Tourism Environmental Management Malta ECO CERTIFICATION SCHEME

Transcription

1 Tourism Environmental Management Malta ECO CERTIFICATION SCHEME 1

2 Eco Certification Scheme Introduced by MTA to mark the Eco- Tourism Year 2002 Consultants CQM (Spanish) helped to develop scheme based on similar existing scheme in Alcudia (Majorca) Two research projects conducted - assessment of environmental performance of 12 hotels - Assessment of tourists perception (400 interviews) Green Commission set-up to administer the scheme 2

3 Scheme Criteria Scheme developed to focus on 130 environmental criteria grouped into 10 areas of hotel s operation. 1. EMS (9 criteria) 2. Product procurement (21 criteria) 3. Energy (25 criteria) 4. Water conservation (13 criteria) 5. Waste management (20 criteria) 6. Air Quality (4 criteria) 7. Noise Pollution (7 criteria) 8. Buildings and Green Areas (14 criteria) 9. Local Culture (9 criteria) 10. Guest Information (7 criteria) 3

4 How the Scheme Works The Eco-Certification program aims to help hotels reduce their waste by up to 50% while lowering energy costs by 15-35% and water use by 15-45%. Those who wish to apply for eco-certification can do so twice annually in May and October. In order to receive eco-certification, a hotel must successfully undertake 65% of the 130 criteria. Forty-four of these criteria are required for certification. The rest is achieved from the remaining pool of 86 elective criteria from which hotels can choose. The process of Eco-Certification is fairly straightforward. First, a coordinator is identified for the hotel s greening project. Next, the hotel assesses itself to ensure that it meets the criteria for certification. If it qualifies, it applies for certification. Then, an independent audit is conducted followed by the creation of a plan for greening the hotel. Eco-certification, which lasts for one year, is awarded, and the hotel continues to improve its environmental relations. In order to retain certification, the hotel must continuously work toward becoming greener, annually undergoing independent audits and reapplying for certification. 4

5 Weighted System of Criteria During the research undertaken prior to introducing the scheme, it was found necessary to device the scheme in such a way to create a balance of the environmental impact on operations and on the guests themselves. This resulted in the creation of a weighted system. All of the criteria were weighted against their environmental performance using the following tools; - Environmental Impact matrix 5 - Green Impact matrix

6 Environmental Impact Matrix Table Matrix 1 Environmental impact Magnitude V. High High Medium Low Frequen t Frequency Frequen Medium t More often Rarely W eighting explanation 25 Very important 20 Important 15 Medium 10 Not important 5 N ot im portant at all 6

7 Green Impact Matrix Table M atrix 2 V. Im portant Green Impact Matrix Guest perception Not Important Medium Important N ot Im p at all Environment Impact Importan t Importan Importan Medium t 44 items - 33% of item s 67% items t86 items Not Imp at all W eighting explanation Compulsory Those items should be completely fulfilled. Extra Those items are extra points for the hotel 7

8 Results February out of 12 met requirements June out of 10 met requirements May result not yet known. Sixteen eco-certified hotels Hilton Malta, Crowne Plaza Malta, Barceló Riviera Resort, Grand Hotel Mercure Corallia Selmun Palace, Sunflower Hotel, Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort, Hotel Bernard, Hotel Santana, Corinthia Marina, Corinthia San Gorg, The New Dolmen, Corinthia Palace, Corinthia Jerma Palace, Le Meridien Phoenicia, Victoria Hotel and the Coastline Hotel. These 16 hotels make up 14% of accommodation bed stock in Malta. Through the Eco-Certification scheme, the MTA trained representatives from 33 hotels - more than 30% of the total bedstock in Malta. The MTA has audited 20 hotels - over 22% of total bed-stock in Malta. 8