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A note from Six Senses Hideaway Samui:

“Six Senses Hideaway Samui is located on a headland on the northern tip of Samui Island, Thailand.

It is set amongst twenty acres of indigenous plantings and offers stunning views of the surrounding sea and outlying islands. Our resort is managed by Six Senses Resorts and Spas, an acknowledged industry leader in environmental responsibility through careful consideration of the effects that operating systems, materials and purchasing policies have on the environment, we are continually developing new initiatives and procedures to minimize our ecological impact.

Six Senses Hideaway Samui has been Green Globe 21 Benchmarked on 20 December 2006. In particular we have achieved Best Practice results in six indicators: Water Saving, Waste Recycling, Community Commitment, Community Contributions, Paper Products and Pesticide Products.

In the last year we have started a lot of projects to minimise our impact on the environment and the (local) community. A few examples are creating our own bio-diesel, filtering and recycling our wastewater and working together with UNICEF and Restaurants Against Hunger. Currently we are looking at many more upgrading projects at our Heart of the House area in order to support the environment.”

To findout more about Six Senses Hideaway Samui click here.

A post from Yangshuo Mountain Retreat in China.

“In a country where the economy has been growing at an average of 9% over the past 3 years and one that receives more than 70% of its power through burning coal, the words Eco and China are not often associated with each other.

However, one pioneering entrepreneur who has lived and worked in China for over 17 years has made his sustainable business vision come true in Yangshuo. Chris Barclay built the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat (YSMR) in 2001 on the banks of the pristine Yu Long River 8km from Yangshuo Town. The hotel was built on Chris’s firm beliefs in sustainable tourism, both in terms of the environment and local cultures that come from the area. The hotel has a policy of only employing local people from Yangshuo County, apart from the foreign coaches that come to give continuous training to the staff in English and hospitality.

The location of the Yangshuo hotel is one of its most compelling pull factors. Built on what were once fallow rice fields Chris and staff planted over 400 trees and shrubs creating lush grounds where guests can eat, relax and simply enjoy the views. Huge karst formations surround the hotel jutting out of the ground like rows of dragon’s teeth and the Yu Long River flows gently by making it a perfect place for a swim in this sub-tropical region of China. With emerald rice fields interspersed with ancient Ming dynasty villages dotted around the Yangshuo Countrysuide, this is a favourite place for many an expatriate and lucky traveller that happens to find this hidden gem.

The Yangshuo hotel practices ecotourism through a variety of ways including water conservation techniques, reducing their carbon footprint through supplementing coal briquettes with agriwaste (sawdust/shredded newspaper/clay/straw) which is made on premises by the staff. They also continuously train their staff in hospitality management including learning English and trips abroad to tourism destinations. The local staff is also encouraged ownership of the hotel through their profit sharing scheme and decision making processes.

The Yangshuo hotel donates 5% of its annual profits to the Chinese-US Medical Foundation (CUMF) also founded by Chris Barclay. CUMF is a non-profit organisation aimed at helping and supporting children with OI (Osteogenesis Imperfecta) or brittle bone disease in China. The charity was founded as a direct result of Chris’s experience with Zhao Chun Li or Angel as she is commonly known with guests of the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. Angel suffers from a very severe form of the disease and is unable to walk or use her limbs freely. Chris met Angel in 1999 in a village nearby Yangshuo and helped educate and train her to work at the hotel. She now works as the front desk supervisor, bookkeeper and is a source of inspiration for anyone who has the pleasure in meeting her. They also have a charity shop that sells handicrafts and antiques from local villages and other parts of China which is scheduled soon to go online that supports CUMF.

Economically China is changing rapidly and figures from both The World Tourism Organisation and The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) indicate huge growths in the tourism sector. Unconfirmed estimates from CNTA for example suggest that China’s tourism industry pulled in a record $128.6 billion USD of revenues in 2007, an increase of 10% over 2006. However, this kind of growth comes at a cost and the inherent paradox of the tourism industry is inevitably revealing itself in places like Yangshuo and across all of China.

Increasing accessibility to beautiful locations such as Yangshuo should not mean progressive destruction through unsustainable practices to meet the fresh demand in the tourism sector. Hotels and institutions like the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat across the world help combat the negative impacts of tourism and bring awareness of the importance of ecotourism to the masses. This small Yangshuo hotel is making inroads into changing peoples perspectives, and simply by doing what they are doing, help promote Ecotourism in China. They have received international recognition for their efforts in keeping their business practices sustainable. In 2007 they reached the finals for the Virgin Holidays Sustainable Tourism Awards and in 2008 have been nominated for the Conde Nast World Saver Awards (results will be decided in September).

They are a model example for the large corporations in the tourism industry but the question is will the big players take heed and listen before it’s too late?

Follow this link for more information on this beautiful Yangshuo Hotel.

The Rocco Forte Collection currently has luxury hotels in Berlin, Brussels, Edinburgh, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Manchester, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg. New openings are planned in Abu Dhabi (2010), Marrakech (2010), Prague (2008) and Sicily (2009).

In terms of the environment the Rocco Forte Collection uses locally sourced produce as much as possible and controls its energy consumption with a ‘Building Management System’. The centrally controlled unit allows the hotels to function with the environment in mind, by controlling the corridor lighting and air conditioning and ensuring that water is only heated when needed. It is estimated that the Building Management System enables hotels to save between 12-18% consumption from the energy they use.

When building new hotels, the Rocco Forte Collection use green materials wherever possible - products such as polybutylene and polyethylene are recyclable and have a much lower impact than PVC, widely used in buildings, while organic paint and strains made from plant raised resins, oils and dyes are all renewable sources.

Other initiatives include under-floor heating which runs at about 35°C rather than 75°C of conventional radiators and, on a smaller scale, using soy-based ink for all printed materials and organic cotton for staff uniforms.

Each hotel within the Rocco Forte Collection can adopt their own individual policies too – at their new property in Sicily for example, there is room for an on-site farm.

Their aim ultimately is to reduce maintenance and replacement costs during the life of the building, conserve energy and improve employees health and productivity.

To find out more about the Rocco Forte Hotel Collection please click here.

Photos below are copyright: The Rocco Forte Collection.

The Torridon Hotel is a luxury boutique hotel set in 58 acres of parkland in Wester Ross.  The Torridon Hotel has 19 luxurious en-suite bedrooms or guests could rent the boathouse which overlooks Loch Torridon.

The hotel has been awarded the Gold Award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme and also won a number of awards including the Scottish Activity Hotel of the Year.

In terms of the environment the hotel has a number of policies to help reduce waste, using local suppliers (they even have their own fruit and vegetable garden), improving energy efficiency and a training scheme to help reduce their carbon impact!

The Blue Seas Hotel is located in the popular tourist destination of Penzance in Cornwall.  A number of rooms have sea views towards Newlyn and Mousehole.  Find out more about the Blue Seas Hotel here.

The owners have developed their own environmental policy which includes:

• Sourcing, where possible, produce from local suppliers;
• Using electricity from RSPB Energy, which is produced from renewable sources;
• Composting their kitchen waste in our composter and wormery.

Tiamo Resorts is a small resort located on South Andros Island in the Bahamas.  Guests are offered the choice of 11 beach bungalows.

In terms of sustainable tourism Tiamo Resorts:

• Works with local schools on ecotourism, clean community projects, reef and fish protection classes and iguana/turtle protection classes;

• During the design phase Tiamo Resorts focussed on three major objectives: minimum site impact; passive-cooling and energy efficiency;

• Tiamo has a large solar field and is the first full service resort utilising 100% alternative energy for its electrical needs, including a commercial kitchen;
• At Tiamo all hot water for your vacation is created using thermal hot water heaters.

Photos: top Dick Spahr, bottom Mark Gerardot.

Adrère Amellal is a luxury small-scale eco-resort located at the foot of the White Mountain in Egypt. Adrère Amellal offers guests the chance to get back to nature. The resort is based on Siwan houses which have been restored using Kershef, a traditional construction method mixing rock salt and mud. Adrère Amellal was ranked second on Condé Nast Traveler’s Green List of Best Resorts in 2005.

Find out more here and here.

The scheme has been developed by EQI a specialist environmental consultancy.

Jungle Bay Resort and Spa is a leading ‘green’ tourism destination on Dominica.   The founders Samuel and Glenda Raphael demonstrate that you can create a sustainable tourism business which focuses on ‘environmental’, ‘social’ and ‘economic’ sustainability.

Environment
“Jungle Bay Resort and Spa was built and is operated in alignment with international sustainable tourism guidelines. As an alternative to traditional Caribbean tourism, the focus is on enjoyable nature-based activities and wellness of guests with quality service, guided by the principles as set by The International Ecotourism Society.”

 Social
“Jungle Bay has established an on-site education program for staff to encourage a healthy growth academically in tourism. In August 2005, Jungle Bay committed to financing high school tuition fees for all students in the Carib Territory, the Caribbean’s last remaining indigenous people… Last year the jungle bay family (owners, staff & guests) generously contributed $53,000 ec dollars as a seed grant to begin the development of a community operated facility for indigent children with severe disabilities from Dominica’s southeast. We recently broke ground and are completing the foundation of the new House of Hope.”

Economic
“Jungle Bay employs 59 full-time employees, which encourages capacity building and economic growth of the immediate surrounding communities. With the help of our on-site education and training programs, 7 local staff members have been promoted to middle management positions. Jungle Bay also employs local artisans for various ongoing projects around the resort…In January 2006, Jungle Bay Resort and Spa launched the Southeast Entrepreneur Loan Fund (SELF), which allows 10-15 local entrepreneurs to borrow up to $12,000 EC for business activities such as organic produce, seafood, local arts/ crafts production and guiding of cultural tours and hikes that can contribute to the Jungle Bay services.”

Beau Rive is located on the beautiful island of Dominica, between the villages of Castle Bruce and Sineku and looks out over the Atlantic.   Beau Rive is a small luxury hotel which offers guests a choice of eight double rooms with views over the ocean.

At Beau Rive:

• Water is heated via solar power

• The water pump is powered by solar power
• In the future they hope to generate some of their lighting using solar energy
• They use fresh, seasonal ingredients and locally made, natural soaps.
• They have planted 170 fruit and flowering trees

Find out more about Beau Rive.

The Ambrose Hotel, located in Santa Monica, California, USA is a leading eco-hotel in California. Their green operational policies, all helping to reduce their environmental impact, centre around:

• Energy Conservation
• Water Conservation
• Non-Toxic Housekeeping Practices
• Waste Reduction
• Alternative Transportation
• Staff and Guest Awareness
• Community Service

The Ambrose Hotel even has a London Taxi to act as a shuttle bus for guests which they have recently convert to run on bio-diesel fuel.

In terms of green awards and certificates that have been awarded:

• Sustainable Quality Award Grand Prize Winner 2006
• Google Green Drummer Recognition 2006
• Greenopia Los Angeles 4 Leaf Award of Achievement 2006