Galway’s Connacht Hotel has been putting sustainability in the spotlight of its drive in the rebuilding tourism industry this year and beyond.
With more and more tourists and businesses concerned about the environmental footprint their holidays and conferences leave, the Connacht Hotel has invested heavily in a green strategy which they have continued to build on during the past year and a half.
In February of 2020, the Connacht Hotel was awarded a silver accreditation from Green Hospitality Ireland for drastically cutting waste and energy usage, and plans to advance further to a Gold accreditation in the not-too-distant future.
The level of recycling at the hotel has gone up 56% year on year, while the usage of disposal cups has been cut by 75%, and paper usage by 19%.
Little advances in going green such as installing LED lights, key care activated power in rooms, availing of green power, and other common sense initiatives have also combined to cut energy usage at the hotel by 20%.
While hotels have been closed for much of the past year and half due to COVID-19, the green team at the Connacht have used this time to push ahead with their sustainability initiatives.
In the Spring just gone, there was the welcome introduction of electric vehicle charging units at the hotel for guests arriving by car.
Wildflower gardens have also been cultivated around the hotel grounds in Renmore to make them a haven encouraging local biodiversity.
Leanne Nolan, Green Team manager, “At The Connacht Hotel, we are passionate about sustainability & are committed to making a positive impact on the environment.”
The newly renovated Connacht hotel has taken significant measures to reduce its carbon emissions over the last few years by reducing energy consumption, preserve scarce water resources and minimize waste production.
The green team actively protect and promote local biodiversity, buy locally where possible and encourage visitors to use local “green” businesses and services.
Of course, hotels aren’t just for families on their holidays, with corporate guests and conferences making up the other half of the equation.
Corporate guests interested in a greener stay or meeting can enquire with the Connacht about offsetting the carbon footprint of their meeting.
The hotel have calculated the average CO2 omission from a corporate stay and average meeting delegate experience and will offset this impact by partnering with environmental charity “Hometree”.
This charity plants native Irish trees with the aim of conserving permanent native woodland in Ireland, encouraging land regeneration and biodiversity through afforestation, restoration, and education.
“We are excited to launch our campaign ‘choose us choose green’ that will help support corporate companies make better choices as we all get back to doing business,” Leanne Nolan said.
sponsored by the Connacht Hospitality Group
