Hilton Hotels commits to responsible tourism
22. Sep, 2008
1 Comment
Johannesburg – Hilton Hotels South Africa has announced its commitment to the short and long term goals and objectives outlined by Hilton Hotels Corporation towards building sustainability. As a global business serving more than a quarter billion guests a year in more than 3,000 hotels across 74 countries, the company is well-positioned to make a difference environmentally.
“Hilton South Africa, as with all Hilton sites around the world must operate in a way that is sensitive to the challenges facing the environment,” says Axel Hauser, general manager of the Hilton Sandton. “The demand for energy in South Africa is a major concern, and we have addressed this issue in both our Sandton and Durban operations, taking pressure off the local power grids through the use of generators.”
Over the past year, Hilton Hotels, along with external consultants, has conducted a thorough assessment of its global operations with the goal of identifying current impacts, and creating a strategy to define, galvanise and build sustainability into the business. A cross-section of Hilton Hotels were visited, and various business units interviewed analysing the company’s operating procedures. As a result of these efforts, corporate and brand management teams are able to identify specific areas of focus to build the company’s sustainability framework focusing on short and long term value creation.
By 2014, goals for Hilton Hotels include:
- Reduce energy consumption from direct operations by 20%
- Reduce Co2 emissions by 20%
- Reduce output of waste by 20% and
- Reduce water consumption by 10%.
In addition to the short-term targets, Hilton Hotels has committed to focus on several high-impact areas, specifically its buildings and operations, including the advancement of sustainable design and construction, operations, chemical management and purchasing. The company is also committed to the advancement of renewable energy as a source of power for its operations, not only to reduce its carbon footprint but to develop a viable commercial infrastructure for powering hotels and corporate offices.
Hilton Hotels has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability with several projects that currently are underway around the world. In an attempt to conserve energy, the Hilton Sandton and the Hilton Durban each saved 10% of their electricity consumption in the past two years. In the European region, energy and water consumption already have been reduced by 10% during the last two years. In the U.K. and Ireland, the introduction of carbon-free electricity has reduced CO2 emissions in participating Hilton hotels by more than 64,000 tons, or 56% of our carbon footprint.
“To meet the growing demand of increased travel both in South Africa, and around the world, we must be able to do so in a sustainable fashion while still delivering unsurpassed levels of hospitality, including a better night’s sleep, an enhanced dining experience and a more productive meeting,” says Gerhard Patzer, general manager of the Hilton Durban. “We must operate our business in ways that provide for our current needs while allowing future generations to meet their own needs – this is the essence of sustainability.”
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] Netherlands National Team has chosen the Hilton Sandton as the official Dutch base-camp hotel for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Dutch team were the first [...]