Hotel Doolin was named overall winner of the Green Tourism and Entertainment Award beating off stiff competition from around the country, including from County Clare’s own Cliffs of Moher.
Hotel Doolin has underlined its status as one of Ireland’s leading sustainable hotels by being named winner of one of the main categories in the 2015 Green Awards.
The awards ceremony saw the cream of Ireland’s green sector being recognised and celebrated in front of an audience of almost 450 senior executives at the Hilton Hotel Dublin.
Hotel Doolin was named overall winner of the Green Tourism and Entertainment Award beating off stiff competition from around the country, including from County Clare’s own Cliffs of Moher. The hotel was also shortlisted in the Green Business of the Year Category, alongside Google and Coca-Cola.
It is the latest green award success for Hotel Doolin, which last year become only the eighth hotel in Ireland to gain the Platinum Green Hospitality Award. The hotel also picked up the ‘Best Small Hotel for Responsible Tourism Award’ at the Responsible Travel & Tourism Awards last month.
“Our award successes demonstrate that smaller businesses with restricted budgets can become leaders in sustainable tourism by developing a ground-up approach to promoting sustainable business practices,” commented Hotel Doolin General Manager Donal Minihane.
“Through our Green Team led by Raquel Naboa, we make small changes where we can. The first step in this process was to make it part of your mission statement and then take sustainability and community into consideration in every facet of our operation. From the music in the pubs to the local produce on the plates, from the water in the bedrooms to the beer in the taps, our approach has also paid considerable dividends in terms of revenue, employment and bed nights,” he added.
Mr. Minihane said the transition to becoming a leading sustainable operation has evolved over a number of years.
“A few years ago we were a run of the mill hotel, a Celtic Tiger build, destined for mediocrity, struggling for an identity and struggling financially. We didn’t really fit in Doolin. Staff were not confident in what they were doing,” he explained.
“Everything we now do relates to our mission statement – from the innovative wedding packages to the food we grow in our gardens, to the festivals we run and even our resident ducks and hens,” concluded Mr. Minihane.
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