ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF KANDALAMA HOTEL SRI LANKA
The
study aims to understand the importance of an Environmental Management System
for the Hotel industry by focussing its attention on Aitken Spence Hotel,
Heritance Kandalama which is a fore runner in implementing Environmental
Management Systems locally as well as globally.
The
hotel being located in the midst of the lush greenery of the Dambulla District
of Sri Lanka came under rapid pressures of various groups with special
reference to environment conservation organizations challenging the
construction of the Hotel in the mid 1990 decade while the initiation stages of
the project were under way. The study reveals how the Hotel re-surfaced and
diminished the adverse brand image created by various pressure groups and
finally to become an icon of the green concept and environment conservation.
After
the Hotel was built using environmentally friendly practices, the major
mechanism which continued the environmentally friendly approach of the Hotel
was its Environmental Management System. The study mainly focuses on the
operationalization of the waste management aspects of the Environmental
Management System and discloses the unique practices adopted by the company in
achieving the preset environmentally friendly and cost saving objectives.
Subsequent to a thorough analysis of the
prevailing Environmental Management System practices, the study recommends a
viable direction of improvements for the system bringing in to light the
possibility of generating bio energy to facilitate the current environmentally
friendly practices and to cut down on costs. The study also primarily acts as
an appropriate source material for obtaining information on the environmentally
friendly practices adopted by Sri Lankan Companies in the Hotel industry.
Increase in
Foreign and Local Tourists
With the ending of the
ethnic conflict of the Northern and the Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka which
impacted the security of the entire country adversely, a wide spread positive
attitude has emerged towards the tourism sector of Sri Lanka across the world.
Encouraging Adventure sports in Sri Lanka,
new hotels permitted to be built in east cost of the country and promotional campaigns
are some of the new tourism promotions sponsored by the government.
“With the
implementation of the new Tourism Act No. 38 of 2005 in August 2007, we have witnessed
an enhanced effort at destination marketing through the newly established Sri
Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau”.( Aitken Spence Hotel
Holdings PLC, Annual Report 2008/09, )
This increased readiness
level and the diminution fear of travelling to Sri Lanka of worldwide
communities will have a positive impact on Kandalama Hotel since the natural
beauty and serenity of the surrounding combined with the placid peacefulness of
the hotel is willing to be embarked by thousands of travellers. Being one of
the top five star hotels in Sri Lanka, the tourist attractions to the hotel
will be inevitable.
On top of the foreign
tourist attractions, the affluent local customer base will also be adding value
to the revenue generation capability of Kandalama Hotel as a result of
increased tendency towards leisure with the prevailing peaceful condition of the
country.
With rising global issues such as global
warming and environmental imbalance radically impacting the daily livelihoods
of communities, the eco tourism sector which was once seen as an innovative
move has now become the ultimate saviour of the
industry. This is as a result of the decreasing demand for the conventional
tourism sector as a result of adverse impacts generated by it to the
environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment