Conrad Cairo Honoured for Responsible Environmental Practices
Chris · April 17, 2008
The global hotel industry continues to drive innovation in environmentally responsible operating practices, and there are countless examples of green efforts at the corporate level and throughout individual hotel properties worldwide that show a real effort from the industry to mitigate their potential negative environmental impact.
Cairo, Egypt probably isn’t top-of-mind for most hotel professionals considering who might be world leaders in terms of sustainable green practices—after all Cairo is literally an oasis sprung from the desert. With no recycling programs prevalent in the city, and an (apparent) general lack of concern for responsible waste management, it might seem easy to write-off Cairo as a world contender.
Stereotypes (perpetuated by me) put aside, the truth is that a number of hotels in Cairo are actually doing an incredible amount of good work with environmental stewardship, and there are plenty of accolades to prove it.
Industry website 4Hoteliers.com recently featured a story outlining the expansive efforts of the Conrad Cairo hotel in maintaining operations at a high level of environmental awareness and sensitivity.
The Conrad was recently awarded Gold status from the prestigious Green Globe organization; a worldwide benchmarking certification and improvement system that assists the international travel and tourism industry move toward true sustainability.
The Conrad was successfully certified by Green Globe for more than seven continuous years, which resulted in their achievement of Gold status—the highest honour awarded by the the Green Globe program.
“The actions taken by the Conrad Cairo in order to achieve the award included appointing members of staff to monitor waste, energy and water consumption; training staff in environmental awareness; switching paper memos for electronic communication; installing dimmer switches and power-saving lights; replacing the electric swimming pool heating system with a steam system; painting the facades of neighbouring buildings; and introducing recycling measures for everything from cardboard to cooking oil.”
The Cairo Conrad has also received a number of environmental accolades from the Ministry of Tourism in Egypt, outlined on their website.
This is great stuff on the environmental side of things, but I admit that I am curious about community or social initiatives the Conrad may have implemented. The hotel’s location is adjacent to a number of other luxury hotels, with the Nile Hilton and the upcoming Fairmont Nile City located close by on either side. However, the vast areas behind these luxury hotels are lively but underprivileged neighbourhoods, and I have to wonder what, if any, opportunities exist to reach out to the huge residential areas that live in the shadow of these luxury hotels. No doubt it would be very difficult to initiate or manage a community outreach program, no matter how well intentioned. It’s a reality in Cairo that takes some adjustment for Western folks like me to comprehend.
Check out two recent photos snapped from a back-side of the Conrad hotel, taken by my friend Catherine:
Marriott Cairo gets in on the action
The Conrad is clearly a leader in Cairo on the sustainability front, but other hotels in the city have also launched formal environmental initiatives in recent years. The Cairo Marriott Hotel & Casino was recognized by the Minister of State for Environmental Affairs with its “Environmental Concern Award” in both 2003 & 2004.
The Marriott Cairo has embarked on a series of community outreach efforts such as their recent blood drive (200+ employees participated) and a community clean-up initiative “outside the fence” in the neighboring (upscale) Zamalek neighbourhood.
No doubt there are many more environmental and social initiatives occurring in the Cairo hotel scene that I have yet to discover, and I look forward to reporting back when I discover them.
