PHL hotels, resorts among the ‘greenest’ in Asean

FIVE Philippine hotels and resorts were recognized as “Asean Green Hotels” at the just-concluded Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) in the City of Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia.

The hotels and resorts, whose awards were given by the Department of Tourism (DOT) on January 20, were The Manor at Camp John Hay and the Baguio Country Club in Baguio City, Benguet province; Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort in Puerto Princesa City and Pangalusian Island-El Nido Resort, both in Palawan province; and Amarela Resort in Bohol province.

Asean, which stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is comprised of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to Tourism Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato Jr., “The primary objective of this award is to provide the well-deserved recognition to hotels that go beyond conventional practices and embark on green and environment-friendly measures in support of responsible tourism. All Asean countries accorded awards to their stakeholders during the week of the ATF.”

He explained that all hotels and resorts in the Asean region are invited to vie for the awards, which are given biennially. “Current and past winners submitted compliance reports/bids to their respective national tourism organizations [i.e., the DOT in the Philippines] and vetted by an NTO-led audit team in strict accordance with Asean green-hotel standards, which were rolled out before 2008,” he said.

The bids are then processed and audited by the DOT in partnership with a non-governmental organization, like the Zero Carbon Resorts. The country short list is then endorsed to the Asean Green Hotel recognition committee.

“The awards’ criteria and requirements cover environmental policy and actions for hotel operation; use of green products; collaboration with the community and local organizations; human-resource development; solid-waste management; energy efficiency; water efficiency; air-quality management [indoor and outdoor]; noise-pollution control; waste-water treatment and management; and toxic- and chemical-substance disposal management,” Boncato said.

Growth in visitor arrivals

THE recognition received by the five hotels and resorts came as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecast on January 20 a 5-percent to 6-percent growth in visitor arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region for 2014.

According to the organization’s just-released World Tourism Barometer, there was a 6-percent increase in demand for international tourism in the Asia Pacific in 2013. Visitor arrivals in the region rose to 248 million last year, accounting for 23 percent of the 1.09 billion global visitor arrivals.

International arrivals expanded by 5 percent last year, which was seen as surprising, considering that the global economy remains sluggish. The UNWTO earlier forecast a 3-percent to 4-percent growth in international tourist arrivals for 2013.

In a statement, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said “the positive results of 2013, and the expected global economic improvement in 2014, set the scene for another positive year for international tourism. Against this backdrop, [the] UNWTO calls upon national governments to increasingly set up national strategies that support the sector and to deliver on their commitment to fair and sustainable growth.”

The barometer also noted the Philippines’s 19.6-percent increase in inbound tourist-receipts from January to September 2013, ranking among the countries that posted double-digit growth.

The Philippines was in fourth place in terms of tourist receipts growth, after Thailand (27.5 percent), Japan (24.6 percent) and Hong Kong (20.6 percent). As per the DOT, the Philippines’s tourist receipts for the reference period reached $3.08 billion (P139 billion). Its full-year target for inbound travel spending was $4.6 billion (P205 billion). (See “Tourism to contribute 10% to economy by 2016,” BusinessMirror, January 9, 2014.)

At the same time, the UNWTO report also cited the Philippines as among the countries with the largest increases in outbound tourist receipts.

Filipinos’ spending for their travels abroad grew by 18 percent in 2013, according to Rifai, ranking just behind the citizens of Turkey (up 24 percent) and Qatar (up 18 percent).

Also on January 20 Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. met with the UNWTO head to personally thank him for the support the organization gave to the Philippines in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan). Both were in Kuching for the ATF.

Last November the UNWTO said it was ready to support any tourism-related recovery program in the areas affected by Yolanda. For its part, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) said it would earmark $10,000 from the Pata Foundation for contribution to the Philippine disaster-relief fund.

The DOT chief said he was also going to meet with Pata representatives attending the ATF, as well as Asean tourism partners, to also express the Philippines’s gratitude for their swift action in helping Yolanda survivors. –Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror