AMCHAM Phuket presents trends in sustainable hospitality

PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter has organized a tourism seminar on Friday (Feb 5) that will address how sustainability helps hotels cut costs and increase overall satisfaction and loyalty from both their associates and guests.

The event will be led by Grace Kang of Singapore’s Greenview Hospitality company and will be held at the Keemala Resort in Kamala. Registration begins at 4:30pm in the Enchanted Hall.

This must-attend event will be reviewing how hoteliers can grasp the high rewards of implementing sustainability within their hotels.

Ms Kang will present tangible examples of actions hotels can undertake and a landscape of the latest trends from around the world that are driving sustainability into the discussion at a strategic level, including the trend of green meetings.

“In general, we are seeing a convergence of public concern combined with real risks and opportunities for hotels. This goes beyond just the hotel management and guests; it involves owners, lenders, shareholders, corporate customers, regulators and communities,” Ms Grace told the Phuket Gazette yesterday.

“Sustainability encompasses a wide range of topics. Reducing energy use and saving costs is part of the picture, but so is local procurement of food, as well as the chemicals in the soap that affect guests and housekeepers.”

Most of the work done by Greenview, a sustainability consulting and research firm, is with hotel chains and real estate owners, far beyond any connotation that the firm’s work is applicable only to small eco-lodges.

“Larger branded hotels have a big role to play because of their scale in the supply chain and their access to capital for making investments that help drive costs down for others,” Ms Kang says.

“Some ideas are easy for everyone to implement, such as changing the wording on your linen and towel reuse card. Others are more difficult, but all relate to sustainable development on our planet, which means finding innovative ways to solve common challenges and then spreading these ideas.”

Managing director of Shine PR, Natasha Eldred, will moderate the seminar and give a short, grassroots perspective on the changes in Phuket, using Keemala as an example of the changing attitudes that hotels are now embracing in their overall commitment to corporate social responsibility.

The session will run from 5:00-6:00pm. There is limited parking at the resort, so a transport buggy will be provided for those parking on the road outside of the property.

Admission is open to the public, with a 100 baht for non-members.

To sign up for the event, visit www.amchamthailand.com or email Sarudha Netsawang at orn@amchamthailand.com.