UK: Millennium Hotels and Resorts has achieved a Green Tourism certification for all of its owned and managed properties in the United Kingdom.
Nine of the properties, including The Chelsea Harbour Hotel & Spa (pictured) and Millennium Gloucester Hotel London Kensington, have achieved the Silver status and the remaining nine properties earned the Bronze.
Green Tourism is a sustainability consultancy and certification programme, which recognises and promotes sustainable practices in the tourism industry. The criteria are based on internationally recognised sustainability standards and guidelines, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The assessment process involves the hotel looking at its energy and water consumption, as well as how it communicates awareness for ESG, how staff are treated, the guest experience and the low carbon and eco-friendly activities the business promotes.
The information is then uploaded onto the Green Tourism portal (there are around 70 questions per property to answer) as well as ‘evidence’ such as documents and images. Once the level of achievement has been awarded it is valid for a year and Green Tourism offers feedback on how to improve to the next level.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts has initiated several sustainable practices including “Millennium Green Meetings” which focuses on the elimination of single-use plastics, paperless events, digital signage, as well as the use of glass or reusable, plant-based water bottles for filtered water.
This initiative also promotes carbon budgeting for events and utilises features such as LED lighting and advanced temperature control in meeting spaces to reduce carbon footprint. You can read our FOCUS ON single-use plastic which explains how the global hotel sector is responsible for 150 million tonnes of single-use plastic a year.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts owns, manages, and operates more than 130 properties worldwide including in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Auckland, Beijing, and Singapore.
The Silver and Bronze level are valid for one year and then the hotels will be re-assessed. We wrote about the process for Mansley Serviced Apartments here and in our Q&A with David Wright, portfolio development manager and sustainability officer at Mansley Serviced Apartments.
We have also covered how certification for sustainable hotels is a tricky one to navigate as there are more than 500 certification bodies worldwide.
Image supplied