Greening Sri Lanka Hotels MOU Signed - April 2009

Hotel facilities globally are ranked among the top five in terms of energy consumption in the commercial/service building sector. Among commercial and institutional sectors in Sri Lanka, hospitality ranks as one of the most energy intensive with a corresponding high energy costs. Reducing energy costs while continuing to meet the diverse needs of the customers is a challenge. Hotels are highly unique from other buildings and from each other. However, it has been proved that operational costs of the hotels can be substantially brought down through simple and practical actions without additional investments. The Hospitality sector uses 4% of the national electricity demand, approximately two weeks of national demand. 50% of this demand is for air conditioning, out of which 20% could be easily reduced creating substantial cost savings for the hotels.
 
A MOU was singed recently constituting a framework for direct cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Responsible Tourism Partnership and the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka towards implementing Greening Sri Lanka Hotels, Optimisation of Energy Efficiency and Natural Resources Sustainability project in Sri Lanka. These agencies, in a collaborative effort will implement a national hotel sector energy, water & waste management programme, encouraging other best practices such as renewable energy technologies. This will be implemented as an initiative responding to climate change, global and local energy crisis situation, escalating operational costs of hotels, market and consumer needs in the tourist generating markets. 

Working with the tour operators, and their suppliers in destinations, the UK based sustainable tourism agency, the Travel Foundation has demonstrated that sustainable tourism is good for business. For an example, a hotel maker over project with recommendations for improvements carried out using 3 typical hotels have reduced water consumption by 24% and electricity consumption by 20% generating annual savings 153,000 Euros. In a low energy lighting project conducted in Jamaica, 10,000 energy saving light bulbs have been installed reducing carbon emissions by 7,012 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon produced by 2,800 cars over 7 years which is the life of the bulb.

Charmarie Maelge of the RTP says that a few hotels in Sri Lanka have already done considerable work in the area of energy and other natural resources conservation and some of these efforts have been recognized and commended as international best practices. However, there are a large number of hotels that can use this knowledge and adopt better management practices and Greening of Sri Lanka Hotels project is committed to out reach to these hotels. We will also recognise and reward the hotels that have reduced their carbon foot print and have demonstrated innovative best practices.

Energy & water efficiency and other resource improvement not only improves the organization’s performance, it will also reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change helping Sri Lanka to position itself as a sustainable and a more responsible destination in the minds of the consumer as well as the trade in the tourist generating markets. Greening of Sri Lanka Hotels is initiated by the Responsible Tourism Partnership Sri Lanka (RTP) and promoted and sponsored by the Travel Foundation UK. 

Picture shows Mr. Srilal Miththapala, President of THASL, Mr. George Michael, Secretary Ministry of Tourism and Prof. Sarath Kotagama from the RTP at the signing of the MOU on the 2nd of April.

7th April 2009