WITH 66% of international conference organisers avoiding booking events in destinations or venues with poor environmental records, making the environment a business priority is essential.
Of course, making the effort to go green is all very well, but how do you let people know? The best way is to get accredited, says Jacky Selway, business tourism manager at Aberdeen Convention Bureau.
“The main accreditation scheme in the UK is the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). The scheme assesses your venue and awards a bronze, silver or gold standard level, which you can then use to promote your venue’s environmental stance in a highly visible way.
“Meeting and conference organisers are increasingly taking their commitment to sustainability and environmental issues seriously. They’re not only working to improve their own green credentials, but are expecting venues to ensure environmental issues are covered.
“Being green is no longer an added extra; in fact, it’s heading towards becoming the standard. Venues which have got by without showing much regard for the environment, or which previously offered just a hat-tip to environmental issues, will see their business decline if they don’t start focusing on this key issue.”
A number of “green” awards exist for venues – such as the Northern Lights Tourism Awards; the Scottish Thistle awards; the Scottish Green Awards, and the Green Hospitality Awards (GHA). Entry to such awards shows a commitment to green issues and a conscious effort to improve environmental management within the hospitality sector.
There are a number of ways for a venue to go green, but every venue will be different. The first step is to create a policy tailored to your venue.
Jacky says: “In drafting an environmental policy, make sure your staff members are not only aware of it, but will be happy to stick to it. One way of ensuring staff buy-in to your green policy is to involve them during its development and encourage them to suggest from their own experience ways in which the venue could improve.
“Your venue could, for example, invest in online booking and management systems to reduce paper consumption as far as possible. As well as improving your carbon footprint, online systems can be more convenient for the meeting or conference booker. You could complement this with an increased paper recycling initiative and by making sure your printed promotional materials are all on recycled stock.”
Promoting public transport to and from your venue is another practical way of showing your venue’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions.
Jacky says: “If you don’t have bus routes or taxi ranks nearby, liaise with your local council and bus and taxi companies to change the situation.
“If you are actively encouraging your visiting delegates to use public transport, it should be seen as an advantage to everyone, and you may even be able to arrange special deals with service providers. You could also set up a car-sharing system for your staff.”
She adds: “Commission an energy report on your venue. This could identify problem areas where you are wasting energy. Resolving these issues will not only reduce your carbon footprint, but will save you money.”
There are long-term solutions, too, which require an initial investment but will pay dividends, such as investing in “micro-renewables”.
Says Jacky: “There are a number of ways to instal practical forms of renewable energy in your venue which can significantly cut down on your electricity costs while becoming a talking point when selling your venue to clients. For example, you could instal ground-source heat pumps, which take heat energy from the ground to heat water, or even solar panels, which can provide up to 50% of your heating requirements – and which can work even on the cloudiest of British days.”
She concludes: “If you are doing a good job of building up your venue’s green credentials, you ought to make a big deal of it, to make sure everyone knows.
“Buyers are on the lookout for venues with green values – the more highly rated, the better – and, increasingly, destinations that don’t take this fact into account seriously are losing out.
“A commitment to going green is more than just a way of helping the planet – it will go a long way to making your venue more modern, attractive and profitable.”
For more information on GTBS, visit www.green-business.co.uk. For more information on Aberdeen Convention Bureau, contact 01224 288815, or see www.aberdeen conferences.com