Green Key certified hotel receives Best New Sustainable Hotel award

Three establishments with the eco-label were nominated in the Sustainable Hotel category of the New Hotel Awards, held in Belgium, last week.

The Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels won the Best New Sustainable Hotel award.

It is undeniable that the last two years have been particularly challenging for the hotel industry. While some hotels endured the difficult years by reinventing themselves and adopting new practices to attract guests, others were opening their doors and starting from zero amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To recognise the effort and persistence of new hotels inaugurated in 2020 and 2021, the New Hotel Awards were created in Belgium.

The first edition of the awards show took place in the city of Antwerp, on March 14, where a panel of jury, consisting of industry experts, chose winners from seven categories: Best New Hotel Concept, Best New Hotel Restaurant, Best New Hotel Design, Best New Hotel Bar, Best Price Guarantee, Publieksprijs (Audience awards), and Best New Sustainable Hotel.

"The main purpose of this edition was to showcase new hotels and to give a boost after these unpleasant corona years. We can proudly say that the first edition was successful and that we discovered a lot of new gems. We are already looking forward to all the beautiful things that we will see in the next edition," explained the jury president Rachel Persoon, after the ceremony.

In the category that showcases leading establishments in the field of sustainability, three Green Key certified establishments were amongst the four nominees, including the Hotel Nhow Brussels Bloom, the Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels, and the Mercure Antwerp City Centre. The Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels, which was first certified by Green Key in 2010 and still holds a valid certification, won the Best New Sustainable Hotel award.

Green Key International congratulates the winner and also Nhow Brussels Bloom and Mercure Antwerp for their work towards achieving a more sustainable tourism industry.

Read more about the New Hotel Awards here.

Number of Green Key establishments increase by 20% in France

In 2022, there are 855 accommodations and restaurants with the Green Key certificate in France.

On 20 January 2022, the Green Key team in France has proudly announced an increase of 20% in the number of certified establishments in 2022. According to the French Green Key National Operator, Nathalie Bel Baussant, there are now 855 accommodations and restaurants certified in France (including overseas territories), representing 25 million guest nights and 20,000 employees.

The increase has been continuous in the past four years and has even accelerated during the COVID-19 crisis. It concerns all regions and all types of establishments: hotels, campsites, holiday parks, hostels, small accommodations and restaurants.

This trend can be explained by several reasons:

• The national context encourages sustainable development: economy recovery plans after the COVID-19 crisis, ranking of hotels that including environmental actions, rising customer expectations;

• The Green Key team in France has an active partnership approach: with chains and groups, but also territories, institutional actors and representatives of the tourism industry;

• An increasing number of chains, territories and independent establishments consider sustainable development as a key success factor;

• The Green Key team in France proposes an application process that includes advice and strong support tools to ease the implementation of criteria.

Green Key France awards for region

Belgium's Flanders region gets 13 new Green Key establishments

The northern region of Belgium has now a total of 139 sites with the Green Key eco-label.

Camping Houtum is one of the new establishments awarded with the Green Key eco-label.

Sustainability is an increasing concern for business owners in Flanders, a region in Belgium that continues to expand the number of establishments with a Green Key certificate. The organisation responsible for managing the Green Key programme in Belgium, Good Planet, has now announced that thirteen sites from Flanders have received the sustainable eco-label for the first time. The recognition was given in an event last week, which took place in the city of Mechelen. Overall, there are now 139 establishments in Flanders complying with the Green Key programme criteria.

The high number of sites in Flanders with the Green Key eco-label results from a joint effort between business owners, who wish to implement more sustainable practices, and several municipalities from the region. As explained by Good Planet, the city of Ghent and the Province of Antwerp are examples of two public institutions that have been pushing a change for more sustainable tourism by financially supporting entrepreneurs obtaining the Green Key certificate.

The theme manager and board member of Tourism Flanders, Vincent Nijs, has discussed the organisation's role in promoting more sustainability in the region: "Flanders has already taken great steps in the field of sustainability, but there are still many challenges ahead. That is why Tourism Flanders is working on an ambitious vision and wants to contribute in a structural way to a sustainable and flourishing destination by supporting the sector even better in the future. That is why we want to encourage initiatives such as the Green Key and further implement them in our policy". 

The camping site Houtum has now more organic and fair trade products on its café menu.

Camping Houtum in Kasterlee and Porta Superia in Mechelen are two of the new Green Key establishments that have shared their experience obtaining the international eco-label. Vic Van Eyck from Camping Houtum feared a "mountain of paperwork" initially but was surprised by the application process, which went through effortlessly with the help of the Tourism Province Antwerp. Awarded with the Green Key label, Camping Houtum is already making some changes in its business.

"We were already doing, sometimes unconsciously, a lot of efforts but putting organic, fair trade and local products on our café menu was such an extra effort that without Green Key we might never or only to a limited extent have done”, explained Vic Van Eyck.

For Porta Superia owners in Mechelen, getting the sustainable certificate is proof that ecology and comfort can go hand in hand. The new Green Key awarded B&B has solid sustainable practices already implemented, that include using local suppliers and organic products, solar panels, and efficient water-saving systems, including a shower with NASA technology.

First Green Key certified establishment in Madagascar!

The Tamboho Boutik Hotel located in Antananarivo is the first tourism establishment to receive the Green Key in Madagascar.

Green Key is pleased to announce its first awarded establishment in Madagascar. Ideally located in Ankorondrano, in the private and secured Tana Water Front, the Tamboho Boutik Hotel provides guests privacy and tranquility just a stone’s throw away from the city center and close to the business area. Settled on the shore of a small lake on one side and on a mini-mall with cinema and shops on the other, the Tamboho provides a perfect blend of Malagasy traditional architecture and western comfort.

Despite the pandemic, the management of the Tamboho Boutik Hotel decided to pursue the Green Key to show their returning guests that they care for the local community and the environment.

The hotel has implemented some fantastic initiatives that showcase its commitment to sustainability. For example, they started the campaign “A brunch @ Tamboho = A tree planted with Bondy”. For each brunch sold, the hotel plants one tree with the organisation Bondy. So far, 1, 250 trees have been planted as part of this project. To ensure that the planted trees are taken care of, Bondy works closely with the landowners and ensures that they can benefit from the trees.

Another great initiative is the hotel’s cooperation with the project “Fanavotana”. The women working in the Fanavotana project collect selected materials from the hotel such as glass, plastic, metal and paper and sell them to professional recycling facilities. Parts of the materials are also used to make jewellery, which is sold at the reception of the hotel

Furthermore, the hotel offers free filtered water to its guests in the guest rooms and the restaurant, replacing the previously offered plastic water bottles with reusable glass bottles. With this initiative, the hotel avoided the use of 37,560 plastic bottles in the guest rooms in the past year.

In addition, the hotel supported the project “Diary Nofy” by “Teach for Madagascar”, which conducted a story writing contest for children. The five best stories were published in a book that was sold at the reception of the hotel. The earnings were used to produce more books which were then distributed to public schools nationwide by the volunteers from Teach for Madagascar. To promote the book, the hotel organised reading sessions in their garden for children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

François van Rens, cluster general manager of Tamboho Suites & Hotels about their sustainability efforts and Green Key certification:

Initiatives like these especially with engaged partners give us the opportunity to play an active and positive role in our community and environment. Seeing our efforts recognized by Green Key makes us immensely proud and motivates us to go further.

Green Key congratulates the first certified establishment in Madagascar that is leading the way to sustainable tourism development in the country.

Visit https://www.tambohosuites.com/ to learn more about the hotel.

Green Key growing in Montenegro: Welcome CUE Podgorica!

Green Key is happy to welcome CUE Podgorica in the programme. The establishment located in Montenegro is appreciated for exploring how new technologies can benefit both guests and the environment.

Located at The Capital Plaza, the heart of Montenegro’s capital city Podgorica, CUE Podgorica enjoys a well-deserved reputation of trendy, chic and comfortable hotel with electric atmosphere, good food and excellent service.

But CUE Podgorica is more than just an elegant and vibrant place to be. The hotel also benefits from top-notch technologies used judiciously to monitor and reduce their energy and water consumption. A water leak on the system will be automatically notified and will be fixed within the hour. In guest bedrooms, air conditioning will switch off by itself if windows are opened, lights will turn on with motion detectors in hallways and low consumption light bulbs are used almost everywhere around the hotel.

 Guests can recharge their electric cars using one of the 5 power stations available in the hotel underground parking, go on eco-tours in the Podgorica surroundings or enjoy an electric scooter ride on trails by the Moraca river. All guest information is a simple click away by scanning a QR code and avoiding printing material where possible.

CUE Podgorica represents the avant-garde of the hospitality industry in Montenegro in terms of innovation towards sustainability and we are very honored to count them amongst our new Green Key members. We look forward to seeing how you keep striving for more sustainability in the hospitality industry!

Luxury and sustainability go hand in hand at Radisson Blu Hotel, Upper Hill

Congratulations to Radisson Blu Hotel, Upper Hill in Nairobi, Kenya for receiving the Green Key award for the 5th year in a row! Since the beginning of its operations in 2015, the hotel has shown that luxury and sustainability go hand in hand through numerous efforts in environmentally and socially responsible operations.

Picture ©: Kenyan Organisation for Environmental Education (KOEE)

Water is conserved through the installation of low water flow showers and taps; dual-flush toilets and water-saving sensors in urinals, as well as collecting and using rainwater for cleaning and watering the garden. Radisson Blu has been partnering with Just a Drop – an international water aid charity- to ensure the hotel brand provides a lifetime’s supply of fresh drinking water to 12,000 children per year. Hotel guests are asked to consider re-using their towels during their stay in exchange for a donation to Just a Drop.

The hotel has solar panels in place for heating water and its lighting is 98% LED, resulting in significant savings on energy bills. A beautiful garden and live green walls create an exquisite ambience in a bustling city location. Maintaining an ethical and sustainable supply chain is key to the hotel, with an extensive code of conduct and onsite inspections for suppliers to ensure that they meet high environmental and social standards. More than 90% of the hotel’s waste is recycled - by City Fresh, a Nairobi-based waste collection company – and organic waste is composted and turned into animal feed for local supply.

The hotel is committed to supporting impactful community activities such as improving hygiene in collaboration with Diversey’s “Soap for Hope” program, which reprocesses unfinished soap bars locally into new soap bars, that are donated to local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. There are also long-term sponsorship activities with SOS Children’s Village Nairobi, schools in the neighbourhood around the hotel, and clean ups with Kibondeni College. Participation in the Women for Growth programme supported by Swedfund, has resulted in the development of progressive policies that enable talent growth and increase the representation of women in decision making. Rigorous staff training on Living and Leading Responsible Business has also inculcated a healthy attitude towards environment and sustainability.

Green Key Kenya is proud to be working with a pioneer like Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi, Upper Hill! Learn more about the hotel here.

Member Feature - Park Inn by Radisson, Nairobi Westlands

Park Inn by Radisson, Westlands in Nairobi has once again been awarded the Green Key International Certification in 2020 for its work towards environmental responsibility and sustainable operations within the tourism industry.

Since it opened in 2017, the hotel has excelled in driving Radisson Hotel Group’s three Responsible Business Pillars; Think Planet, Think People and Think Community, all while delivering first class guest comfort.

The hotel uses 95% LED lighting and solar power for heating water, significantly saving on energy consumption and costs. Water stewardship is promoted in various ways including through installation of water-efficient equipment and fittings, as well as involvement of guests in a towel and linen recycling programme. There is also a high-tech reverse osmosis plant in the basement that produces drinkable water available from every tap in the hotel.

Staff are equipped to understand and practice sustainability at work and beyond, through continuous training and information updates on the initiatives by the hotel. Principles of gender empowerment are well demonstrated with more ladies in leadership positions than men. The hotel communicates its efforts to guests through information screens in the main lobby area and TVs in guest rooms.

All suppliers are empowered to practice responsible business through a comprehensive code of conduct that touches on human rights, business ethics and anti-corruption, and environmental sustainability.  Meaningful engagement with the local community is also important to the hotel, with clean-ups around the hotel, tree planting, and support for children at SOS Children’s Village Nairobi all long-term commitments to impact positively on society.

Green Key Kenya is proud to have Park Inn by Radisson, Nairobi Westlands in the programme!

Learn more about the hotel here

Kallichoron receives Hellenic Responsible Business Award for its CSR&S Initiative “Kallichoron Room2Give!"

Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel from the Greek Island of Astypalea received on February 24, 2020 the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Award in the category of Collaboration with the local Communities for its Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Initiative “Kallichoron Room2Give” for actively supporting the local community projects with special focus on Astypalea’s younger generation, but also the protection of the environment and the responsible use of the available resources.

Various green offerings and give aways as part of Kallichoron Goes Green initiative, like fairtrade cotton bag, local handpicked herbal tea, Kallichoron Green Stories initiative with Taf coffee as an attempt to reuse used coffee beans, organic, locally produce soap or Kallichoron bike rental program.

Kallichoron introduced the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “Room2Give” initiative in 2015, and since then, with the help from its visitors, it has actively been involved in a number of activities for children and young adults and cultural activities where possible, including:

• Purchase of books for the children's lending library of the Astypalea Nursery and Narkissios Lending Library of Astypalea.

• Scholarship for young students for studies on Tourism in collaboration with IST College and Axion Hellas.

• Providing the courtyard area of ​​the Astypalean Nursery with equipment and toys, and continuous support of the teachers and the Parents and Guardians Association efforts to improve existing infrastructure.

• Day of creative work and painting at the Nursery school of Astypalea with the painter
  and artist, Gefso Papadakis, on "I paint the world I dream of".

• Support of Axion Hellas and +plefsi activities.

• Beach cleaning initiatives in collaboration with HELMEPA.

Kallichoron active participation and support in beach cleaning activities organized either locally or as part of wider environmental activities.

For the last year, Kallichoron has started collecting funds for establishing a Robotics school on Astypalea Island, which will be a project with huge impact to the local society.

The Hellenic Responsible Business Awards is the first significant initiative of promotion and reward of Greek Businesses, who choose to do “the right thing” and lead by example by implementing on a daily basis actions to protect the environment, to support marginalized communities and to empower life-long learning. The ceremony took place in the Pireos 138, Benaki Museum on February 24, 2020 and was presented by the journalist Elena Papadimitriou.

Chairman of the jury was George Vernicos, Economic and Social Council of Greece. Among the winners of the evening were Vodafone, KPMG, Mitilineos Group, Greek Gold, Lafarge and Hellenic Petroleum, while Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Development and Investment, addressed the audience and welcomed the awarded initiatives for their activities.

Maria Mavroudi and Carolina Alkalai, co-founders and General Managers of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel receiving the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Awards 2020.

“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 to 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 behavior, is fundamental to our actions and this award encourages us to work harder." said Maria Mavroudi, co-founder and General Manager of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel.

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. Thank you for your support all these years, and we hope we don’t ever disappoint!”

Notably, Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel has also been awarded for Best Greek Hotel at the Greek Tourism Awards that were held last year at the famous Golden Hall, known as the Nobel’s Hall, in Stockholm. Nevertheless, Kallichoron‘s personalized breakfast service known as “Grandma’s Breakfast” was also named Best Greek Hotel Breakfast at the Greek Hospitality Awards 2019.

Brazil welcomes its first Green Key establishment

Eco Pousada Baia do Joao is the first Green Key awarded hotel in Brazil. Located in Buzios, a popular tourist destination near Rio de Janeiro, Eco Pousada Baia focuses on educating its guests on sustainable living options while they enjoy a fabulous vacation.

©Patrick Dias

The two owners of the 9 rooms Pousada, Karl Schieneman and Rita Melo, renovated the 30 years old establishment in a sustainable way to protect the local environment. The renovation was run along with a Brazilian designer based in Connecticut. Paying attention to every detail, they replaced all of the toilets, showers and faucets while adding new sustainable and locally made furniture. While replacing the tile in the pool and changing the rotting wooden deck into tile, Rita also decided to replace the wooden fence around the pool with glass. In that way, the ocean is viewable from the pool area and from the metal and wooden pub chairs from their Sunset Bar. 

Karl observed, “my hope is that guests will leave Baia do Joao seeing how easy it is to walk or cycle more, to try vegan foods, recycle, and to watch their energy consumption. Hopefully they will take some of these ideas home with them while enjoying an amazing vacation at the same time.”   

As an experienced award winning entrepreneur in the legal field, Karl came up with the idea of designing an Eco Game to help guests earn points based on simple positive behaviors they can do to help the local environment.  As a result, guests are handed a tri-lingual Eco Game pamphlet and learn how they can win gifts such as an assortment of bamboo and wooden items. They also learn about local vegan restaurants, where to rent bikes, and the location and prices for the convenient bus and van system which go to all of Buzio’s beach areas inexpensively. 

©Patrick Dias

©Patrick Dias

Karl, who took on the responsibility of the Pousada’s environmental management said, “one of the things I found most interesting about Green Key is its emphasis on helping guests see how they can impact the environment by staying at a Green Key certified location.”

Along the way, enthusiastic water engineers joined the project and drew up plans for a grey water system. Karl and Rita easily picked water conservation as their Green Key focus for 2019-2020.  In a city surrounded by 20 unique beaches, Rita pointed out that “while people notice the water surrounding us in Buzios, they think less of the wasted water when they bath and flush toilets.”  After 2 months of work, their Pousada now has the first grey water system in Buzios and one of the few grey water systems being used anywhere in Brazil. 

Karl proudly said, “on December 23rd, when we turn the grey water system on, water from many of the showers will flow into a series of tanks, filtered through a series of rock beds, and be pumped back into toilets.  Other used water will be diverted and used to water plants in the Pousada, provide showers for animals in a pet friendly park we are building, and to water some gardens we are building below the Pousada.”  Rita notes, “this will enable us to increase our water usage in a way which does not hurt the environment and between the animals and plants, in a way which helps the environment.” 

©Patrick Dias

The support from Brazil and Buzios since they announced these projects has been huge. Karl and Rita strongly believe that the people of Brazil are very interested in hearing about and supporting sustainable projects. They also have noticed that in several months, it has become easier to find eco-friendly cleaning supplies so they no longer have to fill their truck with cleaning supplies at Walmart in a larger city an hour and a half away. Local stores now carry these products.

Karl and Rita could not be happier to see all of this momentum in Brazil and look forward to having other hotels join them in Green Key to educate their guests on sustainable living options while they enjoy a fabulous vacation at the same time.