Go for green: Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket, Thailand recently introduced electric tuk tuks to its transportation fleet for guests. The resort was Movenpick Hotels & Resorts' top performer in Asia with an impressive 86% compliance rate.
Swiss hospitality firm recognised as the most ‘Green Globe certified hotel company in the world’ by industry-renowned certification body.
BAAR, SWITZERLAND – Movenpick Hotels & Resorts has been hailed a "global leader" in certified sustainable practices by Green Globe.
Go for green: Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket, Thailand recently introduced electric tuk tuks to its transportation fleet for guests. The resort was Movenpick Hotels & Resorts' top performer in Asia with an impressive 86% compliance rate. For high resolution version, click here.
The certification body's 2015 report on Movenpick Hotels & Resorts revealed the Swiss hospitality firm has an overall average compliance score of 84%, an impressive 2.5% higher than the average of all Green Globe certified members worldwide (81.5%).
It cements Movenpick Hotels & Resorts' position as the most "Green Globe certified hotel company in the world", with 63 of its 83 properties worldwide now Green Globe certified.
"Green Globe has certified Movenpick Hotels & Resorts in 19 countries worldwide. This is a tremendous accomplishment when we consider the variety of countries and cultures, as well as the different types of properties and their diverse markets," says Guido Bauer, CEO, Green Globe.
The Green Globe report also commended Movenpick Hotels & Resorts for its "great passion for the development of its employees and supporting local communities", highlighting SHINE, the group's global corporate social responsibility programme, which focuses on Environment, Employer and Social Sustainability, with an emphasis on Education.
"In Nepal we collaborate with Right4Children, offering disadvantaged young people intensive vocational and life-skills training, and subsequently offer them job opportunities as part of our SHINE initiative. Around 25 students participate in this programme every year," explained Jean Gabriel Peres, President and CEO of Movenpick Hotels & Resort.
Green Globe's Movenpick Hotels & Resorts 2015 report found the group's top-performing hotels were all located in Germany, with Movenpick Hotel Munster and Movenpick Hotel Stuttgart Airport & Messe both achieving an exemplary compliance rate of 98%, followed by Movenpick Hotel Hamburg and Movenpick Hotel Munchen-Airport, with 97% each.
Stand-out examples of 'best practice' identified by Green Globe in Europe, ranged from car-share initiatives at Movenpick Hotel Berlin to 'green meetings' at Movenpick Hotel Nurnberg-Airport where even the pens are biodegradable.
In the Middle East, the highest-scoring property was Movenpick Resort Al Nawras Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a 92% compliance rate, while in Africa and Asia, the top performers were Movenpick Hotel & Casino Cairo-Media City (92%) in Egypt and Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket (86%) in Thailand respectively.
Some of the most innovative projects Green Globe highlighted include an employee-led harvesting initiative at Movenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea, Jordan, where each year the team harvests 2,000 kilos of oranges from the resort gardens, some of which the chefs make into marmalade that is served at breakfast; underwater clean-ups and diving restriction measures designed to preserve the marine environment at Egypt's Movenpick Resort El Quseir; and the introduction of a hybrid-limousine fleet and electric tuk tuks at Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket, Thailand.
"I am immensely proud of the dedication our colleagues have shown to our Green Globe commitments through pioneering sustainability practices, which are not only important to our company, but to a world where resources are increasingly scarce and many communities are underprivileged," said Peres.
"As we review our achievements, it is also important we rise to new challenges, striving to operate an even cleaner, greener and more sustainable business." The aim is for all Movenpick Hotels & Resorts properties worldwide to be Green Globe certified within two years, added Peres.
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