A Holiday Message from Sir Frank Moore, Chairman Green Globe Asia Pacific

It’s been an exciting year for the Green Globe programme, with the expansion of its relationship management and sales teams, the opening of its London office,  the launch of the enhanced Company Standard, a new interactive website and an enlarged global network of productive distribution partners.

We could not have achieved all this without your positive feedback and active participation. Our plans for 2008 are just as exciting and these will be communicated continually throughout 2008 as they enter their roll out stage.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your commitment to the environment as well as to the betterment of the communities in which you operate.

Along with the entire Green Globe team I wish you a happy and safe holiday season and look forward to  working closely with you as we continue to  move forward on the pathway to sustainability.

LATEST VALUE ADDS FOR GREEN GLOBE MEMBERS:

Green Globe’s New Spa Sector 

Green Globe, with the assistance of several Six Senses Resorts and Spas properties from around the globe, has added the Spa sector to its existing list of travel and tourism sector benchmarking indicators.

Six Senses Resorts and Spas are at the forefront of the spa industry growth, operating several award-winning properties in Thailand, Vietnam and the Maldives, and have demonstrated their commitment to the environment by assisting Green Globe establish a Spa sector within the Green Globe Company Standard. 

 “Six Senses has been a driving force in environmentally friendly spa development and operations, so it was a natural progression that Green Globe and Six Senses should join resources to develop benchmarking for spa operations”, Jamie Waring, Managing Director of Six Senses Spas, said.

With nearly 100 million active spa-goers globally, this tourism sector was in dire need of a programme that could benchmark indicators specific to its requirements.  Until now there have been no international benchmarking programmes for this niche sector as traditional benchmarking had been linked to the resorts and hotels in which many of the spas operate.

For more information on Green Globe's spa indicators, please click here.

Expressions of Interest for Green Globe’s 2008 International Conference

The Green Globe Team is in the early stages of planning its biennial International Conference, tentatively scheduled for mid-2008. 

It is intended that the Conference will be held over two days, during which a wide range of discussions held about several current tourism and sustainability topics.  For example, some of these topics could include:

1. Marketing Tourism Sustainability
2. Award Winners:  Innovation/Best Practices
3. Air Travel and Climate Change:  The Truth
4. Carbon Offset Schemes:  Are They Reliable?
5. Climate Change and Tourism:  Separating Fact from Fiction

As well as the above, a number of additional activities have been planned for the event, including an awards ceremony, training sessions and plenary meetings.

The Conference will only proceed if you, the Green Globe supporters, believe it will add value to your organisations.  We will then proceed to research venue, date and programme cost to participants.

To express early interest in the Conference, please click here.

Green Globe’s International Advisory Committee Meeting

Green Globe would like to firstly thank all of the participants of the recent IAC Meeting held in London on the 16th of November.

A number of valuable contributions were made which will assist our participants receive even more recognition for their hard work towards sustainability.  We look forward to sharing these new initiatives with you in the coming months.

SUCCESS STORIES

The Editor of this eBulletin receives many excellent examples of sustainability efforts being undertaken by Green Globe participants and would love to share them with our readers.  Space limitations mean we can’t list them all, so from now on each edition will feature the top 2 stories.  If you have an innovation you would like featured please click “Contact the Editor’ at the top of the screen and watch this space.

Congratulations to Holiday Inn Flinders for winning a prestigious Environmental Award

Congratulations go to Holiday Inn Flinders in Melbourne for winning the prestigious AHA Award for Excellence in Best Environmental Initiative.

The hotel undertook Green Globe benchmarking and certification after being introduced to the programme when it joined a number of other Melbourne hotels for the Savings in the City waste reduction programme in 2005. In the two years since the Holiday Inn Flinders started the Savings in the City waste reduction programme as well as the Green Globe certification process, the hotel has saved over $50,000 a year!

Key to their success was the establishment of an environmental committee.  The Committee took steps to introduce the three ‘Rs’ to their operation - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  Other actions undertaken included conserving water, introducing an energy conservation plan, always considering the community in their practices, maintaining awareness of the impact of hotel practices and sustaining these practices for the future. 

General Manager of the Holiday Inn Flinders, Jason Burnett, says the decision to become environmentally sustainable was based on reality.  “I’m not an environmentalist, I’m a realist.  It’s up to each of us to ensure we don’t live in a rubbish tip in future years, whether that be from garbage or polluted skies, waterways and seas.  The only way to make sure we live in a clean environment is to actively do something about it now.  Not tomorrow, or next year, but now.”

For more information on the Holiday Inn Flinders, please click here .

Why I became sustainable...Alila Ubud and Manggis Hotels, Bali

The Alila Ubud Hotel and Alila Manggis Hotel, located in Bali, have long been at the forefront of sustainable tourism.  With a sustainability vision called “Environs”, which aims to link natural conservation, community and commerce in an integrated cycle, both hotels have won numerous internationally-recognised environmental and social accolades for their dedicated work on behalf of the environment and the local Balinese population.

Amanda Pummer, Sustainable Officer for the Alila Hotel group says that the decision to implement a sustainability policy was founded on the urge to give something back to the Balinese community that he been so supportive of the Hotels.  “I’ve tried to be very active in my support of the East Bali community and have spearheaded many of Alila’s conscious living programmes to give the Balinese population the opportunity to be a part of the Hotel’s success” she said.

Of the numerous projects both Hotel’s have undertaken, some of their stand out achievements include their creation of the ‘conscious awareness’ programme with Sensatia, which enables small businesses producing local products such as soaps and body oils to have access to wider markets. The group has also ensured their suppliers are aware of their environmental policies, by ensuring that those suppliers are actively trying to reduce their packaging needs. 

Amanda Pummer says this on the decision to become sustainable: “The decision is based on a lot of things, but in today’s market, any business not focusing on environmental sustainability is going to find that they are too late and their competition has gobbled up their market share and their best employees.”

Alila Ubud and Alila Manggis are continuing to spread the sustainability message by developing a network of hoteliers willing to share best practice and ideas – an unexpected benefit amongst an industry characterised by its aggressive competitiveness.  

For more information on the Alila Hotels group, please click here .

STORIES FROM OUR GLOBAL NETWORK:

Green Globe is proud of its global distribution network and we're keen to share these stories with you.

In this edition we commence with stories from the Caribbean and North America.  Key an eye out for our next eBulletin, when we visit Egypt and New Zealand.

Caribbean:

CAST celebrates a decade of sustainable tourism success for the Caribbean 

Green Globe’s Strategic Alliance partner, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), is celebrating 10 successful years supporting the Caribbean tourism industry in its efforts to achieve more sustainable operations.  
The sustainable tourism industry has come a long way in the decade since CAST began.

CAST began as an environmental committee of the Caribbean Hotel Association and grew from the belief that it was time to elevate the committee to an organisation promoting awareness and education on sustainability issues among the Caribbean Hotel Association membership and the wider Caribbean tourism sector.   

CAST’s mission over the last ten years has been to train and certify tourism operations in the Caribbean on the important issues surrounding responsible tourism.  CAST Director Deirdre Shurland says “Green Globe offers the Caribbean a clear path to addressing global climate change issues.  Our Region’s tourism organisations can ill afford to overlook an internationally-recognised Certification programme that offers positive environmental, economic and social benefits. 

“We look forward to continuing the work begun ten years ago with Green Globe and encourage the Caribbean tourism industry to continue to increase the overall sustainability of their operations.”

For more information about CAST's work towards a sustainable Caribbean, please click here.

Green Globe training in the Caribbean

The CAST Green Globe Company Standard Training Workshop held in Trinidad, and sponsored by the Trinidad & Tobago Tourism Development Company was conducted by Green Globe’s new Certification Manager Shey Parry to huge success. The 24 participants received training on the enhanced Green Globe Company Standard (provide link to information) as well as the practical dimensions of Benchmarking and Certification.  

The course provided practical examples of sustainability initiatives and current industry best practice with education on developing and applying environmental principles and strategies so that operators can reduce their environmental impacts. The course also featured a field trip to the Asa Wright Nature Centre in Arima with team exercises and group discussions emphasising the practical application of the Green Globe.  On their final evening, the group enjoyed an evening of dinner and culture hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute.

North America:

Green Globe expands operations into the United States

Green Globe is pleased to announce that is has expanded operations in the United States to support the hospitality industry’s efforts to meet the challenge of climate change and sustainable operations. Green Globe has appointed Placemark Solutions, Inc. as the representative agent for North America. 

“It is true that “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” and Green Globe allows the hospitality industry to easily measure the factors associated with reducing carbon outputs and increasing long term benefits. We are excited to be working with Green Globe to help companies make a real and measurable change.” said Jonathon Day, President of Placemark Solutions, Inc.

For more information on Green’s Globe’s expansion into North America, please contact Jonathon Day at Jonathon@placemarksolutions.com.

Congratulations to Our Gold Certified Achievers

The following groups have achieved Gold Certification as a reward for five years of continuous effort to improve the quality of the environment in which they operate.  All of the below operators are an important example of the role businesses can play in bettering the communities in which they do business.  Green Globe would like to take the opportunity to thank each of these organisations for their commitment to sustainable tourism.  Their dedication ensures that future generations will continue to enjoy the natural and cultural wonders of the world.

To find out more information on these groups, please click on the property name.