EarthCheck

The Next Generation of Sustainable Design

Beyond Green

Sustainable design has come a long way in the last decade. No longer limited to post-construction eco friendly add-ons, the new generation of green hotels, resorts and spas are being designed with both environmental and social impacts in mind from the get go.

"Green awareness has revolutionised the global hospitality industry in ways that the industry would never previously imagined," says Mottie Essakow, founder of OmWard Bound, a company specialising in developing responsible luxury resorts, spas and wellness centre.

"Being 'green' means much more than basic ideology and has outgrown the boundaries of traditional corporate social responsibility practices.

Rather, green is being recognised as a tool and a set of principles that are guaranteed to improve overall levels of management, operational efficiency and revenue generation."

Sustainable Lifestyles

It is not just costs that are driving the sustainability trends in hotels and resorts, but a new wave of well-off, well-educated, health conscious and socially and environmentally aware consumers who are becoming the premium travel customers, according to experts at the 2011 World Travel Monitor Forum.

Lifestyles of health and sustainability, or LOHAS, is the term designated to describe these eco aware travellers, as deemed by The World Travel Trends report for 2011.

Originating in the US, but now with an Asia-based site also, LOHAS.com has developed as the online resource hub for education and resources for a sustainable lifestyle for this aware demographic, which continue to swell in numbers.

According to IPK International, a tourism consulting and monitoring group, 20 percent of Germans, who comprise Europe's largest economy, embrace the LOHAS lifestyle, and for 64 percent, ecological aspects remain at the top of their list when booking travel.

In the same report, 42 percent of American leisure travellers say they are willing to pay more for green travel products. "LOHAS are a lifestyle phenomenon discussed as the new premium target group in tourism," explains Katja Neller, Senior Consultant with German research company Schober Group. "They think globally, are very mobile and open-minded and are looking for a type of tourism that is ecologically sustainable and meets their standards of ethics and social justice. But they are also critical consumers, especially of 'green washing' marketing strategies."

As global travellers, these eco lifestyle driven consumers are also seeking out resorts, spas and hotels that reflect their sustainable values, which go way beyond just the old standards of eco awareness that hotels may have adopted, such as encouraging hotel guests to use towels more than once.

"Sustainable best practice principles are now being integrated into all aspects of planning and development from design and architecture to management and operations," claims Essakow. "Green is now being practiced as an integral part of everyday management and operations, yet without using the word 'eco', 'green' or 'sustainable.' Simply put, 'authentic' is the new 'chic', 'responsible' is the new 'luxury' and 'eco' is an integral part of mainstream."

To read the full article published by Asia Spa Magazine and written by Mabs Potter, CLICK HERE