Dusit putting hotels under Green Globe

The hotel management group Dusit International intends to bring all of its properties into the Green Globe environmental improvement programme by 2010.

Eleven Dusit hotels and resorts in Thailand, Manila and Dubai have already joined the programme and the remaining 11 would join next year, said Octavio Gamarra, the company’s senior vice-president.

With the impact from climate change and growing population, the tourism industry is particularly sensitive to public concern about environmental and social issues, he said.

“Expectations and choices of travel destinations and experience have also evolved. Consumers have altered their behaviour by choosing or partnering with hotels that share the same environmental values and reducing their carbon footprints,” he added.

The company believes that tourists, especially from Europe, increasingly want hotels that combine green consciousness with unique and exceptional experiences.

Hotels around the world are making a significant effort to lower their energy consumption and water usage, and reduce waste as well as contributing to local communities.

“Green and eco-friendly hotels are becoming a preferred choice of guests,” said Mr Gamarra. “This is a significant step for society. With the growing understanding of customers, more individuals within corporations are influencing and taking initiative as a whole. Even a small contribution in a hotel can result in great effect on the environment.”

To ensure that the company implements an extensive green policy in all possible areas, Dusit International recently advanced a commitment to protect the environment by benchmarking with the Green Globe standard overseen by EC3 Global, an internationally recognised environment advisory group.

Dusit hopes to become fully Green Globe certified by 2010, according to Mr Gamarra.

In making a commitment to Green Globe and with regulations set by the organisation, corporations are guided to achieve lower greenhouse emissions, higher energy efficiency, better management of freshwater resources, eco-system conservation, and waste water and solid waste management.

Green Globe sets specific standards designed for organisations in the travel and tourism industry, with four levels of certification: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Each property pays around 57,823 baht per year to participate in the Green Globe programme. Dusit with 11 properties has paid 636,481 baht to date.

The company has also conducted a workshop to train its Green Globe co-ordinators and engineers from Dusit hotels and resorts on how to achieve Green Globe certification.