What is ECOTEL? |
| ECOTEL® is an environmental certification specific for hospitality. It enables hotels to be truly green and sustainable over the long term – by involving the entire value chain of owners, architects, operators, employees, suppliers and hotel guests. |
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What is ECOTEL’s mission? |
| ECOTEL’s mission is "to enable hotels to achieve a strategic and economic advantage through environment-friendly operations, systems and processes while positively impacting their local communities.” |
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Does it cost more to be an ECOTEL? |
| No. In fact, ECOTELs have consistently demonstrated through a focused effort on reducing waste generation and increasing operational efficiencies, that ‘going green’ is good for the bottomline. |
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How is ECOTEL different from other environmental certifications? |
| While most environment sustainability certifications lay emphasis on the building of hotels and physical structures, we consider the day-to-day operations to be of similar importance. Our certification works towards economising the usage of resources on a day-to-day basis. |
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Are there any minimum criteria for a hotel to qualify for an ECOTEL certification? |
| Yes, the minimum criteria called the ‘primary criteria’ are predetermined important qualifiers set in the audit checklist that must be satisfied for a hotel to be considered as an ECOTEL. |
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How long is an ECOTEL certification valid for? |
| The certification is valid for two years and hotels seeking an upgrade or recertification must apply at the end of two years. However, an unannounced visit may be made by our team during this period, to check on the hotel’s ECOTEL practices and review progress in target areas. |
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If, for any reason, a prospective ECOTEL is found to fall marginally short of the required minimum standards during its Audit, what must it do? |
| An action plan is prepared with time-bound guidelines, with the objective of assisting the hotel to either take corrective steps in the necessary areas, or implement other environmentally friendly measures that would allow it meet or exceed the minimum standards for an ECOTEL. |
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Is ECOTEL applicable to international hotels also? |
| Yes, it is since it is designed specifically for hospitality, irrespective of the member hotel’s country of origin. Many hotels from the USA, South America, and Japan have been members in the past. And, we will shortly be restarting the office in the USA, which will undertake the certification for hotels there. |
