Dusit International advances its commitment to protecting the environment by undertaking benchmarking under the Green Globe Company Standard as delivered by EC3 Global in order to receive independent and comprehensive proof of its environmental commitment and become certified by 2010.
“Eco-friendly initiatives are compelling to the hotel guests. Hotels around the world are making a significant effort to lower their energy and water usage, and reduce wastes as well as contributing to the local communities as customers become more concerned about the environment, and they are willing to change their behaviour by choosing to stay or partner with hotels that share the same environmental values. A green-friendly hotel is becoming a preferred choice of the guests,” said Mr. Octavo Gamarra, Senior Vice President, Dusit International.
“Not only do we realise that it’s our priority to contribute to the well-being of the communities within which we operate as we prepare for the growth and development of our company, it is also imperative that we initiate programmes to reduce the carbon footprint and ensure the sustainability of our exciting expansion. With our commitment to the Certification Programme delivered by EC3 Global, we can assure our partners, staff and shareholders that we are building on our foundations to be recognised as one of Asia’s leading hotel brands,” added Mr. Gamarra.
By taking another step in becoming ‘green’, the company recently conducted a workshop especially designed to train all engineers from Dusit’s hotels and resorts on how to implement the environmental programme to achieve Green Globe Certification.
The training programme was aimed to train Dusit’s engineers in all technical and operational processes, to set up the most proficient practices. An onsite mock audit was initiated at Dusit Thani Bangkok to help participants better understand the impact to the environment of daily hotel operations. The training programme helps organisations strengthen their strategic objectives and embrace their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility through benchmarking and certification.
“The workshop has been very informative and gave us a deeper insight into the certification and benchmarking process and the Earthcheck Science. I wish for all participating hotels in the Green Globe Programme to obtain the Bronze Benchmarked status by third quarter 2010, followed by Silver Certification thereafter. This will be a major step for Dusit International in the EC3 Global initiatives,” said Mr. Kenneth Fong, Regional Director of Technical Services, Dusit International.
The mock audit and training programme was led by Ms. Claire Hendrie, Operations Manager of EC3 Global, who is specialised in observing the performance of operational processes and procedures relating to Benchmarking and Certification. Through the mock audit, Ms. Hendrie was able to point out relevant factors concerning both cultural and environmental matters.
With EC3 Global’s assistance, Dusit aspires to achieve not only Silver Certification, but also for a continuous improvement in performance. “Dusit is a distinctively Thai brand with Thai values and culture strongly embedded within the corporate culture and services offered across its hotels. The value and prominence of the brand and its hotels in Asia places Dusit in a strong position to influence and foster a more sustainable approach to tourism development and management and outcomes for the greater community,” said Ms. Hendrie. “We look forward to working with Dusit to assist the group to become recognized as one of the world’s leading hotels in sustainable development and operations.”