2011 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence awarded to Residence Inn Lake Buena Vista!

The program recognizes highly rated hospitality establishments as reviewed on TripAdvisor.  For a property to meet the Certificate of Excellence criteria, it must have averaged more than four stars (out of five) since beginning of the year

About Residence Inn by Marriott Lake Buena Vista
    The 210-suite hotel is designed to attract the extended stay business traveler, as well as the corporate and leisure traveler. The property features studios with Jacuzzis, as well as one and two bedroom suites with fully equipped kitchens, living rooms, and dining areas.  Additional hotel amenities include an exercise facility, indoor pool and whirlpool, an outdoor sports court and BBQ area, a business center, meeting facilities, free high speed internet access, daily full hot breakfast buffet, evening social reception and grocery shopping service. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcorl-residence-inn-orlando-lake-buena-vista/

About Remington Hospitality Services
    Remington is a dynamic, entrepreneurial, independent hotel management company with over 35 years of experience in the hospitality business. Whether we build hotels, operate them, or perform asset management duties, our track record of success demonstrates a unique understanding of the hotel business in all phases of the economic cycle. Our culture across all disciplines is centered on achieving results. At Remington, we believe that our people are the ultimate source of our competitive advantage. We are proud of our reputation for consistently delivering outstanding results to owners and investors, as well as our brands, guests, and associates. As a result of our success, Remington has become The premier service provider to the hospitality industry™.  http://www.remingtonhospitalityservices.com

Australia Provides Korea with Sustainable Tourism Standard

Seoul – The joint partnership between the Korean private sector and Australian company EarthCheck came to fruition after Coex – South Korea’s top convention and exhibition centre and the venue for the G20 Seoul Summit – had successfully benchmarked with EarthCheck.

The partnership is a result of an agreement which involves the Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD) and EarthCheck; the world’s largest environmental management system in use by the travel and tourism industry. The agreement incorporates the establishment of a public-private partnership on sustainable tourism, which will help South Korea boost its competitiveness as a tourism destination and raise public awareness of the benefits of sustainable practices.

Global Leaders Align
Comprised of chief executive officers of enterprises that share a vision for economic development that is in harmony with environmental preservation and social development, KBCSD members include corporate heavyweights such as; GS Caltex, Samsung, Ernst & Young, LG Electronics, KIA Motors and POSCO.

EarthCheck is the world's largest environmental management Program used by sustainable travel and tourism industry. It was developed by the world’s largest not-for-profit research centre into sustainable tourism; the Australian Government-funded Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.

The Program leverages some $260 million worth of academic research and contains more than a decade of industry benchmarking data. It is already used by more than 1000 organisations in over 70 countries; including tourism leaders such as ACCOR, Langham Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Banyan Tree and Six Senses.

Demonstrating High Standards of Performance

The Republic of Korea understands that in order to succeed, there is a need to measure and monitor performance, identify areas for sustainable improvement and promote and recognise good commercial practice.

The nation recognizes there exists a global need for consistency and comparability across country and sector; especially when it comes to financial and emissions reporting. Information collected needs to be harmonized and baselines created to facilitate destination planning.

In-keeping with the national vision of a ‘Low-Carbon, Green Growth’, KBCSD is working closely with the Korean Government concerned with a view to adopting the EarthCheck methodology and approach as an internationally-recognised scientific solution to underpin their national program.

“As part of new growth engines for the low-carbon future, the Korean government aims at increasing the market share of green tourism from 20% in 2008 to 25% in 2014. The Korean business sector also strives to build a strong business case and marketing opportunities for green tourism. In light of this, KBCSD believes that our alliance with EarthCheck will ensure that Korean businesses are internationally evaluated in the course of achieving meaningful sustainability performances,” said Sonia Hong, Secretary-General of KBCSD.

EarthCheck provides a framework to increase operational efficiencies, maximise the benefit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and minimise environmental impacts. Having been in market for almost 13 years, the EarthCheck infrastructure and internationally recognised standards will benefit Korea, which will white-label it for their own travel and tourism industry, associated infrastructure, communities and business clusters of associated service industries.

It is hoped that the adoption of the Australian program will help promote more cooperative projects between the two nations, encourage corporate investment for national economic growth, and lead to job creation.

“We are delighted to have signed a Strategic Alliance agreement with The Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD),” said Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global. “Korea has shown strong leadership in this region by being proactive with this initiative.”

Early Signs of Success
Last week, it was announced that Coex – venue for the G20 summit – had successfully benchmarked with EarthCheck. Located in the World Trade Center Seoul and boasting Asia’s largest underground mall, Coex is sprawled across a staggering 190,386 square meters. With over 2,500 different events staged at the venue each year, Coex has the ability to significantly influence the MICE sector in South Korea.

More than 35 million people – almost double the entire population of Australia – visit Coex and surrounding facilities each year. Yet, despite this massive volume of foot traffic, Coex has managed to become a pioneer in Korea’s green growth industry. In fact, Coex exceeded Best Practice levels in energy efficiency and water conservation, as well as other important areas of sustainable business operations.


Although the EarthCheck Program was developed for the travel and tourism industry, it has also been successfully applied to schools, communities, business clusters, green buildings, infrastructure and even the manufacture of consumer goods such as beds. It will certainly be interesting to watch how broadly Korean business takes up the Program and encourage others to take up sustainable practices.



EDITOR’S NOTES

The Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD) is a business association comprised of chief executive officers of enterprises that share a vision of putting Korean industry on track to economic development in harmony with environmental preservation and social development. KBCSD, which also serves as a focal point of ‘Green Growth Business Dialogue’ under the Presidential Committee on Green Growth, is an umbrella institute of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) as well as a regional partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The Coex Center is a vibrant city landmark located in the heart of Seoul's bustling downtown business district. In addition to the convention and exhibition center, Coex hosts an array of on site tourism and transportation amenities, including Asia's largest underground mall, three 5 star hotels, Seoul's only city air terminal, two popular performance theaters, and more than 100 restaurants featuring cuisines from every corner of the globe. Coex also boasts first class catering services and an extensive, award winning green operations program, guaranteeing that your event’s attendees can enjoy the highest service in a modern, globally conscious environment. Learn more at www.coex.co.kr/eng

EarthCheck is the world's largest environmental management Program in use by sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 70 countries, EarthCheck responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet; including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. Learn more at www.earthcheck.org or www.sustainabletourismonline.com

For further information please contact:

KBCSD
Chai-Un Hahn
Senior Researcher
P: +82 2 3465 0692
E: chaiun@kbcsd.or.kr
W: www.kbcsd.or.kr

Coex
Sonia Hensley
International Marketing Coordinator
P: +82 2 6000 1121
E: marketing@coex.co.kr
W: www.coex.co.kr/eng

The Lighter Side of Green

There was once a time when the colour green was associated with all things humorous: St Patrick’s Day beers, Kermit the Frog, Leprechauns and the odd political party. But somewhere along the way the colour became a little shady, as it mixed with the laundry and churned out green wash. So it’s welcome relief to see that the tourism industry’s largest environmental certification company encourages its Members to inject a little levity back into the task of caring for the planet.

EarthCheck (once called Green Globe), is an environmental management system used by more than 1000 travel and tourism organisations around the world. The company has a reputation for its hard-nosed science-based approach to sustainable tourism and an unrelenting expectation that companies should open themselves to scrutiny before making green claims.

They recently released a range of print-ready signs that are free to download and make eco-messages a pleasure to read. Take for example the sign that suggests that we conserve water by showering with a friend, or the one that asks smokers not to dispose of cigarette butts in the water as the fish are trying to quit.

Playing to the lighter green sentiments of those in holiday mode, the signs make their point in a memorable way. They’re available in English; with Spanish, French, German and Chinese soon to be released, and are sure to go viral across the Net.

For those who prefer visual cues to words, there are also signs that feature stunning imagery. Although originally intended for hotel use back of house, front of house and in public places; don’t be surprised if you soon see these signs appearing at a location near you.

Check them out at: www.earthcheck.org/en-us/signage/index.aspx

The Spires builds relationships with Middle East

The Spires, operators of serviced suites accommodation in Aberdeen, Birmingham and Glasgow, is exhibiting at the Arabian Travel Market, the Middle East’s leading travel and tourism event, which opens its doors in Dubai tomorrow (May 4).
This will be the fourth year that The Spires has exhibited at the show. Over the past three years, the company estimates it has generated £30,000 of business from its participation in the Arabian Travel Market.
In the past the company has been part of the Visit Britain stand, but for 2010 The Spires is exhibiting independently.
Commenting on their reasons for targeting the Arabian Travel Market, Craig Duguid, National Sales Manger of The Spires, said:
“Britain is one of the most popular destinations in the Arab world. Historically Middle East visitors have chosen to travel to London. We will be saying that there is more to Britain and promoting our suites in Aberdeen, Birmingham and Glasgow as the ideal base for a visit.
“Suites are particularly suited to the Arabian market as families tend to travel together. With a suite they can have accommodation that will easily sleep a family of up to six, with their own living room, bathrooms, kitchen and dining facilities.

“It is particularly important for us to actually be at the Arabian Travel Market to meet with people, because relationships are so important. To do business you have to be known and trusted – you cannot do that without meeting face-to-face.
“Business in the Middle East is still very much conducted on a personal basis. Family travel and accommodation is usually booked through established relationships with travel agents.”
The Arabian Travel Market runs from Tuesday (May 4) to Friday (May 7) in the Dubai International Convention and exhibition Centre. There are more than 2,000 exhibitors taking part.

New Driving School Starting Up In Sleaford Aims To Be The Best

Ben Willis is a driving instructor based in the Sleaford area. For the last 5 years Ben has been working with a national driving school and after building up his reputation and customer base has now decided to create his own driving school.

' After 5 good years with a large driving school i have managed to help numerous people through there tests and have also picked up lots of training and advice from other instructors' explains Ben ' However when you are with a national driving school there is always certain elements that you have no control over, the main one being the price of lessons and any special offers you may want to run. This was one of my main consideration's when i decided to set up independently as i want to offer a introductory offer that would attract people but also a normal lesson price that was competitive with all the other driving instructors in the area which i now feel i have.'

Ben teaches a large variety of people ranging from those that have never been behind the wheel before up to those who are close to, or about to take their test. Ben is also Pass Plus accredited and has done a lot of Pass Plus courses and motorway training once the test has been passed.

Ben's driving school which he has decided to call 'Willis Driving School' will start running from 19th April and will be covering Sleaford, Lincoln, Grantham and all the villages in between. As he has mentioned he is offering a very competitive introductory rate of the first 4 hours for £40 and then £22 after that. He has set up a website with all the information on which is www.willis-drive.com and is also available on Facebook.

Caribbean’s Largest Hotelier Partners with EarthCheck

Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts and The Royal Plantation Collection, recently unveiled an exclusive partnership with EarthCheck, the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators.  Through the partnership, all Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts properties in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas, will upgrade to the EarthCheck Program for sustainability certification.

“Sandals Resorts International has a long-standing history of implementing environmentally-friendly practices throughout its properties. It was important to align with a certification company whose passion for protecting the Caribbean’s unique and delicate eco-system matched our own,” explained Richard May, Group Director of Environmental Affairs. “We are pleased to have found that partner in Earthcheck.”

The partnership further adds yet another level to SRI’s commitment to sustainable tourism. In 1998, Sandals Negril Beach Resort & Spa was the very first all-inclusive resort to earn the Green Globe Certification. Sandals Resorts successfully modified its water systems and energy requirements, adjusted its waste management program and bolstered its already-strong social involvements within the community to earn the important certification.

Within three years, the remaining 13 Sandals Resorts and four Beaches Resorts all earned the venerable award. In 2008, Sandals Negril achieved the highest possible level of certification (Platinum), becoming the first and only hotel in the world to do so. Since implementing sustainability practices, average resource savings achieved by SRI amount to 40 percent (water), 55 to 60 percent (waste) and 40 percent (energy).  

The announcement of the partnership arrives in tandem with the one-year anniversary of the The Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International. The Foundation represents nearly three decades of corporate philanthropy focused on action-based sustainable development in areas of education, environment and community.

SRI employees are also encouraged to act in accordance with sustainability policies.  Employees receive daily reminders in shift meetings, training courses and environmental awareness sessions.  Notice boards and competitions also play a significant role in the changing of attitudes and along with field trips and monthly awards, helps to maintain exposure.

But is the company’s commitment to sustainable practices making any impact upon consumer behavior? Again, Richard May comments; “Many hotels operate in the Caribbean, but we are the Caribbean, fiercely protecting the islands we call home. Over the years, our guests have taken notice. Current programs that allow guests to engage in clean-up activities or community work actually resulted from an increased demand from our guests. These experiences have prompted guests to return year after year with suitcases filled with toys, books and medical supplies for donation to area schools and hospitals.”

“Many of our suppliers and business partners have also developed internal sustainability and environmental policies as a result of our requests for change,” explains May. “They have adopted environmentally enhanced operating processes and those suppliers who have shown an extended resistance to change or fail to consider this new approach are no longer on our list as preferred suppliers.”

With the protection of the environment an important cause for many, SRI has also seen many conference organizers and planners place an increased emphasis on eco-friendly practices. Some – such as Nestle – will no longer book events with conference venues that cannot supply sustainability policies and assist them in staging carbon proceedings.

EarthCheck science has provided SRI with the framework for sustainable operations and the company focuses on expanding its programs to the proverbial next level via the reaches of The Sandals Foundation with its focus on education, environment, and community.

In this manner, SRI is creating a positive ripple upon host communities in the hope that by influencing future generations at a formative stage in their lives, the habits and cultural norms they adopt will imbed sustainability in their very DNA.

EDITOR'S NOTES
Sandals Resorts has earned a worldwide reputation for providing two people in love with the most romantic vacation experience in the Caribbean. Currently, there are 14 Luxury Included® Sandals Resorts located in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and The Bahamas. Each offers stunning beachfront locations; a choice of à la carte restaurants, from white-glove dining to barefoot elegance; all premium brand wine and spirits, including an exclusive partnership with California's legendary Beringer Vineyards; luxurious accommodations in a range of categories; unrivalled watersports including the Caribbean's largest PADI certification program; Butler Service for truly indulgent pampering; Sandals Weddings by Martha StewartTM; and signature Red Lane® Spas, with services and treatments inspired by the region.  In February 2010, Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas made its debut, offering 183 all-butler service rooms and suites, an 18-hole championship Greg Norman-designed golf course and 150 slip marina.

Sandals Resorts has set the industry standard for the Luxury Included® vacation and has been voted the Caribbean’s Leading Hotel Brand at the World Travel Awards for 16 years in a row, and World's Leading All-Inclusive Company for 14 years in a row.  For more information, call your local travel agent or 1-800-Sandals (1-800-726-3257) or visit www.sandals.com

EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, the company’s EarthCheck Program responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. Go to www.earthcheck.org or www.ec3global.com  

For further information please contact:

EarthCheck
Chantal Dunbar
EC3 Global Communications Manager
P:  +61 401 058 159
E: chantal.dunbar@ec3global.com
W: www.earthcheck.org

Source: http://www.prlog.org/10598931-caribbeans-largest-hotelier-partners-with-earthcheck.html

Travel Management Group Praises British Airways

Travel Management Group Praises British Airways ‘flexibility’ Ahead Of Strike


A Midlands travel management company has praised British Airways for its ‘flexibility’ as the airline tries to deal with this weekend’s staff strikes.

Holidaymakers and business travellers are set to be affected by the cabin crew walk-out, which is in protest of staffing levels and working conditions.

But David Moore, business travel director at Leamington-based Travel Management Group, said BA is ‘doing its best’ to allow travellers to cancel, re-book or switch airlines, so that they are overly inconvenienced.

“This is an extremely frustrating strike because there has been so much uncertainty about it and the lack of advance warning has meant a scramble for everyone, particularly business travellers,” he said.

“It’s very hard to schedule events, conferences and meetings when you’re travel plans are up in the air, and it’s left people with just a few days to organise alternative travel.

“But in fairness to BA, it has tried to put customers first. They are allowing people who have booked to travel to cancel or re-book fairly simply and they’ve even helped some people to switch onto partner airlines or chartered flights.

“That has helped us – we’ve been contacting our customers as soon as flights have been cancelled to put alternate plans in place with as little disruption as possible.

“The fact that BA are trying to be accommodating is making our lives easier because we can re-organise faster and ensure we can call our business travellers to tell them their new details with minimal fuss.

“But this is a frustrating situation for everyone involved and I hope a resolution can be reached soon so there are no more inconveniences to passengers and businesses.”

Source: http://www.prlog.org/10578291-travel-management-group-praises-british-airways-flexibility-ahead-of-strike.html