Hilton Salalah Resort attains first Green Globe certification
Hilton Salalah Resort has received its Green Globe certification. Green Globe is a sustainability standard within the travel and tourism industry and certifies hotels, resorts, cruises and casinos are managed with an interest to protect environment and supports the local community and culture.
Commenting on the award, Green Globe Certification CEO Guiso Bauer said: “Hotels 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.”
Hilton Salalah general manager Mehdi Othmani said: Putting into practice solutions to the challenges humans are posing to the environment is part of Hilton’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.”
The resort enacts “green actions” to minimise the impact on its surroundings. One of the ways is the property is focusing on the energy usage within the property. At the moment, 70% of the property’s incandescent lights have been replaced and with power saving LEDs and timers have been installed in public and central areas. The hotel is in the process of installing motion sensors and it plans to replce the existing boiler that uses diesel to heat water for rooms and produce steam for laundry and kitchen with an LPG tank gas-based boiler. The LPG boiler has low CO2 emissions which cuts down on pollution.
Water efficiency and quality are other key areas of importance, according to a statement from Green Globe. 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.