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Green Stays: Certified Sustainable Hotels |
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Green Stays: Certified Sustainable Hotels
Sustainable tourism has graduated from being a buzzword in the
eco-friendly crowd to becoming a key component many travelers consider
before booking a room. "People are willing to pay five to ten percent
more if they can be assured that their money is going to a good cause,"
said Jessica Webb, communications associate with Rainforest Alliance, a
nonprofit organization that helps businesses become more sustainable.
"The question that many people have is how I know this so called
eco-lodge really is ecologically responsible?" said Webb.
The answer lies in certification. Costa Rica's Tourism Board (ICT) has
developed the Certified Sustainable Tourism Program (CST), which
evaluates and certifies businesses in the tourism industry according to
how their operations comply with four main aspects of sustainable
practices that, taken together, fulfill the goal of sustainable tourism:
so that the country's natural, cultural and social resources are not
exploited to promote development, but rather harnessed to encourage
long-term, low impact positive development in communities.
Areas examined by the CST include physical biological parameters,
meaning how the hotel interacts with its environment; infrastructure and
services, which includes management practices; external clients'
practices; and socioeconomic environment, including interaction with
local communities.
Hotel Villa Blanca is one of Costa Rica's three hotels with the highest
rating, five leaves. Rebecca Zuniga, the hotel's sales manager, said
"our clients love knowing that they're helping the environment." Using
local labor has also helped Villa Blanca garner a positive reputation.
"Because 95% of our employees come from the area around San Ram6n, the
local idiosyncrasy is felt at Villa Blanca. The rural warmth and charm
are very much alive, especially since our staff is proud to work here.
Our guests frequently comment on the quality of our hospitality," she said.
Webb feels that Costa Rica's sustainable tourism initiative is a strong
step forward for the industry. "With recognized certification, we will
see increased consumer demand," she said. The CST is important,
according to Webb, because "from the consumer's point of view, this is
an answer to green washing in that people want to know that [the
business] they're choosing to support actually engages in the practices
they say they do." The RFA advises businesses on how to best approach
the certification, and then markets those who have achieved a CST rating.
There are currently 61 hotels in different stages of the CST process in
Costa Rica. CST awards one to five leaves to businesses as they
implement more sustainable practices. Costa Rica currently boasts just
three five-leaf hotels, but with an increasingly eco-savvy con¬sumer
base and raised consciousness among hoteliers, industry insiders expect
this number to increase.
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