First Hilton Hotel in England to receive Green Key certificate

The Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow has become one of the three hotels in the airport vicinity to hold the Green Key certification.

Representatives from Keep Britain Tidy presented Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow General Manager Richard Lee with the international Green Key Award last week.

Located near the Heathrow airport in London, the Hilton Garden Inn is joining the list of over 3,000 establishments across more than 60 countries that have the leading sustainability certification. Furthermore, the hotel is the first one from the Hilton chain in England to become a Green Key certified establishment.

To receive the certification, the Hilton Garden Inn was submitted to a rigorous assessment to verify that the establishment was complying with the Green Key standards. These standards, set by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, cover areas such as staff involvement, guest information and sustainable management of energy, waste, water, cleaning and food and drinks.

On the choice of the Green Key certification for the Hilton Garden Inn, the General Manager of the hotel Richard Lee has said:

“Sustainability is a core part of our purpose, so Green Key fits perfectly alongside the Hilton Travel with Purpose programme and our owner’s commitment to operating sustainable buildings & businesses. Sustainable and purposeful travel are becoming ever more important to our guests so having a Green Key Award demonstrates our commitment and will give our guests the assurance that they are making a sustainable choice when they stay with us”.

As part of its sustainability strategy, the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow has recently implemented several initiatives to reduce the ecological footprint of operations. According to the environmental organisation Keep Britain Tidy, responsible for managing the Green Key programme in England, some of the initiatives from the Hilton hotel focused on:

• Installing solar panels which generate approximately 3% of the hotels’ annual energy use;

• Making use of cutting edge technologies such as the Granuldisk Dishwasher, which uses small pellets and UV light to clean pots, thereby lowering the overall water consumption in the pot wash area by on average 70%, compared to manual pot washing;

• Using EnozoPRO Spray Bottles which utilise tap water, diamond plates, and a small electrical charge to create Ozone Water, a safe and effective multipurpose cleaner, which replaces the need for synthetic chemicals that contribute to chemical pollution.

To learn more about the hotel, please visit their website

Green Key International congratulates the Hilton Garden Inn on its certification and is pleased to see the hotel among its certified establishments.

Green Key certified cottage goes green on fleet transportation

The 8-hectare Étangs du Francbois holiday estate, where the Green Key certified Le Chalet les Mélèzes is located, offers now two green transportation options to its guests.

The Étangs du Francbois holiday estate

Located in the beautiful valley of river Yves, in the region of Wallonia, Belgium, the Étangs du Francbois is a holiday home perfect for those searching for a peaceful vacation. With nature surrounding the 8-hectare property, there are plenty of outdoor activities to try at Étangs du Francbois, including following the hiking trails, swimming in the Yves River, fishing, wildlife watching or even boat rowing.

Owned by the couple Ann De Vlaminck and Patrick Meirlaen, the holiday site has several accommodation options, including a Green key certified cottage, Le Chalet les Mélèzes, since 2019. As part of their sustainability commitment, the Étangs du Francbois owners have recently upgraded their transportation fleet used in the property for more eco-friendly vehicles.

My wife and I are running a 20-acre [8-hectare] holiday estate with 3-holiday cottages and two unique camping spots. Transport on the estate is one of our concerns as a ‘green key’ certified company. In the past years, we realised it is not a good idea to have our customers parking their cars at their holiday cottage”, explains Patrick Meirlaen. According to the owner, the decision to remove guests’ cars from the central area of the property was motivated by two main factors: “First of all, it is not secure because they could block the road for firefighters. Moreover, it is not very nice for the superb views on the estate to have cars parked in several places in the gardens”.

The new green transportation options offered in Étangs du Francbois can be used during Le Chalet les Mélèzes guests’ arrival, departure, and stay. The first option is an electric all-purpose and all-terrain vehicle with a cargo container, ideal for transporting visitors’ luggage. Moreover, there are also wagon carts available to all guests during their entire stay. These carts have a load capacity of up to 300 kilograms, which can be ideal for transporting children inside the property, but also groceries.

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

Greek tour operator to be the first to reduce environmental impact on excursions

The Greek company Avra Tours has signed an agreement with the Green Key National Operator in Greece to reduce the environmental footprint of its transports and excursions to the minimum.

Avra Tours has now a new green strategy, aligned with the Green Key sustainable standard. The company, which is the largest Greek inbound tour operator in the country, has entered an agreement with The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the body responsible for the Green Key programme management in Greece.

The collaboration agreement was officialised by Avra Tours CEO Ioannis L. Dimitriadis and the President of the Board of Directors of HSPN, Nikolaos G. Petrol, also Vice President of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). In a joint statement, both parties manifested their commitment and hope on this agreement, aligning with UN goals. They also emphasised the importance of joining synergies to create short and long term results for the tourism industry.

Avra Tours is further compromising to become the first Greek tour operator with the smallest environmental footprint on excursions and transports as part of this partnership. To achieve this goal, the Greek operator will offset its carbon footprint through the FEE Global Forest Fund, helping plant trees and educating new generations to become more sustainable in the near future.

Additionally, Avra Tours will also have stricter criteria for partnerships by only working with organisations and destinations actively engaging in sustainability practices or strategies. The Greek tour operator aims to encourage the businesses it collaborates with to reduce its environmental impact.

Green Key featured in The Historic Traveller magazine

The Historic Hotels of Europe publication has dedicated a page to the eco-label certificate, highlighting the recent changes in the Green Key programme.

Historic Hotels of Europe that promotes an incredible collection of hotels, manors and palaces throughout Europe has now published the third issue of its Historic Traveller magazine, with a page dedicated to the Green Key programme. In the article, the Green Key’s International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, reflects on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the hospitality industry and Green Key’s role in supporting the certified hotels and other categories in the hospitality industry during these challenging latest years.

“During this uncertain time, we have supported our Green Key awarded establishments by showing flexibility in the certification process and by running campaigns that were tailored to the needs during the pandemic”, explains Finn Bolding Thomsen, adding that due to the recent worldwide events, the climate crisis is further becoming a top global concern.

The set of Green Key international standards for establishments is also highlighted in The Historic Traveller issue since the criteria have recently been strengthened to increasingly focus on the reduction of carbon emissions and pollution and the protection of biodiversity. Ultimately, the goal is to continue sharing the best practices of the certified establishments, as the Green Key International Director emphasises:

“Our ambition is to support our participating establishments through training, webinars, and other supporting tools […]. We also want to increase awareness of the guests visiting Green Key certified accommodation through information and involvement during the visit as well as promotion of the sustainability efforts through social media”.

Lastly, the Historic Traveller’s article on Green Key also addresses the intention of the eco-label organisation to join the Glasgow Declaration, which aims for a net-zero future by 2050.

More details on The Historic Hotels of Europe can be read here.

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.

Radisson is the first hotel chain to make meetings and events carbon negative

The Radisson Hotel Group has shared some of its most significant responsible initiatives for 2021.

Radisson Collection Hotel in Georgia

In 2019, the Green Key partner had already set high standards for sustainability after deciding to offset the carbon footprint for every meeting and event from its hotels at a global level. In 2021, the Radisson group achieved a new benchmark by offsetting twice the CO2 emissions from all the events and meetings across more than 400 hotels in their EMEA portfolio, becoming the first hotel chain in the world to make its events and meetings carbon negative. According to the hotel group, the initiative that started in 2019 has allowed for offsetting more than 30,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 6,500 fuel-powered cars off the road.

Among other responsible initiatives, the Radisson Hotel Group has also developed two new partnerships that reinforce its position as a green mobility leader. The new collaborations with pan-European Allego and the Indian Sunfuel focus on bringing new electric vehicle options and stations across Radisson establishments in Europe and India. Furthermore, the Group has also compromised to reduce the surplus food from all of its hotels across Europe in an effort to reduce food waste.

At a global level, the Radisson Hotel Group is also one of the 25,000 hotels worldwide that support the creation of the Basic Sustainability Framework, currently being developed by the WTTC and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. This new framework will be announced in March 2022, and it aims to provide shared knowledge about sustainability and sustainable practices in hotels across the world.

With a new year ahead, the Global Senior Vice President Sustainability, Security and Corporate Communications for Radisson Hotel Group, Inge Huijbrechts, has reinforced the importance of continuing to develop responsible initiatives in Radisson hotels in 2022:

“[…] Sustainability is a top priority for our industry and our customers. At Radisson Hotel Group, we continue to work on our roadmap to Net Zero and are proud of the milestones we have realized in a challenging year for our industry. 2021 marked an opportunity to harness our focus on responsible business initiatives for both our Group and collectively for the hospitality industry. We look forward to another year of establishing strong strategic partnerships as we all work towards a responsible recovery and return of travel”.

More details of Radisson Hotel Group’s achievements can be read here.

Booking.com implements ‘Travel Sustainable Badge’ to aid identifying conscious establishments

Booking.com has released a new Travel Sustainable Badge that is accessible to all global partners to gain recognition through the programme, whilst making it simpler for travellers to find eco-conscious establishments.

Booking.com has introduced a sustainability recognition programme that is available for all global partners to utilise. It has been created to encourage the travel industry to act more sustainably and to make it easier for travellers to make sustainable booking choices. The online booking platform has stated that travel allows individuals to broaden their horizons and bring people together, though it is vital for travelling to be done properly, by treating the environment, biodiversity and the residents of the destination with respect.

The Booking.com Travel Sustainable badge shares their partners’ sustainability practices so that the public can understand the initiatives the establishments are taking before making their choice. Allowing those who are environmentally conscious an opportunity to make their reservation with confidence that their visit will have a low impact on the destination. There are 32 sustainability practices that establishments can choose from and the claims are verified through independent professionals in the sustainability sector. The initiatives are additionally shared in numerous languages for individuals to read on their property pages.

In addition, establishments that fulfil the criteria of a GSTC recognised standard such as Green Key have their eco-certification also added to their profile page in Booking.com.

Booking.com has stated that their research found that 73% of travellers are likely to reserve a room in an establishment that has sustainability practices in place. Though 41% are not aware of how to identify sustainable travel options. This problem is solved through the use of the new badge, showcasing establishments that are eligible for the badge as they have been verified and met the sustainability criteria model. Furthermore, the badge provides the establishments with additional recognition for their efforts.

NH Hotel Group continues sustainable initiatives as they gain recognition for third year in a row

NH Hotel Group has continued to be recognised for their sustainable efforts through numerous environmental commitments and initiatives. As they are among the top three establishments within S&P Global report for a sustainable hotel corporation, whilst similarly maintaining recognition as a top performer within the hospitality industry.

NH Hotel Group has been recognised within the hotel sector as one of the three most sustainable companies in the world. S&P Global assessed the group for the third subsequent year, as they repeat their position at third place among the top three establishments within sustainability in the hotel industry globally. S&P Global assesses the organisations yearly as they produce promising corporate procedures concerning sustainability, with a focus on three sustainable dimensions: economic, social and environmental impacts and initiatives. In 2021, over 8,000 organisations were asked to partake in the method as a questionnaire was produced containing both public and private data from the participating organisations. Since the previous year, the NH Hotel Group have improved their score acquired in the criteria. 

"This recognition showcases our firm commitment to the responsible and sustainable management of our company, even in the most adverse of times. These results confirm that we are moving in the right direction and encourage us to continue working towards leading sustainability within the sector". - Ramón Aragonés, CEO of NH Hotel Group, 

Additionally, the NH Hotel Group, part of Minor Hotels has maintained recognition as a top performer within the hospitality industry. They are among the 25,000 hotels that have endeavoured to establish a standard definition of hotel sustainability, this will be launched in March 2022 to drive responsible travel & tourism. The framework will provide a common ground starting point for hotels to begin their sustainability journey. The information will be easily accessible for hotels around the world, regardless of whether they are a large corporation or independent hotel. Furthermore, a recent internal training has been made mandatory for all employees on Environmental Awareness.