How Green are Our Hotels?
Environmental management remains a
neglected area in the management of hotels. But it has been seen that hotels in
Bangkok are practicing environmental management practices. However, at a point
they also do not want to compromise with guest comfort. The idea of Green Leaf
is very innovative and the hotels are trying their best to be a part of that.
According to the Tourism Authority
of Thailand (TAT), they are ‘going green’, taking its environmental
responsibilities seriously and developing a programme to maintain and improve
the natural environment by reducing the carbon footprint. They promote the
belief that tourism should be developed in a manner that minimizes negative
impacts on local communities and negative impact on the environment.
TAT has identified four key Green Initiatives (TAT, 2009):
1. Promoting Thai ‘Green’ tourism by raising awareness of green tourism
operators and service providers through the creation of a database of
environmentally responsible tourism related businesses.
3. Organizing green tourism
conferences, meetings and educational seminars.
4. Implementing a ‘Seven Greens’
programme. They are Green Hearts, Green Logistics, Green Attractions, Green
Community, Green Activities, Green Services and Green Plus.
Over the years, the number of star
hotels has increased in all the cities of Asia. However, there is no
exploration on the environmental management practices of these hotels. Though the concept of Ecotel hotel
has emerged in India, not many hotels have this hallmark. Baring the few Ecotels
in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities like Lonavala, Mahabaleswar, Jaipur and
Kollam, others remain indifferent to the idea of being environment friendly. Therefore,
there is an urgent need to find out how green our hotels are.
(Article from the Environment and Urbanization ASIA)
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