Hilton Salalah Resort awarded first Green Globe Certification

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Green Globe congratulates Hilton Salalah Resort on its first certification. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, the Hilton Salalah Resort is the only property in Oman to receive this prestigious award.

Guido Bauer, CEO at Green Globe Certification, said: โ€œGreen Globe is a sustainability standard for travel and tourism and certifies that hotels, resorts, cruises, casinos and conference centers are managed in a way that protects the environment, respects and supports local community and culture, as well as delivering ongoing economic benefits.

โ€œHotels that are certified by Green Globe are serious about sustainability, they have green teams in place who act within the Green Globe standard, building and maintaining the foundation and framework for sustainable management. Hilton Salalah is one of these hotels that has taken sustainability matters to heart and we look forward to the Hilton Salalah Team maintaining their Green Globe certification in the years to come.โ€

Mehdi Othmani, General Manager at Hilton Salalah Resort, responded saying: โ€œPutting into practice solutions to the challenges humans are posing to the environment is part of Hiltonโ€™s corporate responsibility strategy – Travel with Purpose, and I am very proud to see this responsibility being taken to heart by the Hilton Salalah Team. A lot of hard work and dedication have gone into this and I want to congratulate my team who keep ensuring the Conrad Hilton Legacy grows stronger every day.โ€

The resort adheres to green actions that minimize impacts on the surrounding environment. When the initial renovation of 72 guest rooms commenced, eco-friendly paint and wallpaper were chosen along with carpets made of sustainable fibers. All light fittings and LED lamps installed in the new rooms are designed to save energy. Taps and mixers are fitted with water saving nozzles to reduce water consumption.

Part of the resortโ€™s focus is on enhancing energy usage at the property. So far, 70% of the hotelโ€™s incandescent lights have been replaced with power saving LEDs and timers have been installed in public and central areas. The hotel is in the process of installing motion sensors as well. Furthermore, Hilton Salalah will replace the existing boiler that uses diesel to heat water for guest rooms and produces steam for the laundry and kitchen with an LPG Tank Gas driven boiler. The LPG boiler has low CO2 emissions thereby producing less pollution. It delivers the same if not better results than the diesel boiler.

Water efficiency and quality are other key areas of importance. Water saving devices and water aerators have been fitted on water tubs and on shower heads resulting in a significant decrease in water consumption. To avoid pollution of waterways reduced amounts of chlorine are used to treat water in swimming pools and fountains.

Waste management practices have been implemented throughout the resort. Burnt-out light bulbs, used batteries and old printer cartridges are collected and sent to a recycling agency for safe destruction and recycling. In kitchens, when it comes to food production, the chef and staff segregate all kitchen refuse. A garbage management company collects the waste and disposes of it at a designated and approved Municipality dumping yard.

In gardens and landscaped areas, organic fertilizers are preferred and applied manually by hand while products that are not harmful to the environment are used to control weed and fungus growth. Mechanical traps are utilized as a means of non-chemical rodent control.

Green Globe is the worldwide sustainability system based on internationally accepted criteria for sustainable operation and management of travel and tourism businesses. Operating under a worldwide license, Green Globe is based in California, USA and is represented in over 83 countries. Green Globe is an Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). For information, please visit greenglobe.com

 

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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