ENVIRONMENT > EGYPT
Hotels are going green too The European project Shmile 2 www.enpi-info.eu aims to spread eco-labels to tourist accommodation services in the Mediterranean, particularly in six countries: Egypt, Italy, France, Jordan, Greece and Tunisia. Visit by our correspondent from the European Neighbourhood Information Centre to the only hotel in Alexandria to have obtained an environmental certificate. A place once frequented by spies, diplomats and Greek ship-owners… Text by: Dalia Chams Pictures by: AFP©EU/Neighborhood Info Centre ALEXANDRIA - This is much more than a luxury hotel; this is the first tourist accommodation to hold an eco-label in Alexandria, mythical city of the Mediterranean. It obtained its certificate officially at the end of 2011 from the Australian environmental system, EarthCheck. The Accor group, to which the Cecil hotel – established 1929 – belongs, is one of the customers of this benchmarking and certification system, which is the most widely used in the travel and tourism industry. The establishment is committed to using special cleaning and hygiene products, reducing its energy and water consumption, generating low quantities of waste, providing bins for sorting and recycling, using renewable energy sources and substances that are less harmful to the environment, etc. … Eco-label? Like ISO standards that apply to industry Room 209 overlooks the sea and its memories. It is named after Elvis Presley; he stayed here in days gone by. Everywhere there are notices attempting to educate customers about the environment: if you do not want the hand towels and bath towels changed, please put them back on the rail; please close the doors, as the room is fitted with an automatic This publication does air conditioning system. Taps and shower heads have been designed to reduce the pressure and therefore waste not represent the less water… official view of the EC “These environmental measures are also a marketing tool for our hotel or the EU institutions. EU Neighbourhood Info Centre in the long term. Because all over the world, customers are increasThe EC accepts no Feature no. 89 ingly opting for environment-friendly hotels. Very soon, the eco-label responsibility or This is a series of features on projects will be a selection criterion for guests; it will be like ISO standards in liability whatsoever funded by the EU, prepared by industry, ” says Nabil Kahil, Manager of the Cecil, who visited Nice in with regard to its journalists and photographers on the November 2012 to participate in the exchange workshop on the bencontent. ground or the EU Neighbourhood efits of an environmental approach to tourist accommodation. Info Centre. Nabil Kahil had to share his experience with other tourism professionals © 2013 EU/Neighbourhood Info Centre from countries including the six taking part in the Shmile 2 project funded
Hotels are going green too
p.2
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 89
n A Cecil Sofitel kitchen employee uses waste recycling bins
by the European Union under cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean region, namely: Egypt, Italy, France, Jordan, Greece and Tunisia. Phase 2 of the project, launched in 2011, aims to spread the eco-label to tourist accommodation services in the Mediterranean. The project brings together 11 partners and is led by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nice-Côte d'Azur. The European Eco-label is not the only appealing feature of the project: besides the work to increase awareness among Mediterranean businesses about the importance of ecotourism, there is also the work with local communities, staff training, and the sharing of experiences, like the workshop in Nice - where Nabil Kahil explained to participants how his hotel had reduced its water consumption by 45% in a year, (the cost also went down by 12%) and its electricity consumption by 31% (bringing the cost down by 21%). Taking the old wooden lift to the lobby, he points to the crystal chandeliers with their energysaving light bulbs: “Conventional bulbs cost 3 EP each, whereas the energy-saving ones cost 30 (€ 1 = about 8 EP), but it is a long-term investment; they last longer and enable us to save energy”. Mediterranean coast shunned With its ornate colonnades, wooden and polished brass revolving door, the manager walks around his hotel immortalised in The Alexandria Quartet, a novel in 4 volumes by British author Lawrence Durrell. He was one of many eminent visitors to the hotel, as were Winston Churchill, Agatha Christie and Josephine Baker. But the coastal city is now far-removed from those cosmopolitan days. Today, 80% of the tourists who come to Egypt prefer to head for the Red Sea and its scuba diving, coral and natural reserves, while the northern Mediterranean coast, despite its attractions, only lures a tiny percentage of them. And then just over three years ago, when eco-tourism really started to take off, the authorities decided first of all to convert the seaside town of Sharm el-Sheikh (in the Sinai Peninsula) into a green city. The north coast - with its beautiful cities like Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh - was shunned when it came to eco-labels. That explains the data provided by Ahmed El-Dorghamy, expert in environmental affairs and energy with the CEDARE, Centre for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe, set up in 1992, which collaborates with the Shmile 2 project: “Our work consists of increasing the awareness of the hotel industry and telling everyone about good practices leading to the award of the Eco-label, while engaging with local communities. We therefore identified 94 hotels in Egypt that held some kind of label, all located on the Red Sea, except for one in Alexandria (The Cecil)”. El-Dorghamy continues: “Given that 72% of visitors to the Red Sea are European, the owners of the tourist accommodation want to please their customers by applying international environmental standards. They sought to obtain recognised environmental certification, German or Australian for the most part”.
n Cecil Sofitel Hotel employees adopt environment-friendly behaviours in their daily tasks
Photovoltaic panels on cruise ships CEDARE is currently trying to cooperate with the Chamber and Ministry of Tourism in Egypt to extend eco-labelling to the
“Very soon, the eco-label will be a selection criterion for guests, it’s like ISO standards in industry”
“These environmental measures are also a marketing tool for our hotel in the long term. Because all over the world, customers are increasingly opting for environmentfriendly hotels”.
n A housekeeper from Sofitel Cecil Hotel in Alexandria, Egypt, environment-friendly cleaning products
Hotels are going green too
p.3
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 89
“We are still a long way from providing an Egyptian ecolabel, or imposing a European ecolabel, but we are trying to help professionals to find their bearings and select the certificates and products that suit them without imposing anything".
Mediterranean towns, with the hope of establishing country-specific standards, or setting up a national eco-label. “We are still a long way from providing an Egyptian eco-label, or imposing a European eco-label, but we are trying to help professionals to find their bearings and select the certificates and products that suit them without imposing anything. They understand that it is in their interest to have a more efficient economy. For example, the cruise n Sofitel Cecil Hotel laundry employee has loaded a washing machine with environment-friendly ships between Luxor and Aswan soap in the hotel basement can use solar panels to meet their energy needs at a lower cost. The Ministry is studying the possibility of changing the standards for evaluating tourist sites, so as to include eco-labels in our criteria,” says Mahmoud El-Kaissouni, member of the Supreme Council of Tourism and Head of the Green Unit (ecotourism) set up just four months ago. The current crisis in the sector is driving all professionals to aim to achieve greater competitiveness by going down the path of ecotourism and sites with eco-labels.
ENPI CBCMED Cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean http://www.enpicbcmed.eu/ The multilateral cross-border cooperation programme, “Mediterranean Sea Basin”, is part of the new European Neighbourhood Policy and its financial instrument (ENPI) for the period 2007-2013: it includes regions of the EU and of partner countries located along the Mediterranean Sea coasts.
ShMILE 2 - From experimentation to dissemination of the Ecolabel in the Mediterranean http://www.enpicbcmed.eu/documenti/30_153_20120316174130.pdf The project aims to promote the European Ecolabel and environmental management in tourist accommodation services in the Mediterranean. In particular, the project aims to inform, raise awareness and support the tourism industry (especially providers of accommodation) in applying for environmental certification. Duration: 24 months Total budget: € 1,998,998
Results expected: • Key players in the tourism sector informed and aware of the advantages of the Eco-label for tourist accommodation services • Professionals in tourist accommodation aware of the Ecolabel and engaged in an Eco-label certification process • Public institutions and stakeholders informed and aware of tools for dissemination and implementation of the Ecolabel • The general public aware of the Eco-label issue • 10% increase in the number of environmental certifications in the territories of the countries involved
To find out more: CBC Cross Border Cooperation EU Neighbourhood Info Centre project sheet: http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=171&id_type=10 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre portal, theme: ENVIRONMENT http://www.enpi-info.eu/thememed.php?subject=6
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.
www.enpi-info.eu