The first S Group hotels were Green Key certified in spring 2015. All eight Radisson Blu Hotels in Finland as well as 35 Sokos Hotels out of the chain’s 50 hotels are already involved in the programme. The latest hotels to be Green Key certified are the Break Sokos Hotels Koli and Vuokatti as well as the Original Sokos Hotels Koljonvirta in Iisalmi, Rikala in Salo, Alexandra in Jyväskylä and City Börs and Hamburger Börs in Turku.
“We are advancing towards our goal with sure steps. We want to make the consideration of environmental matters a part of the everyday life of our employees and customers at all our hotels,” says Concept Manager Janina Nurmela from the chain management of SOK’s travel industry and hospitality business.
Responsibility as a key focus area
S Group’s corporate responsibility programme ‘The Best Place to Live’ and its 100 responsibility measures are also visible in S Group’s hotels. The Green Key certificates are at the centre of the corporate responsibility efforts. Hotels that have received the certificate are committed to raising the environmental awareness of employees and custom-ers, making more efficient use of energy and water and reducing the environmental impact of accommodation op-erations, among other things.
“Green Key is a versatile approach to corporate responsibility in the travel industry and more than a certificate on the wall. Examples of concrete actions include accurate sorting of waste, turning off unnecessary lighting, reducing printouts and taking local partners and food producers into account in procurement,” says Janina Nurmela.
In 2017, the Sustainable Brand Index study chose Sokos Hotels as the most trusted and responsible hotel brand in Finland for the third year in a row.
Green Key in a nutshell:
- International certificate that has been granted to over 2,500 hotels and other companies in 55 countries.
- The hotel must meet 66 mandatory environmental criteria tailored for the accommodation industry and provide a report of its environmental work in its application.
- The programme includes audits on site that are performed annually at first and later every three years.
- The certificate is granted based on an application and audit report. The decision is made by the Green Key jury that comprises experts in environmental protection, the travel and accommodation industry and corpo-rate responsibility.
- The certificate is applied for on an annual basis, and the applicants also report the results of their environ-mental efforts as well as their new goals.