ShMILE

Sustainable hotels in Mediterranean islands and area.
A demonstration project in Corsica, Sardinia and Halkidiki for EU-wide promotion of the EU eco-label on tourist accommodation service (ELTAS in short)

Objectives

The main objective of the project is to support EU-wide, effective and sustainable promotion and implementation of the ELTAS, through demonstration actions in Mediterranean Islands and area, and through EU-wide dissemination and utilization of final products.

In line with the priorities of the Community Environment policy, such as it’s described in the 6^th EU Environment Action Programme and its strategic approach, the project objectives are:

• To globally contribute to reduce consumption of energy from fossil fuels, the use of chemically treated water and of chemical substances, related to the tourism accommodation service activities
• To incorporate in professional training and in formal education principles and techniques for more sustainable construction in this sector, in order to help institutionalise them and to promote their widespread adoption
• To integrate sustainable techniques for tourism accommodation service in Mediterranean islands and area, and to embrace social vectors by promoting local awareness and know-how on sustainable issues related to the project, placing the environmental plan in a broad perspective
• To give a relevant contribution to Commission in validation of criteria of the ELTAS, before the possible revision foreseen in April 2007.

Actions and means involved

1. Demonstration actions at the identified hotels in Corsica, in Sardinia and in Halkidiki, through deep feasibility studies, in order to effectively help owners to successfully apply for the ELTAS
2. Development and testing on site of professional tools and training modules allowing understanding and concrete implementation of the ELTAS from beginning of the process until its obtaining, according to regulatory, fiscal and financial contexts. These tools mainly addressed to hotel managers and staff will be utilizable at EU scale.
3. Development and integration in formal education of curricula about sustainable construction and management issues namely addressed to students in architecture, engineering, and tourism management
4. Wide dissemination of results to different identified users groups and stakeholders

Every step included in the demonstration process (diagnosis, programme, feasibility study relative to hotels identified as pilot sites; action 1), will be supported by very practical tools (environmental auditing tool, decision-making tool, technical solutions and management tool; action 2) aiming to give to hotel managers, practical recommendations to successfully understand and apply to the ELTAS.

Training and education tools will be developed and tested by main actors in this sector, in order to guarantee as much as possible large-scale transfer and use of project results (action 3). Training and education actions will contribute to foster local awareness and skills on issues dealing with the project.

Very high reproducibility potential has also given by the direct and concrete commitment of Hotel Groups involved in the project. Knowledge transfer and dissemination will be also highly regarded (action 4). The partnership already involves various stakeholders having different key-roles; each action will be split into one or more tasks requiring multi-disciplinary skills: technical and on ground experience in hotel sector, technical skills on energy and environment issues, dissemination of results by public authorities, validation of results relevance by competent body for the ELTAS, institutional training and education skills, eco-label marketing experience for adapted design of final products according to different user groups.

Expected results

• Professional training packages dedicated to hotel owners and managers and technical and management staff aiming to help them in process, from audit until applying to competent bodies, as far as the successful obtaining of ELTAS.
• Marketing guide helping actors of the hotel sector to set up a “green marketing strategy”, including the economical and environmental benefits of implementation of ELTAS.
• Professional tools including an auditing tool, a decision-making tool, and a technical tool to effective implementation of ELTAS, mainly dedicated to architects and engineers.
• Education curricula dedicated to architecture, engineering and tourism management students to develop local skills, and to improve local market growth and competitiveness by creation of new opportunities for local employment.

All final products will be made available at national and international workshops that will be organised in the frame of the project. All tools will be translated in French, Italian and Greek.

In the short-term: Hotel owners involved in the project will understand the implementation of ELTAS in pilot sites through all over the application process, in order to be able to reproduce the action in other sites. During or at the end of the project, the hotel owners will be able to ask for the ELTAS accreditation or not, according to the project results.

• Finalising the application process and get the public award of ELTAS at EU-wide level.
• Continuing media reports presenting the green engagement of tourism industry to raise brand recognition of ELTAS.

Project co-founded by the European Union's under the LIFE Environment Programme