Green hotels recognised in Sri Lanka
Greening Sri Lanka Hotels was initiated by the Responsible Tourism Partnership (RTP) in association with the Ministry of Tourism and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda, Director General Ministry of Finance and Planning, and Professor Sarath Kotagama have been instrumental in advising the Responsible Tourism Partnership to initiate and deliver this programme as a timely action for the tourism industry.
The programme was launched early last year inviting hotels to join in the tourism hotel sector climate change mitigation programme, 39 hotels registered covering different scale, type of hotels and locations including Colombo, Kaluthara, Beruwela, Bentota, Tissamaharamaya, Trincomalee, Galle, Hikkaduwa, Yala, Bandarawela, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Negombo, Habarana, Sigiriya and Dambulla.
The objective of the Greening Sri Lanka Hotels was to optimise energy efficiency and conservation of natural resources towards making the hospitality sector more sustainable. While reducing the carbon footprint addressing climate change global issues, the main aim was to assist hotels to reduce costs of operations
(Source: Sunday Observer – 4th April, 2010)