EU grants Euro 2 million: Small hotels to go green in Sri Lanka

The small and medium scale tourist hotel chain in Sri Lanka plays a major role in promoting Sri Lanka as a travel destination.
Going in line with it, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has initiated SWITCH ASIA Greening Sri Lanka Hotels Project in collaboration with the European Union.
The project will assist 350 small and medium scale tourist hotels in water, energy and waste management efficiencies. Apart from that, main suppliers to the hotel industry, tour operators and customers of tourist hotels will also be informed of the need to increase efficiency in water, energy and waste management systems, SWITCH ASIA Greening Sri Lanka Hotels Project Consultant Director Srilal Miththapala said at the launch of the project. He said there are 256 hotels in the country.
Three star, two star and one star hotels catering to tourists will be developed as greening hotels.
Project will reduce operation costs. It will also increase market acceptance of Sri Lankan hotels by promoting them as green hotels.
"The European Union has granted Euro 2 million for the project. It will bring together several institutions such as Responsible Tourism Partnership (RTP), Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority of Sri Lanka (SLSEA), Institute of Environment Professionals of Sri Lanka (IEPSL) and Travel Foundation, UK for the project," he said.
The project duration will be 48 months. It expects to reduce cost of operations in tourist hotels. A cohesive team will work closely with the hotel team and train them to reduce energy, water consumption and waste generation.
Hotels will be informed to sign up with regional offices and is expected to bring down the rapidly increasing overhead costs in the hotel industry.
Apart from that it is also expected to increase the market acceptance of Sri Lankan hotels by promoting them as green hotels. The greening concept has to be introduced to household level in the future. HP