Ramada Heathrow Lands Prestigious Gold Award from Green Tourism Business Scheme

May 26, 2010 - PRLog -- The Ramada Jarvis Heathrow, an award winning hotel, has become the first member of the national chain to gain the prestigious Gold Award for green tourism.

Ramada Jarvis, which boasts 42 hotels throughout the UK from Inverness to London, was the first nationwide hotel chain in Britain to boast exclusively green hotels after signing up to the Green Tourism Business Scheme three years ago.

As the first of the group to achieve a Gold Award from the GTBS, and despite its location, next to the busiest airport in the world, the Ramada Heathrow is at the forefront of helping to create a more environmentally friendly oasis in the heart of that part of London.

The GTBS, which has more than 2,000 members across the UK and is the largest accreditation scheme of its kind in the world, helps members minimise waste, promotes the use of local produce, and advises on how to use water and energy efficiently.

“We are proud of the management and team at the hotel and they are to be praised for their commitment here,” commented Andrew Pring, Regional Director for London and South. “The team fully embraced the green initiative and once again at Ramada we see more evidence of what can be done in environmentally friendly tourism, without compromising the comfort of our guests, or the standard of service delivered.”

“Ramada Jarvis hotels are well known for their quality and we’re delighted to prove that looking after the planet can go hand in hand with first class service.”

Environmental improvements identified by the GTBS for Ramada Jarvis have already paid dividends for the hotel chain.

“Since joining the scheme we’ve found that becoming sustainable is a sound commercial decision,” said Mr. Ross. “By making improvements which benefit the environment we reduced our utility bill by £1million a year.

“There’s also a huge competitive advantage in having an independently audited award that tells consumers what we are trying to do.”

The GTBS allocates Bronze, Silver and Gold awards to members who are assessed by independent auditors on a raft of more than 150 measures, including the use of efficient lighting and heating, nature conservation, renewable energy and local produce among others.

“We’re delighted that the Ramada Jarvis Heathrow has achieved a Gold Award,” said Andrea Nichols, Director of the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

“We’ve helped deliver sweeping environmental improvements for the chain and we shall make sure that the high standards are not only kept but continually improved upon.

“It all goes to show that going green doesn’t have to mean sacrifice for customers or firms. Every Ramada Jarvis hotel in the country stands as testimony to the trilogy saving the planet, satisfied customers and financial rewards.”  

The Heathrow Hotel won the top accolade from GTBS after instigating a wide range of measures to reduce the waste of resources and promote sustainable business practices.

“The Ramada Heathrow has had to undertake a number of practical actions to minimize the hotel's carbon footprint and continue to make progress in reducing energy waste and water use,” said Jon Proctor, Technical Director of the GTBS.

“As a new build the hotel has incorporated many eco-design features, including rainwater harvesting and an award winning heat pump system and triple glazing, but it has also incorporated less obvious green projects such as an electronic water softening kit and CHP unit.

“Furthermore the whole staff have had to take on greening the operations within the building, including organic menu options, recycling food waste, monitoring energy use, introducing staff awareness programmes and getting involved in community projects which have all helped to further establish it as a leading UK eco-hotel.”


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Notes to Editors:
For further information on the GTBS scheme please visit www.green-business.co.uk