In an important milestone, Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko has achieved for a third time in a row a Certified Silver status through EarthCheck, the world’s leading business advisory group specialising in sustainability and destination management for the travel and tourism industry.
Hotels participating in EarthCheck Certified actively monitor and report their environmental and social impact from their operations, including indicators such as energy and water consumption, carbon footprint, waste generation, community engagement and much more. Using a science-based approach, each of the hotels aims to increase efficiencies, maximise the guest experience and minimise its environmental footprint. Economic concerns addressed in the EarthCheck Certified programme include employment conditions, support for the local economy, use of fair-trade goods and services and recognition of the seasonality of revenue streams – all contributing to the economic and social health of the region.
The very environmental values and cultural assets that attract visitors to destinations need to be protected and responsibly managed. The tourism industry and its operators are key to creating this change.
Mr Stewart Moore, CEO and Founder of EarthCheck, shares, “I would like to congratulate the whole team at Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko on their achievement. They are a valued member of a global group of tourism operators who dare to make a difference.”
By working with EarthCheck, Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko has joined other industry leaders who are taking meaningful steps towards resolving some of the very real issues that face the planet.
Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko successfully continue the cooperation with the Clean the World organisation as well, as part of Kempinski’s worldwide sustainability and corporate responsibility programme. This organisation collects and recycles soap bars and bottled amenities discarded by the hospitality industry. Its recycling programme significantly reduces waste and promotes a sustainable future.
Clean the World collects Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko’s amenity bottles and soap bars that were used by the guests. Liquid hygiene products are extracted from the bottles for further reuse, and the amenity bottles are recycled in a state-of-the-art process, obtaining a high-level-purity recycled plastic. Soap bars are sanitised, transformed into new soap bars and distributed among communities in need, such as benefit shelters, children’s shelters, refugee camps and people struggling due to economic and misfortune or natural disasters.
By joining Clean the World, the hotel helps to ensure that toiletries will not end up in landfills or burned. Through the distribution of these and other donated hygiene products to impoverished people, it helps prevent millions of hygiene-related illnesses and deaths every year. Clean the World provides at-risk people with access to soap, and information about how and when to use it. Its recycling programme significantly reduces waste and promotes a sustainable future.
