HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings Seeks to Reduce Energy and Water Consumption by 20% across All Brand Portfolios by 2020
In keeping with its environmental policy, HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings has chalked out an aggressive target to cut down on energy and water consumption by 20% across all hotels under the group by 2020.
Almasalla Arab Travel Portal News – Laurent A. Voivenel, CEO, HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings, said, "We are rolling out a robust environmental programme "Think Green" that is in line with our commitmentto provide our guests a safe and healthy environment. We believe it is everyone’s responsibility to protect and conserve the environment. All businesses, including hotels, must respond to climate change by striving to be carbon neutral. By simply checking on abuse and wastage of precious resources, we can make a huge differenceto the world around us making it a better place for all to live."
Laurent believes that corporate sustainability is not only essential for environmental protection but is an influential tool that guides customers’ spending decisions and impacts socially conscious investments. He said, "As enlightened individuals it becomes our responsibility to support global efforts to protect our environment and respond to the expectations of our guests. Even the least alarming and most cautious forecasts by scientists suggest ecological change is going to accelerate rapidly as population and industrial and urban development puts extra stress on societies".
Laurent realizes it is going to be quite an uphill battle to achieve this ambitious target but is confident that it is not impossible.Hestressed, "The challenges facing us are real, the decisions difficult, the solutions found only with determination. The reduction programme will be implemented in stages. To start with we are reviewing the 20 hotels in operation under our four brands namely The Ajman Palace, Coral Hotels & Resorts, Corp Hotels and EWA Hotel Apartments.
The objective is to, first and foremost, identify the gaps such as pollution and wastage levels, regulatory compliance and environmental management practices that affect operations. Each hotel will then be givena realistic target every year to invest in energy efficiency and other methods in order to reduce carbon emissions. Quarterly environmental reporting and environmental auditing will be carried out to assess the success of the scheme."
In addition to the environmental benefit, ‘Think Green’ holds fantastic cost-saving potential for hotels. Laurent stressed, "All energy comes at a cost. ‘Think Green’ is a very practical programme that will not only help to improve environmental performance but has amazing potential to reduce costs. Air-conditioning and lighting upgrades, energy and water saving policies and staff training can deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20%".
Laurent places high importance on staff education. "It is important to change staff behaviour. We are going to have an environmental champion at each hotel who will mobilize and monitor support for the programme".
