Two hotels receive the Malta Tourism Authority Eco-certification

Almost one in every two tourists consider environmental issues when booking their accommodation.

Two hotels have just joined the Eco-certification scheme following a detailed environmental audit, further verification and approval by the Green Committee. The certificate and glass plaque were presented to The Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort & Spa and the Paradise Bay Resort Hotel by the Hon Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Dr Mario de Marco and the CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) Mr Josef Formosa Gauci.

Dr de Marco said that the Eco-certification has over this last year grown in popularity partly due to the ever increasing importance that hotel management and consumers have been giving the environment.

“This can be confirmed from a survey carried out this year by the Malta Tourism Authority with a sample size of 500 tourists. From the people interviewed over 47% stated that they consider environmental issues when booking their accommodation whilst almost 57% of the sample is willing to pay an average of 8% more for eco-friendly accommodation,” he added.

The Parliamentary Secretary said that today we have 14 Eco-certified hotels with a further 7 hotels that have been audited but still require some more time to meet all the necessary criteria. Once these 7 hotels get certified we would have over 30% of the available bed stock from eco-certified hotels.

He stressed that while the scheme is very popular amongst 5-star hotels and there is a fair share of interest amongst 4-star hotels, more 2 and 3-star hotels are being encouraged to apply for certification. Currently there are only two Eco-certified 3-star hotels as opposed to six 5-star and six 4-star hotels. The 7 hotels that have been audited but have yet to be certified are also either 5 or 4-star. On a more positive note there is a lot of interest from Gozo and soon we will have our first hotel or even hotels forming part of the scheme. This is partly thanks to the intervention and help of Eco-Gozo.

Dr de Marco concluded by saying that through the scheme the MTA is assisting in fulfilling policy objectives as outlined in national documents such as the National Reform Programme that identifies the need to upgrade and protect the environment in order to be able to offer a better product to the tourist.

The MTA’s Eco-certification scheme has succeeded in encouraging hotels to deliver a better product to meet the demand of the evermore environmentally aware tourist. To participate, hotels must comply with a number of criteria all aimed at improving the hotels’ environmental performance and increasing environmental awareness amongst employees. More information on the scheme is available on www.visitmalta.com/eco_certification