Eco-labelProject – Marketing for tourism 2006

Work on the Implementation of the EU Eco-label Scheme

in the Areas of MarketingLot 8

Presentation Hotel meetings, Cyprus30 March – 1 April 2006

Report

April, 2006Maria Menounou, Speed SA

On behalf of the European Commission

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Introduction

In the framework of the project “Work on the implementation of the EU Eco-label scheme in the areas of marketing, product group development and stakeholder representation; Lot 8”, one of the obligations of SPEED SA is to get in contact and meet the interested tourist accommodations in order to inform them regarding the EU Eco-label and provide them technical support.

The present report describes the acquisition activities that were held during 30th March to 1st April by Maria Menounou from SPEED SA in Cyprus.

Activities

Firstly, the project team conducted with the Competent Body of Cyprus, in order to get information about the hotels and hotel chains in Cyprus that are interested in applying for the Ecolabel. The contact person in Cyprian Competent Body is Mrs Eleni Stilianopoulou.

Mrs Stilianopoulou provided the project team the names of six (6) hotels and hotel chains. Following, there is the list of the aforementioned hotels and further information about them:

Name of accommodation Type Name of contact

person (Hotel Director)

Location

Tochni Tavern

(Member of Cyprus Villages – Traditional Houses)

Agrotourist hotels chain Sofronis Potamitis Tochni - Larnaca

Olympic Lagoon Resort Hotel (member of chain) Christos Pericou Ayia Napa

Coral Beach Hotel & Resort

(Member of Leptos Calypso Hotels)

Hotel (member of chain) Michalis Evangelides Paphos - Coral Beach

Louis Imperial Beach Hotel

(Member of Louis Hotels)

Hotel (member of chain) Christos Zenios Paphos

Aliathon Hotel Themis Philippides Paphos

New Helvetia Traditional Hotel Nikos Matheou Platres

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Day 1 meetings

“Tochni Villages”

The first hotel to be visited was “Tochni Villages” at the village of Tochni close to Larnaca city. The hotel is a member of an agrotourist hotel chain called “Cyprus villages”, which was established in 1987 in an effort to revive rural communities and preserve the traditional houses. Those traditional houses are fully re-novated old family houses that were abandoned years ago and are located in the regions of Tochni, Troodos and Akamas - Pafos.

The meeting was arranged with Mr. Potamitis, the Hotel Chain Manager on 30th March at Tochni Tavern. Mr Potamitis was already informed about the Eco-label, so Mrs Menounou provided him with information on the application procedure, the require-ments of the criteria, the economic aspects, the use of the Flower and other practical issues that he was interested in. Mr Potamitis expresses his willingness in applying for the flower as he believes that the character of the hotels he manages are aligned with that of Eco-label and he considers that the EU flower is an added value for his agrotourist business. He mentioned that many environmental friendly practices required by the Eco-label criteria, are already applied at the traditional houses he manages, such as water and energy saving, waste separation and management, traditional dishes serve and information to the guests for the environmental policy they have. The only issues were:

o the windows insulation, as the houses are traditional and Mr Potamitis did not know if he could insulate them,

o the energy (electricity and electricity for heating) from RES, for the same reasons and

o the proper disposal of recycled and hazardous waste, as he was not aware of services and plants in Cyprus for recycled and hazardous waste treatment.

The check list was filled with Mr Potamitis, who kept it for further help.

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“Olympic Lagoon Resort”

The second hotel visited was Olympic Lagoon Resort, a Four Star Superior hotel at Ayia Napa with 259 rooms. It is a member of Kanika Hotels Plc Group, a public company listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange that owns and operates the following three hotels & resorts in Cyprus:

o Alexander the Great Beach Hotel in Pafos

o Olympic Lagoon Resort in Ayia Napa

o Kanika Pantheon Hotel in Limassol

The Olympic Lagoon Resort is awarded with

o Argo Holidays Best Hotel 2004

o Libra Holidays Best four-star hotel in Ayia Napa

o Thomson Holidays Gold Medal Award of Excellence for Outstanding Environmental Commitment

o ISO 9002, ISO 14001 and HACCP

The Eco-label was presented to the Group Hotel General Manager Mr Christos Pericou. After the presentation of the Eco-label and the benefits it offers, Mr Pericou was interested in go through one-by-one both the mandatory and optional criteria with Mrs Menounou, in order to examine the hotel’s compliance with them and the possibility of acquiring the EU flower. Together, they filled the check list that Mr Pericou kept for a further study.

It became clear that it is very easy for the Hotel to apply for the Eco-label, as through the application of ISO 14001, many investments have taken place in order to improve the hotel’s environmental performance.

The only issue was waste, but Mr Pericou mentioned that they already recycle paper and they are willing to search for more recycling options. Additionally, they are positive in changing to refillables in order to minimize plastic waste from one-use soap and shampoo packages.

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Day 2 meetings

“Coral Beach Hotel & Resort”

The second day presentations started with Coral Beach Hotel & Resort a five star resort hotel, located on the edge of the Akamas peninsula, an area protected by UNESCO, close to Paphos. The hotel has 421 luxurious rooms and is a member of Leptos Calypso Hotels, a hotel chain operating in Cyprus and Greece.

The Coral Beach Hotel & Resort has been awarded the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points). Mrs Menounou had a meeting with Mr Michalis Evangelides, Hotel Manager and Mr Savidis, Hotel’s Chief Engineer. The presentation of the Eco-label was accompanied by a discussion on the criteria and the prospects of the hotel to get awarded with the eco-label. Most of the criteria are already fulfilled, through ISO 14001, but the hotel’s major hindrance is electricity and electricity for water heating from RES related criteria, as their application requires significant investments and technical works that are not willing to proceed to, at the present time.

They showed no interest to go through the check list with Mrs Menounou, but they kept it for future use.

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“Louis Imperial Beach Hotel”

The second meeting was held at Louis Imperial Beach Hotel. The hotel is a member of Louis Hotel’s chain that currently owns and operates 25 hotels throughout the islands of Cyprus and Greece (Cefalonia, Zakynthos, Kos, Rhodes, Crete and Mykonos). The 25 units comprise of 4 & 5 star hotels, A’ category hotel apartments, & holiday villages in Cyprus and A' category hotels in the Greek Islands.

Louis Imperial Beach Hotel is located on the western coast of Cyprus, in the town of Pafos. It is a four star Mediterranean Club style hotel offering high standards of accommodation. It has 239 rooms refurbished and renovated during winter 2002/03. The hotel has been awarded the ‘Blue Flag’, an award that guarantees the cleanliness of the waters as well as the hotel’s beach.

Christos Zenios, Area Manager Limassol - Pafos, and Mrs Menounou had a conversation on the Eco-label and the prospect of the hotel to apply for it. Mr Zenios said that they would like to use Eco-label as a guidance to energy and water saving and a tool to improve their environmental performance. They are very troubled with the water and energy uncontrolled consumption that in combination with the high cost of those resources leads to excess cost. The cost of water rises year by year as there is little rainfall and the reservoirs lower. The same happens with electricity, as Cyprus is obligated to produce it using oil, which has the consequence that electricity cost fluctuates in a corresponding manner with the oil market trends.

Mr Zenios had not much time available to fill the check list during the meeting, but he kept it to study it by himself.

Concluding, they are very interested in proceeding with applying for Eco-label after the necessary technical interventions applied.

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“The Aliathon Village Hotel Apartments”

The fifth meeting was arranged and held at The Aliathon Village Hotel Apartments, which is situated in the resort of Kato Pafos. The hotel has ISO 9002 certification. Its bungalow style accommodation consists of 98 studios and one-bedroom apartments.

Participants at the meeting were: Mr G. Kassianos, General Manager, Mr T. Philippides Managing Director, his sister Mrs G. Philippidou Director and the hotel’s Architect Dr. L. Lazarou.

There was a presentation of Eco-label for tourist accommodation and the benefits of applying for it, which was followed by a discussion focus on the capability of the hotel to be awarded with the flower. Mrs Menounou also explained them the procedure of applying for the Flower and the requirements of the criteria.

They showed enthusiasm in changing to environmental friendly practices, as they are oriented to transform their hotel in a green one. They were also willing to make technical changes to the accommodation in order to save energy and water. They are currently refurbishing the hotel and they have planned the installation of automatic switch-off systems for the lights and air-conditions, where not already installed. They expressed their intensions for applying for Eco-label as soon as possible.

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Day 3 meeting

“New Helvetia Hotel”

The last presentation was addressed to N.P. Mattheou, Managing Director of the New Helvetia Hotel in Platres, a village at Troodos Mountain.

New Helvetia Hotel is traditional and has been family owned since 1929. It has 25 rooms and 8 junior suites. The hotel has been awarded with Green Globe.

Mr Mattheou was already informed about the Eco-label and the discussion with him was focused on practical issues, such as the fulfilment of the criteria, the changes they have to do, the marketing options and the structuring of the application dossier. Mr Mattheou went through the check list with the help of Mrs Menounou in order to draw a picture on the requirements of the criteria.

They already apply some “green” techniques, such as refillable bottles and packaging, no plastic use, water regulators, and others.

He mentioned that his guests are environmentally conscious and nature lovers and they would appreciate to stay in a hotel that respects the environment. This fact and the economy that will be accomplished through the criteria fulfilment are strong arguments for him to apply for the Eco-label.

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Dissemination material

The material prepared and disseminated to the hotels visited included the following:

o Information sheet on Eco-label in tourist accommodation services from www.eco-label-tourism.com/downloads/general/geninfo_0403.pdf. (English)

o A page including all the internet addresses for Eco-label and the available downloadable material. (English)

o A check list on the applicability of the criteria (Greek)

o Ecolabel InfoBrochure (Greek)