Green Is The New Luxury

Eve Tedja explores Indonesia’s hotels and resorts to find out how sustainable initiatives and green practices are essential in redefining the future of hospitality.

Setting a placard and asking guests to reuse their towels used to be enough to earn a green credential for most hospitality establishments. Today, that good practice has proven insufficient, as awareness about the increasing perils of climate change and the complexity of sustainability are raised by a rising number of eco-conscious travellers. 

As the frequency of international travel increases every year, so does the environmental impact awareness of making greener travel choices. According to the recent Sustainable Travel Report from Booking.com, 87 percent of global travellers want to travel sustainably. Almost half of the travellers express their wish to stay in eco-friendly accommodations to help reduce the environmental impact, have a locally relevant authentic experience, and feel good about their choice of accommodation.

Indonesia received 14.04 million foreign visitor arrivals last year. That number is about to change as the government aims to attract 20 million visitors a year by 2019. With the projected amount, there is an even stronger reason to reduce the negative impact of tourism and, instead, ensure that it benefits the environment and its community. After all, sustainable travel is defined by how hotels and resorts are making conscious decisions to integrate the three P’s – Planet, People, Profit – holistically into every part of their operations.

Every drop counts