News & Stories
Stubaital. Waterfall versus energy industy: In Stubaital, one of the most tourist intensive regions in Austria, a "WildWaterPark" has been created. It serves as the cornerstone against the advances of the ever hungry energy industry.
Augsburg. Climate protection is "in", and in no other area can it be carried out as efficiently and quickly as in heating and insulating buildings. In Germany, various funding programmes make modernizing heating systems and improving energy efficiency of buildings more attractive. Altogether, the Federal Government provided 3.3 billion euros for measures encouraging climate protection in 2008. In December 2007 and May 2008, 14 laws and seven additional measures were passed to help Germany approach its goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent in 2020 - compared to the base year of 1990. The following articles gives an overview, including a table of the different programmes.
New York. U.S. business travelers are increasingly making daily choices to reduce their environmental impact, and they have specific expectations about the green practices hotels should be adopting today.
Zurich. "Compared to the climate change, the water crisis is definitely more threatening. We are already suffering the effects today, and not probably hundred years from now." Peter Brabeck, President of Nestlé, one of the most renowned economic leaders, said this to about 200 entrepreneurs at a lunch organised by the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich, and he truly shook them up. At the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, the water crisis will be on the agenda, said Brabeck. He is a member of the founding committee of the World Economic Forum. hospitalityInside.com also asked six leading luxury hoteliers how they save water in their hotels.
Windsor/London. Insiders know the InterContinental Hotels Group for shaping an eco-friendly hotel concept for years. Last week, the group made its "green" credentials public. The solar powered "Innovation Hotel" outlines the latest technology in energy and water conservation and recycling.
Duesseldorf. A study has confirmed it: The largest contribution to carbon dioxide production in the European Union is the use of office space and of communications and information technologies. Heating, lighting and air-conditioning in these buildings as well as CO2 emissions caused through the journey to and from the office form the greatest danger to the environment.
Chevy Chase. From now on, guests of the Ritz-Carlton hotels can engage themselves in local aid projects during their holidays around the globe. In the so-called 'Give Back Getaways' programmes, guests have many different opportunities to support disadvantaged people or engage themselves in environmental protection during their spare time. In Cancun, for example, people can look after protected sea turtles or lend a helping hand renovating the children's hospice Sonnenhof of the Bjoern Schulz Foundation in Berlin.
Geneva. Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual "Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008", released by the World Economic Forum. Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Canada and France complete the top-10 list.
Frankfurt. The planning and organisation of environmentally friendly conferences and events is increasingly well represented on the agendas of German event organisers. Germans think greener than their colleagues in most other European countries.
Innsbruck. Globally speaking, around one percent of all CO2 emissions can be traced back to the accommodation industry. Now, as part of its contribution to climate protection, Austria's hotel industry intends to decrease its CO2 emissions and demands a compensation system for so doing - but that inland, in Austria itself. For this, industry representatives require support from the taxpayer. Austria will be especially hit by climate change - the country's economy is completely dependent on tourism.