Greenest hotel in the world named
The winner, Mercure Convention Center Ancol Jakarta, beat entries from around the world to win the title. The hotel was also singled out for the efforts it has made in water stewardship. Based in a city which struggles to supply water to all its inhabitants, the Mercure Convention Centre is actively working with local government to ensure more water of high quality is available locally helping over 7,300 people access more and better water.
Applications were invited from hotels of any size anywhere in the world and were judged on their initiatives to reduce energy and water consumption, their waste output, their roles as responsible businesses to their employees and in the local community, as well as looking at how they communicate their sustainable and responsible ethos to guests.
Editor of Green Hotelier and Awards judge Siobhan O’Neill said
“We were delighted to receive applications this year from many hotels and their owners and managers who are thinking hard about how they can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Reading them all has been wonderful. Every single hotel is deeply committed to doing their bit for people and planet, and many of them go above and beyond to have huge positive impacts for the communities and environments where they’re located.”
“We were delighted to receive applications this year from many hotels and their owners and managers who are thinking hard about how they can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Reading them all has been wonderful. Every single hotel is deeply committed to doing their bit for people and planet, and many of them go above and beyond to have huge positive impacts for the communities and environments where they’re located.”
The Award entries suggest that more hotels than ever are measuring their performance on energy, water and waste, and setting themselves new targets each year. Around the world hoteliers are investing in new technology as well as simple solutions to reduce their environmental impact. Hotels are also taking their responsibility as fair employers seriously, investing in the development of their staff, and raising awareness of human rights issues.
Awards judge and Programme Manager of the International Tourism Partnership (ITP), Nicolas Perin said
“The hotels we’re announcing today really exemplify best practice in sustainable and responsible business behaviour. ITP’s Goals focus on the four critical issues that will impact hotels’ bottom line, but which they also have the most power to positively influence: carbon, water, youth employment and human rights. It’s been immensely gratifying to see that hotels around the world are recognising their responsibilities and working for greater impacts by innovating for the environment, taking action on such sensitive issues as modern slavery, and creating solid trends on how to provide fair and meaningful employment for their staff. Congratulations to all our applicants for their initiatives and setting the bar on what a sustainable hotel looks like.”
“The hotels we’re announcing today really exemplify best practice in sustainable and responsible business behaviour. ITP’s Goals focus on the four critical issues that will impact hotels’ bottom line, but which they also have the most power to positively influence: carbon, water, youth employment and human rights. It’s been immensely gratifying to see that hotels around the world are recognising their responsibilities and working for greater impacts by innovating for the environment, taking action on such sensitive issues as modern slavery, and creating solid trends on how to provide fair and meaningful employment for their staff. Congratulations to all our applicants for their initiatives and setting the bar on what a sustainable hotel looks like.”
The winners of the 2018 Green Hotelier Awards are:
Carbon
Winner: NH Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst.
This NH Hotels’ property in the Netherlands has exceeded its targets over the last year by reducing its energy consumption per occupied room by 15%. As well as ensuring energy is not wasted throughout the building, they reduce energy through cogeneration and the use of more natural solutions like using sunlight for lighting and heating. They use centralised systems to control room temperature and monitor energy use throughout the building, but also help their guests reduce their own footprint by offering electric car charging points and bike rentals. The result has been a substantial reduction in their carbon footprint.
Highly Commended: Inspira Santa Marta, Lisbon, Portugal
Water
Winner: Mercure Convention Center Ancol Jakarta.
Based in a city which struggles to supply water to all its inhabitants, the Mercure Convention Centre is actively working with local government to ensure more water of high quality is available locally. They ceased drawing from their well, engaged experts and undertook a comprehensive audit, installing meters across the property, training staff, checking weekly for leaks, adding efficiency measures and re-using greywater. They’ve achieved a water saving of 51% in six years and 10% costs against an increase of 7% on revenue. They have also helped over 7,300 people access more and better water. A truly impressive commitment to water stewardship.
Highly Commended: Hesperia Lanzarote Hotel, Spain.
Waste
Winner: Glenuig Inn, Scotland
This small inn in a remote corner of Scotland has thought hard about sustainability initiatives that make sense for its location and community. It performed well across the board but set a particularly high bar on waste, reducing waste to landfill by 97.5% in the past ten years. Food waste becomes part of their energy solution, being dried and adding calorific value to their biofuel. The resulting ash is used in the garden. Chefs are skilled in portion control. By getting tough on packaging they have reduced their cardboard and plastic waste by 50% and they encourage guests to separate waste in bins for recycling.
Community
Winner: Six Senses Laamu, Maldives
Based in a small island atoll Six Senses Laamu takes giving back to its neighbours very seriously. It gives 0.5% of total revenues plus guest donations for sustainable development projects in the community, contributing to roofing for a school, construction materials for a mosque, aggregate for a harbour, lights for an airport, and metal for a waste management centre. It launched “Eku-Eky”, which means “together” in the local language of Dhievehi. The aim is to strengthen relationships with Laamu Atoll communities, work towards sustainable development and achieve long-term conservation strategies. It drives conservation and education in schools. It hosts a quarterly meeting of all local councils and stakeholders to discuss sustainable development and how the resort can assist local communities. It jointly organises an annual turtle festival which last year saw 1000 people commit against poaching. 67% of staff come from the Atoll.
Workplace
Winner: LUX Grande Gaube, Mauritius
The judges were particularly impressed with this LUX property’s commitment to human rights training for all its staff, which is reported and externally audited. They provide a hotline for staff to the appropriate Mauritian agency for anonymous reporting of any workplace anomaly. Team members are offered a range of regular health checks as well as health insurance and their development is addressed through the in-house LUX Training Academy. They anonymously survey staff to ensure they’re meeting commitments as a responsible employer.
Highly Commended: Sundance Apartments & Suites, Crete, Greece.
Special mentions:
Accra City Hotel, Ghana and Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Seychelles
Although not winning categories, the judges wanted to particularly commend the Accra City Hotel for its strong commitment to ITP’s Goals and clear alignment of its CSR activities with the four critical issues of carbon, water, youth unemployment and human rights. Additionally, Six Senses Zil Pasyon deserves commendation for its communication of sustainability, particularly through a range of fun, engaging and educational weekly events for guests, encouraging them to learn and participate in eco-friendly and sustainable activities, as well as written information for both guests and hosts.
Overall winner:
Mercure Convention Center Ancol Jakarta
The judges are delighted to announce that the overall winner of the Green Hotelier Awards 2018, with the highest score is the Mercure Convention Center Ancol. Many congratulations for your commitment across all our ITP Goals categories and to responsible business in the hotel industry.
Highly Commended: Six Senses Laamu, Maldives.
A very close runner-up with fantastic commitments and achievements across all categories.
Find out more about Business in the Community’s Global Goals campaign which is building a movement to inspire and engage businesses internationally to ensure that their core business model is a sustainable one, through a focus on Purpose and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as the drivers of business growth and positive social impact.