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Independent hotel group Apex Hotels has achieved Green Tourism Silver Awards for all nine of its UK hotels.
Two of Apex’s hotels in Bath and Dundee achieved Green Tourism accreditation in February and May 2022 respectively, while the remaining seven hotels in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London received their awards in February 2023.
Green Tourism assessed Apex Hotels against 15 sustainability criteria grouped under the pillars of People, Places and Planet. These consider the social, economic and environmental actions the business has undertaken, providing a holistic assessment of sustainability performance.
Apex Hotels said that sustainable tourism practices, with an embedded sustainability, social and governance strategy sits at the heart of the organisation.
Some recent actions taken by the hotel group include switching to 100% renewable electricity from Scottish wind farms, a zero-landfill policy, removing single use plastics and sourcing all produce locally to reduce transport emissions.
The hotel group has also put in place a long-term social engagement and community outreach programme, which includes support for a range of national charities. These include cancer support charity Maggie’s Cancer, and Mind, who provide mental health advice and Support.
The group’s nine hotels in London, Bath, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee also support local charities and organisations throughout the year.
Lisa Wilson, lead assessor at Green Tourism, said: “Apex Hotels have done a fantastic job in achieving the Green Tourism Silver Award for all nine hotels following their first assessment. The team displayed an excellent understanding of sustainability as well as an awareness of the opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business.
“This along with the dedication, hard work and creativity of the on-site teams at all the hotels has been an important factor in achieving the award. Across the hotels, the teams performed particularly strongly in the assessment categories of Awareness, Community, Health and Wellbeing, and Experiences. Huge congratulations to all the teams.”
Michael Stott, commercial director at Apex Hotels, added: “The Green Tourism Awards are the industry leading accreditation for sustainability, environmental and good governance practices across the tourism sector. We are delighted and extremely proud to be one of few independent hotel groups to achieve Silver Green Tourism accreditation across all our Hotels.
“Green Tourism’s independent assessment brings reassurance to our guests and members of staff that our sustainable tourism practices are evidenced and authenticated. It also represents an important step in our ongoing journey to contribute to the happiness and prosperity of our local communities, introduce sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices and be an open and inclusive hotel group for all.”
