect of being able to welcome back the hotel's guests to a beautiful garden that can then also be enjoyed by them. Besides the sense of ownership and team-spirit that has been generated through the collective construction of the garden, planting new green areas and gardening are additionally beneficial to handling stress during difficult times.

To ensure the sustainability of the area, the flower boxes, the furniture and all other necessary equipment have been built from recycled materials and the area is lit through the use of LED lighting. The towel basket has, for example, been made out of an old vacuum cleaner. In addition, guests are able to enjoy a wonderful view of the eastern Sierra Madre while sitting down in a wooden swing.  Finally, all the herbs and fruits that are harvested in the garden are used to flavour different dishes in the kitchen of the hotel.

In addition to the rooftop garden, the Hotel Group has designed a series of security measures, approved by safety experts. These are to ensure that their guests, employees and suppliers can continue to enjoy their various hotels without the need of having to worry about the risks of infection with the COVID-19 virus.

Towel basket from an old vacuum cleaner.

Decoration with recycled materials for the reopening of the establishment.

Information and hands sanitiser in front of the entrance the establishment.

Staff harvests peppermint to flavor food in the kitchen.

Wooden swing and LED lighting

Pegasus partners with Green Key on sustainability programme

Green Key supports hotels in Pegasus portfolio with tools and resources for sustainability certification

Green Key awarded Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen (Denmark)

Pegasus, a leading global provider of hotel reservations and e-commerce solutions and one of the world’s most experienced hotel representation services, today announced a new partnership with Green Key, the world’s leading sustainability certification programme for the hospitality industry. The new partnership will provide hotels in the Pegasus portfolio with access to personal support as well as tools and resources for sustainability certification.

The partnership with Green Key is a part of a broader initiative within Pegasus to encourage and promote sustainable practices within hotels, particularly boutique and independent hotels, and help certified properties to better market themselves to corporate clients. 

“Sustainability has become a top-selling point and priority for many corporate travel buyers, and we are seeing increased interest from corporations looking specifically to contract with sustainable properties through chainwide agreements,” says Alex Ryll, Director of Global Corporate Sales at Pegasus. “Our partnership with Green Key will give hotels access to important resources and best practices in their journey to reduce their environmental footprint, as well as a way to certify the property with internationally recognized standards.” 

The Green Key award is based on compliance with a strict set of criteria that are internationally recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Green Key’s application, audit and award process is standardised and includes regular on-site audits and third-party verification of the award. Green Key was initiated in 1994 and is managed by the international charity, the Foundation for Environmental Education, and its national member organisations. Currently, more than 3,200 tourism establishments across 65 countries hold a Green Key certification. 

Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Director of the Green Key programme, says, “We are very pleased to work closely together with Pegasus and share our experiences in support of the work with sustainability at Pegasus, both at the central level as well as among interested member hotels in the Pegasus portfolio.” 

Pegasus and Green Key have kicked off their collaboration with a series of content targeted to hotels interested in taking the first steps to sustainability certification. Green Key has authored a guest article “A Primer on Hotel Sustainability Certification” for Pegasus and recently participated in the webinar “Hotel Sustainability in the Age of COVID-19” together with representatives from Innovation Lighthouse and Hotel Kong Arthur, a Green Key awarded hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. For additional information on Green Key, visit www.greenkey.global.

About Pegasus

Pegasus is the world's most experienced hotel representation service providing a specialized range of powerful sales, marketing, and distribution solutions for hotels. Pegasus is chosen by more than 3,000 independent hotels, small groups and Private Label chains in more than 130 countries, and comprises an extensive and diverse international portfolio that includes luxury, boutique, value, business and resort properties for both business and leisure travellers. 

Pegasus offers an unrivalled combination of more than 80 years' experience representing hotels by delivering first-class demand-generating solutions. These include preferred travel agent and online partnership agreements, a range of worldwide marketing programs, leading-edge Internet booking engine solutions, comprehensive business intelligence reporting capabilities and award-winning hotel website marketing. The Pegasus hotel portfolio is booked by thousands of travel agencies, travel providers and businesses worldwide, including major global travel management companies such as American Express and CWT, corporations, online distributors, and consortia groups. Visit www.pegs.com for more information.