ECOTELS IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

Eco Hotel
Eco hotel is a hotel or accommodation that has made important environmental improvements to its
structure in order to minimize its impact on the environment. The basic definition of a green hotel is an
environmentally responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living. These hotels have to be
certified green by an independent third-party or by the state they are located in. Traditionally, these hotels
were mostly presented as Eco Lodges because of their location, often in jungles, and their design inspired
by the use of traditional building methods applied by skilled local craftsmen in areas, such as Costa
Rica and Indonesia.

Today, eco hotels also include properties in less "natural" locations that have
invested in improving their "green" credentials.
Criteria
An eco hotel must usually meet the following criteria:

Dependence on the natural environment

Ecological sustainability
Proven contribution to conservation
Provision of environmental training programs
Incorporation of cultural considerations
Provision of an economic return to the local community
Characteristics
Green hotels follow strict green guidelines to ensure that their guests are staying in a safe, non-toxic
and energy-efficient accommodation. Here are some basic characteristics of a green hotel:

Housekeeping uses non-toxic cleaning agents and laundry detergent

100% organic cotton sheets, towels and mattresses
Non-smoking environment
Renewable energy sources like solar or wind energy
Bulk organic soap and amenities instead of individual packages to reduce waste
Guest room and hotel lobby recycling bins
Towel and sheet re-use (guests can tell housekeeping to leave these slightly used items to
reduce water consumption)
Energy-efficient lighting
On-site transportation with green vehicles
Serve organic and local-grown food
Non-disposable dishes
Offers a fresh-air exchange system
Graywater recycling, which is the reuse of kitchen, bath and laundry water for garden and
landscaping
Newspaper recycling program
 The term has been used on a more regular basis as new websites devoted to the
subject become more prominent and hotel owners become more interested in
protecting the areas their guests have come to visit.
New properties are being built from sustainable resources–tropical hardwoods, local
stone–and designed to better blend in with their environment. In addition, they are
also being run on eco-friendly principles, such as serving organic or locally grown
food or using natural cooling as opposed to air conditioning.

THE UPPAL HOTEL NEW DELHI

THE LEELA MUMBAI

Ecolabelling of hotels in Europe
The EU Ecolabel is an official sign of the environmental quality of services and goods in the European
Union (EU) that is both certified by an independent organisation and valid throughout the many
member States of the European Union.
Any tourism accommodation operator in the EU - from a large hotel chain to a small farmhouse has
been able to apply for the European Eco-label since 2003. The operators must meet strict minimum
standards with regard to environmental performance and health standards. These should include the
use of renewable energy sources, an overall reduction in energy and water consumption, measures to
reduce waste, environmental policy setting and the provision of non-smoking areas.
The first eco-labelled hotel in the European Union was the Sunwing Resort Kallithea, located in
Rhodes, Greece in 2003 and the first eco-labelled hotel on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
was the Hotel Jardim Atlântico on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
 Hotels Adopt Eco-Friendly Practices

Survey finds hotels are turning up the green and becoming more eco–friendly.

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation and Smith Travel Research 2008
Lodging Survey reports that an increasing number of hotels are participating in green
initiatives. A total of 10,350 hotels participated in the survey, which found:
• 67 percent offer linen/towel reuse programs. This program is most common in
upscale and upper-upscale properties (both at 94 percent participation).
• 46 percent said they offer a program to minimize water consumption.
Luxury hotels (78 percent) are most likely to offer this type of program, and midscale
hotels without food and beverage are least likely (24 percent).

Spb Paradise Bangkok Thailand

News from hoteliers is eco-friendly

Hotel PURE GREEN, a subsidiary of Oriens Travel & Hotel Management, represents small and
medium-size green-certified hotels in Costa Rica and Central America… Three
of Kimpton’s boutique properties in Chicago—the Hotel Allegro, Hotel Burnham and Hotel Monaco—
received Green Seal certification… Marriott International began replacing 24 million plastic key
cards in the U.S. with those made of 50 percent recycled material, saving 66 tons of plastic from
being dumped in a landfills.
HISTORY of ECOTEL
ECOTEL® was developed by HVS in association with the Rocky Mountain
Institute, USA with the help of engineering and hospitality experts.
Conceptualized in 1994 by HVS - the world’s leading consulting and services
organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and
leisure industries - ECOTEL was a pioneering program specific to hospitality. At
that time, the zen for environment-friendly operations in hospitality was a novel
concept, which has since become far more common as greener practices are fast
defining global workplaces. More recently and particularly in the past five years,
more and more global brands in the lodging industry are discovering ‘green’ and
coming out openly in support of the same.

The ECOTEL program, initially headed out of HVS’s New York office, was very
well received when it started and more than 30 hotels in the USA, South
America and Japan became members. Over time, the program shifted its base to
India where it has seen steady growth.

ECOTEL, TODAY…
Since the compendium of international knowledge related to global warming, caring for
the environment, and saving the planet has increased dramatically in the last decade, it
was time too for ECOTEL - an environmental certification for the hospitality industry - to
reinvent itself. Under the aegis of HVS Eco Services, an established industry expert in
South Asia, ECOTEL is once again poised to make a seminal contribution to global
hospitality. Listed below are some changes that ECOTEL has undergone to make itself
current:

The ECOTEL methodology, which evaluates a hotel’s environmental readiness

through five crucial parameters, known as ‘The Five Globes’, remains the same.
However, new standards have been built into each of these globes, reflecting
scientific and technological advances and international treaties and thoughts.

Qualifying for certification entails scoring a minimum qualifying percentage in each of

the five globes and satisfying the primary criteria or features considered essential to
being an ECOTEL in all five globes. Previously, it was mandatory to qualify in at least
two of the five globes.

The website itself has been redesigned, with a reservation system introduced for
member hotels that will enable them to gain enhanced visibility through the ECOTEL
website and also access to other marketing features.

A training programme is in the offing with a view to enable transfer of knowledge to

prospective/member hotels to facilitate green operations.

ECOTEL VISION AND MISSION

ECOTEL assists hotels in setting standards in environmental best practices, which in turn
helps them cut back on operating costs and increases their overall competitiveness.
ECOTEL's mission is "to enable hotels to achieve a strategic and economic advantage
through environment-friendly operations, systems and processes while positively
impacting their local communities.” ECOTEL aims to do this through its certification and
training workshops, which empower hotel communities to improve their standards
without compromising the environment.