Hong Kong, 3 May 2019 - The inaugural G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference concluded as a great success on 26 April 2019, as over 160 hospitality professionals, enterprises specializing in sustainable solutions, NGOs and charities unequivocal about their respective causes from human rights to food waste and poverty alleviation, and sustainable living advocates gathered at Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong to explore options and strategies for the continual growth and strengthening of the hospitality industry while maintaining industry-wide sustainability standards.
Hosted by Soap Cycling, in partnership with the Faculty of Business and Economics of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and The Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI), funded by the Council for Sustainable Development’s Sustainable Development Fund, the conference covered various challenges faced by global hospitality industry today, from the reduction and recycling of solid and food waste, environment conservation, employment and empowerment, prevention of exploitation recruitment to single-use plastic strategies, and single-use soap recycling.
“Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong is pleased to be the venue sponsor today. We are committed to building a culture, value, and practices of being less wasteful, and a large part of that commitment is made possible through our partnership with green and sustainability institutions and organizations, such as Soap Cycling. One small green initiative we are launching this year is “Green Meeting”, which helps event planners offset all carbon emission with certificates to validate the effort. By engaging more people in sustainability initiatives, we hope to spread the awareness,” said Shane Pateman, Managing Director of Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong. From electronic signage, filtered water in lieu of bottled water to vegetarian lunch menu and reusable cutlery, Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong showcased a hotel business’ capacity in supporting and providing sustainable event solutions through its “CONNECT Conferences” initiatives.
“Sustainability is a second language for all of us and nobody speaks it fluently, and the G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference today has a great mix of panels and interactive workshops to equip attendees with the knowledge to make sustainable choices. The attendee base is great: it has hotel professionals who are either from sustainability departments or roles and operation roles together, with solution providers primarily of social enterprises. I really look forward to coming to the G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference next year,” said Eric Ricaurte, one of the speakers at the conference, also founder and CEO of Greenview, an international consultancy helping travel and tourism catalyze innovation and best practice through strategy, programs, data management, and reporting.
“From the conference today we now know that there are many people out there that want to work together and collaborate towards a more sustainable future. Sustainability is a team sport, and it’s a collaborative effort, and so by getting everybody together, sharing not only successes but also some failures, I think we’re all getting smarter and better together,” said David Bishop, founder of Soap Cycling and principal lecturer at The University of Hong Kong.
The conference would not have been possible without the dedicated hard work of student interns at Soap Cycling and FSI, who signed up to the HKU FBE’s Social Venture Management Internship Course (SVM Course) for the opportunity to gain hands-on business experience and solve real-life problems, such as securing sponsorship and partnership as well as compiling sustainability reports for the G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference.
The G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to the speakers and partners and sponsors for their indispensable inspiration and support.
Stay tuned to G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference’s website, social media channels, blog posts and newsletters for the hackathon taking place in October this year.