Many years ago, business, industry and services sectors were not too concerned about the environment, pollution, waste generation, using high energy and excessive water consumption, and carried on regardless of the impact on nature.
Today, however, things are changing fast as -- not only national and international conservation and environment protection agencies but also the consumers of these products and services, are demanding adherence of best practices of protecting environment and conserving water and energy. This is especially what European customers want and such adherence is called for the travel and tourism industry.
Under ‘Switch – Asia – Greening Sri Lanka Hotels, funded by European Commission, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce through a company floated under the name and style ‘CCC Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, along with The Travel Foundation, Sustainable Energy Foundation, Institute of Environmental Professionals of Sri Lanka and Responsible Tourism Partnership began to address these issues with regard to Sri Lankan tourist hotels and the programme has been in operation for more than a year.
In addition to the advice and assistance provided, ‘Switch Asia’ released a book titled ‘Good Practice Guidelines on Environmental Management for Sri Lankan Hoteliers’ compiled by Dr Sriyanie Miththapala, Specialist in Wildlife and Range Sciences and Biodiversity Conservation. The book was launched in Colombo last week.
Reviewing the book, Dr Anura Ekanayake, Chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said that many crises such as the global financial crisis arose due to companies, trying to be rich in the shortest possible time.
He said that more and more hotels in the country are adopting ‘Green Practices’ and such a move would create a revolution. He said more than 90% of the workers are drawn from around the hotels and they would take these ‘Green Practices’ home and practice it in the community they live.
Dr Nalaka Godahewa, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism, in his presentation, drew experiences from his earlier involvement in the apparel industry when there was a boom and money flowing into the garment industry with many seeking to engage in this sector. At one time there were more than 1,000 garment factories but with only a few having good practices (living with nature).
He said the pressure then resulted in the call for good practices and as a result the number of industries dwindled. Now the number of factories are below 50. He pointed out that garment industrialists who have been involved in good practices, survive and are doing well.
|
E-mail
