The HAI and Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) signed a MoU which is a partnership between the two organisations to create awareness and promote sustainability and the certification thereof among HAI Member hotels.
The Hotel Association of India (HAI) organised a Sustainability Conclave: Life @ 100 reaffirming the commitment of its members to sustainable practices in their operations and policies. The Conclave was organised in partnership with Jaquar Group at their LEED platinum certified office located in Manesar.
Suman Billa Additional Secretary (Tourism) Government of India in his keynote address at the Event emphasized the need for growing responsibly, setting collective goals and the need of a proactive role of the industry in the policy framework.
While congratulating the Association, Mugdha Sinha, DG (Tourism) GoI in a special video message made perceptive comments about the responsibilities of circular economy, and how small steps from every person can make all the difference. She spoke about green tourism, green energy, capacity building and the need for comprehensive planning of infrastructure aligned with nature .She highlighted the importance of strong collaboration and synergy between the industry and the government.
The ministry of environment forests and climate change (MoEFCC) was represented by its Additional Secretary, Dr. Amandeep Garg who made a comprehensive and informative presentation on government’s initiative of LiFE (Lifestyle for environment) succinctly bringing out the many dimensions of the concept and also identifying how to implement it in the tourism sector.
The HAI and Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) were able to ink a memorandum of understanding at the event. The MoU is a partnership between the two organisations to create awareness and promote sustainability and the certification thereof among HAI Member hotels.
While the first panel discussion revolved around energy efficiency, reducing GHG emissions, renewable energy, and hospitality sector’s role in sustainability, circular economy, and water conservation was discussed in in the second panel. Ajay Bakaya , EC Member HAI and Managing Director of Sarovar Hotels chaired the first panel and the other panels was chaired by the Vice Chair for South Asia of the GSTC CB Ramkumar. Domain experts from travel and tourism shared best practices and discussed the road ahead on sustainability including roadblocks and challenges.
Speaking on the occasion, K.B. Kachru, President HAI Chairman – South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, while re-iterating HAI’s commitment to responsible tourism emphasised collaboration among stakeholders, industry and government as the key to success. Investment in training and resources that empower hotels to progress on their respective journeys of sustainability is the other factor what will drive India to its goals of Netzero he said.
The highlight of the Event was the HAI pledge for Life administered by the Association’s Vice President, Rohit Khosla Executive Vice President (Operations) IHCL in which Members committed to make all efforts to make their hotels net zero by 2050 well ahead of the government target of making India net zero by 2070.
A virtual fire-side chat between Liz Ortiguera, Managing Director of Asia‑Pacific, World Travel & Tourism Council and the chief Sustainability & Security Officer, Radisson Group, Inje Huijbrechts brought to fore the global perspective on sustainability in tourism & hospitality.
