SUSTAINABILITY IS THE KEY TO TOURISM

20 April 2012 07:15 am Views - 8329

Climate change can be considered as the greatest challenge of our time; which also means that we have huge opportunities to turn the process around by advancing climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. This is the perfect opportunity for the community of the world to make a personal commitment to join together and create a global green economy.

At Aitken Spence Hotels the staff is committed to safeguard and preserve air and water quality and reduce demands on mother earth. This philosophy is not practiced only on one day of the year but it is instilled in its day to day operation. Aitken Spence Hotels and Heritance Hotels in Sri Lanka have achieved a remarkable feat by having all nine hotels in Sri Lanka attain the prestigious Earth Check Silver status. Earth Check is the international benchmarking and certification programme for the travel industry based on the agenda 21 principles for sustainable development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. The aim of the programme is to assist international organizations to attain sustainability by providing a certification system that responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. In addition eight out of its portfolio of nine hotels in Sri Lanka are ISO 14001 certified.

'Aitken Spence has invested substantial amount of time and financial resources over the decades to make our hotels world-class examples of sustainability. We have found out that our business associates and our guests are keen to learn about the sustainability practices of the hotels than ever before. The unique sustainability features of our hotels are clearly giving us a marketing advantage. Our expertise gained in sustainability in Sri Lanka is spreading across to our hotels in the Maldives, India and Oman', said Malin Hapugoda, MD Aitken Spence Hotels.

With a sustainability focus that transcends beyond mere operational to one that is strategic, Aitken Spence Hotels seeks to create an organization wide culture that in turn will inspire individuals to act as catalysts for global change. This sustainability vision will drive the Group's commercial objectives given the growing global demand amongst consumers for eco-tourism and sustainable tourism. Global tourism trends indicate that consumer choose destinations and resort properties that practice sustainable tourism in light of the opportunity to offset their individual carbon footprints.