THE first edition of World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi, the international conference and exhibition, opened doors under the patronage of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
The event, organised by the UAE’s Streamline Marketing Group, was designed to give travel and tourism industry leaders and investors greater insights into sustainability within the sector and how it can be used to enhance business outcomes.
Sheikh Sultan, a noted promoter of sustainability practices, called the conference a platform for guest speakers, exhibitors and delegates to discuss and debate issues that will reinvent the tourism industry and shape its future for the years to come.
“Green tourism, for many, has been a niche concept. Unfortunately, many still face constraints of commercial reality. This forum will help change that misconception. Green tourism is the new commercial reality” said Sheikh Sultan in his opening address at the three-day conference held at Adnec, Abu Dhabi.
YouGovSiraj, the leading research company, recently conducted a survey of over 3,400 respondents across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the UK, about their perceptions on the green tourism industry. Responses revealed that one out of every five people were concerned about tourism’s environmental footprint and were willing to spend more.
“We in Abu Dhabi are building an industry to make a difference on a number of levels – economically, to our social fabric and to the preservation of our cultural heritage and natural assets – in short, we are working not just for immediate benefits, but for the future. We are ensuring the efforts of today are sustained for the long-term and this event will help ensure our initiatives are recognised and replicated across the public and private sectors in Abu Dhabi, regionally and across the globe,” added Sheikh Sultan.
ADTA has laid out various environmental initiatives including the establishment of the world’s first Environmental Health and Safety Management System (EHSMS) for the entire tourism segment. Focussing initially on the hospitality sector it calls on accommodation providers to design their own EHSMS systems with annual targets for water, energy and waste-to-landfill savings. “By the end of this year all Abu Dhabi hotels and hotel apartments will have their own EHSMS systems making us the highest concentration of hotels with a compliant EHMS,” he added.
Embedded in the EHSMS system is the Abu Dhabi green hotels programme. This will be an extension of Estidma’s Pearl Rating System and will be the first government green design guidelines for new hotels. ADTA will pilot these guidelines when it open the five-star hotel in the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort. Following this, all new hotels will have a green rating alongside their star rating.
“We want this hotel to be a showcase for sustainable hospitality. This is where guests will stay in total harmony with nature and wildlife and with the highest green building standards,” added Sheikh Sultan.
ADTA has also launched a category on environmental performance into the desert camp classification system which will be implemented in the new year. Another initiative led by the authority is to providing regular EHS training to its hospitality partners. “To assist our partners, we have created a web-based application where hotels can see how they are performing against their targets. They can also compare themselves with other hotels,” explained Sheikh Sultan.
All these initiatives are timely in 2010 as the tourism authority celebrates the UN’s International Year of biodiversity.
The ADTA chairman used the event to lay out Abu Dhabi’s approach to green tourism and sustainability. “Quite simply we are very much in favour of it,” he said. “We are determined to deliver and we want to work with others of a like mind.”