Green Globe members walk away with top awards at Imvelo Reponsible Tourism Awards

LOS ANGELES, California – Green Globe certified properties in South Africa again walked-away with the top awards at the annual Imvelo Responsible Tourism Awards which were held in Johannesburg on Wedn

LOS ANGELES, California – Green Globe certified properties in South Africa again walked-away with the top awards at the annual Imvelo Responsible Tourism Awards which were held in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening, October 31, 2012. The Awards, now in their eleventh year, recognize excellence in responsible tourism in a number of categories ranging from energy, water, and waste management; investing in people; economic impact; social involvement; and empowerment.

The Riverside Sun Resort was recognized as the overall winner of the Imvelo awards and winner in both the energy and water management categories. It achieved this in recognition of work that it was doing to implement and manage sound environmental practice. The Riverside Hotel has recently achieved certification with Green Globe and proved to be a popular choice for the prestigious overall award.

Sandton Sun Hotel and the Intercontinental Sandton Towers, both in Sandton (Gauteng), were recognized as operating the best overall environmental management system (EMS), by the judges, for their superior operational standards and committed environmental performance. The hotels, located in the business heart of Sandton, have also achieved the highest certification standard by the Heritage Environmental Management Company in recognition of their efforts.

The Cape Grace Hotel won the Investor in People award in the Independent category for its commitment to environmental and CSI awareness, Toastmaster courses, cross training as well as recognizing and rewarding the achievements of their employees on a regular basis.

A number of other Green Globe members were recognized as finalists in their respective categories including Drakensberg Sun Lifestyle Resort (KwaZulu Natal) โ€“ which was twice a previous winner of the overall award, and the Beacon Island Resort (Western Cape).

โ€œThese achievements are recognition of the efforts being made by each of the recipients and we are proud to see their commitment rewarded in this way,โ€ said Greg McManus, Managing Director of the Heritage Environmental Management Company, and Green Globeโ€™s sub-Saharan Africa partner.

ABOUT THE HERITAGE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMPANY

The Heritage Environmental Management Company has become the leading tourism-based environmental certification standard in Africa with over 130 certified businesses across 12 countries. The standards used by Heritage have been developed from several international initiatives and adapted to reflect the environmental, social, and economic needs of the continent in an effort to reduce the impacts of tourism on Africa. The Heritage Environmental Management Company partners with Green Globe Certification.

For further information please contact: Virginia Fourie, Corporate Communications, Heritage Environmental Management Company, Tel: +27 (0)12 665 1028 / Fax: +27 (0) 86 610 7120 , E-mail: [email protected] , www.heritagesa.co.za

ABOUT GREEN GLOBE CERTIFICATION

Green Globe Certification 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 Certification is based in California, USA, and is represented in over 83 countries. Green Globe Certification is a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, supported by the United Nations Foundation. For information, visit www.greenglobe.com .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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