The Hon. Mario de Marco, presented the Eco-certification Award to 5 new hotels and re-certification of 11 hotels during the seminar
Environmental good practice and the Eco-certification Scheme
The Hon. Mario de Marco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism delivered the opening address during a seminar entitled `Environmental good practice and the Eco-certification Scheme`. The seminar was organised by the Industry HR Development Unit of the Malta Tourism Authority held at the Intercontinental Hotel, St Julians on 24th October 2009.
Five hotels have joined the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA)’s Eco-certification scheme following a detailed environmental audit, further verification and approval by the Green Committee.
The certificate and glass plaque were presented by the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, the Hon. Mario de Marco and the MTA’s CEO Mr Josef Formosa Gauci to the Coastline Hotel, the Corinthia Palace Hotel, the Grand Hotel Excelsior, the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz and the Westin Dragonara Resort. During the award ceremony 11 other Eco-certified hotels were confirmed for a further two years bringing the total amount of Eco-certified hotels to 18.
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© 2009 DOI - Jeremy Wonnacott
The presentation of certificates was held at the beginning of a well attended half day seminar on ‘Environmental Good Practice’ which was addressed by Dr de Marco, Mr Formosa Gauci, as well as by a number of experts from related entities including Tourism South East UK, Waste Serv Malta, Malta Standards Authority and the MTA amongst others.
In his opening speech, Dr de Marco said that the Eco-certification scheme has over this last year grown in popularity partly due to the ever increasing importance that hotel management and consumers have been giving the environment.
He added that through the Eco-certification scheme, the hotel industry has become an example to the tourism industry, demonstrating that good environmental management is beneficial not only for the related financial savings, but also because it helps the industry as a whole. Scheme requirements such as waste reduction, resource efficiency and environmental training all contribute towards actively improving the environment and therefore improving the image of the destination.
Dr de Marco stressed that while the scheme is very popular amongst 5-star hotels and there is a fair share of interest amongst 4-star hotels, more 2 and 3-star hotels are being encouraged to apply for certification.
He concluded by saying that through the scheme the MTA is assisting in fulfilling policy objectives as outlined in national documents such as the National Tourism Policy for 2007-2011, which stresses on the need for a shift towards better intelligent use of energy resources in the hotel industry as a central approach towards promoting competitive and sustainable tourism development in the Maltese Islands.
The MTA’s Eco-certification scheme has succeeded in encouraging hotels to deliver a better product to meet the demand of the evermore environmentally aware tourist. To participate, hotels must comply with a number of criteria all aimed at improving the hotels’ environmental performance and increasing environmental awareness amongst employees.
More information on the scheme and the full list of eco-certified hotels is available on www.visitmalta.com/eco_certification.
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