KATHMANDU, March 4: Hotels in the country are adopting environment friendly principles in a bid to contribute toward sustainable tourism development and attract more eco-friendly visitors. They are putting focus on rain water harvesting, waste management, and installing solar lighting system, among others in a bid to go ´green´.
Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) - the umbrella body of hotels in the country - has started consultation among member hotels for adopting eco-friendly principles.“Our first priority will be to get ´green hotel´ certification from international certifying agencies,” HAN President Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshpati said. He further added that HAN was in touch with related international organizations for the purpose. [break]
Kakshpati said HAN will also devise standard norms for ´green hotel´ on the basis of international practices. “Though a few hotels have already started using more solar power and adopting other eco-friendly principles, it is yet to be institutionalized, he added.
Hotel de l´Annapurna - a five-star hotel in Kathmandu - launched eco-friendly initiatives a few months ago, urging its staffers to use bicycles on Fridays instead of vehicles using fossil fuels. It has also started using bio-degradable items and reducing use of plastic bags.
In a bid to get technical support for adopting eco-friendly principles, HAN is soon signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
“Hotels will have to make more investments to adopt eco-friendly principles. But in the long run, it will help reduce cost of energy and water,” Kakshpati added.
Hoteliers have welcomed the initiative, saying that going ´green´ would be a great promotional tool for them in the international market. “We are positive about the initiative, as will help bring down our expenses and at the same time preserve the environment,” said Ashwini Acharya, sales and marketing director at The Everest Hotel.
The Everest Hotel, which is minimizing use of plastic bags at present, plans to completely stop use of plastic bags in the near future.
“If we succeed in branding ourselves as ´green hotel´, we will get a bigger attention in international market,” added Acharya.