Started in 2007, the Macao Green Hotel Award is organised by the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) in collaboration with the Macao Government Tourism Office.
MACAO – The Venetian Macao has been awarded the Macao Green Hotel Platinum Award, the first and only hotel in Macao to earn the new top designation of platinum, which was introduced in the latest edition of the awards.
Award criteria met by the integrated resort include showing evidence of year-on-year waste reduction; availability of electric vehicle parking spaces and charging stations for staff and guests; establishing an eco-friendly mattress replacement programme; monitoring the environmental performance of shuttle buses, including turning off idling engines; establishing a management plan for reducing food waste; and carrying out regular carbon audits to identify areas for improvement.
The Parisian Macao – newly eligible after opening in September 2016 – received its first award, in the Gold category, as did the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip.
Five other hotels at Sands China properties maintain Gold designations from previous years’ awards: Sands® Macao; The St. Regis Macao, Cotai Central; Conrad Macao, Cotai Central; Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central; and Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central.
“Sands China is truly honoured by this distinction,” said Mark McWhinnie, the company’s senior vice president of resort operations and development. “Our company continues to develop and implement innovations as part of the Sands ECO360 global sustainability strategy of our parent company, Las Vegas Sands Corp. This strategy has helped Sands China remain at the forefront of sustainable operations in our industry, while continuing to further reduce our impact on the environment.”
Examples of Sands China’s application of the Sands ECO360 strategy at its properties include the company’s ongoing efforts on resource conservation. Energy-saving LED lights and the optimization of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems saved a total of 21 million kWh of electricity in 2017 – enough to power more than 50,000 households for one month.
The company reports annually to the Carbon Footprint Repository for Listed Companies in Hong Kong, and reports to the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) Climate Change programme, with an external auditor verifying the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. Sands China utilises food waste digesters at all its properties, and has been able to continue decreasing the waste generated per guestroom, even with annual increases in guest visitation. And back-of-house programmes like the Clean Plate Challenge have been successful in decreasing food waste.
Started in 2007, the Macao Green Hotel Award is organised by the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) in collaboration with the Macao Government Tourism Office. The award was launched to raise the awareness of the importance of environmental management in Macao’s hotel industry and to commend those hotels which have adopted environmental measures.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
