Green Mobility Hotel Award

Summary

The main goal of this measure was to create a Green Mobility Hotel Award and Labelling Scheme for hotels and to promote the adoption of a “Green Mobility Plan” for hotels, which is similar to a SUMP for a locality.

The purpose of the Green Mobility Hotel Award and Labelling Scheme is to encourage the hotel industry to further invest in green mobility initiatives and to reduce the carbon footprint of the service industry.

Implementing sustainable mobility

The starting point of the measure was defined via stakeholder consultation and desktop research. This baseline was used to design the specifications which guided the design and implementation of the pilot. This pilot included the development of the award criteria and label criteria and the process for the award and labelling scheme.

Submissions by hotels to the award competition were evaluated by an external committee. The measure also incorporated awareness raising and dissemination activities, including media promotion and workshops with hotels, and an award ceremony in March 2021. This saw the handing of the prize for the winning measures.

The implementation

The Ministry for Tourism published a tender for the subcontracting of professional services including stakeholder consultations, launching and monitoring the implementation of a pilot model structure within the hotel industry for a green mobility hotel award and labelling scheme.

One individual hotel and one partnership of hotels put forward a winning proposal for the Green Mobility Hotel Award and managed to obtain the Green Mobility Label. The individual hotel proposed a collection of measures (an electric passenger van, installation of a bike-sharing station, and the provision of cycling helmets and lockers), whereas the partnership of hotels proposed the purchase of an electric passenger van to be shared between the hotels for use by their visitors.

Response from the industry

There is interest from hotels in green mobility and an understanding that sustainability in the tourism industry is expected and appreciated by guests, as well as by their staff and the government. The impact of this measure is expected to be long-lasting, as it has encouraged hotels to develop and implement Green Mobility Plans, which will guide their mobility practices in the future.

Outcomes

Awareness level – 75% of the hotels in the Valletta region were aware of Green Mobility Hotel Award and Labelling Scheme

Audits carried out – 2 audits were carried out in hotels.

CO2 emissions reduction – 3,173 kg CO2 e/a.