Le Meridien Goes Greener Than Ever

Online, February 4, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Le Meridien St Julians Hotel & Spa is the first hotel in Malta and the ICM region within Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide® to receive the Green Key Award. The Green Key is an international eco-label tourism facility: it aims at contributing to the prevention of climate change and it encourages sustainability in tourism with recognised awards and the promotion of eco-friendly initiatives. Awarded to over 2,000 establishments in 38 countries worldwide, the Green key is recognized and supported by the World Tourism Organization and UNEP. It is presently the largest global eco-label for accommodation and hospitality services.

Founded in Denmark in 1994, the Green Key was adopted by FEE in 2002 to become its fifth international programme. This award serves to educate and empower tourism actors, including enterprises, authorities, guests and local communities. The label is based on serious international criteria that reflect various fields in the tourism industry and that focus on environmental management, technical demands, initiatives involving guests, staff and suppliers. The audits evolve around specific criteria such as water usage, waste management, energy consumption, involvement, awareness, environmental management, controlled use of chemicals, open spaces and food & beverage.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. believes that both economic growth and the well-being of our society are inextricably tied to the health of the environment. Accordingly, responsibilities for environmental stewardship are embraced by the entire company: Starwood is committed to integrating leading environmental practices and sustainability principles into its core business strategy and hotel operations. To further imbed commitment to the environment and to stakeholders, in 2009, Starwood announced an ambitious public goal to reduce energy usage by 30% and water usage by 20% by 2020 over a 2008 baseline across all of our owned, managed and franchised properties.

"After being praised with other environmental awards such as The US Ambassador's Award for Environmental Excellence last year, the Travelife Gold Sustainability Award from 2009 onwards and the Clifton Audit Gold Award very recently, we are indeed extremely proud to be the first hotel in Malta to receive the Green Key Award." states Joseph Zammit, Environmental Champion at Le Meridien St Julians. "This amazing achievement has been reached thanks to all our associates' hard work and cooperation. Working all together towards an eco-friendly working environment demands daily efforts and commitment, and we will certainly carry on pursuing green solutions in our business path as we go along."

A ceremony to inaugurate this important award was held in the premises of Le Meridien St Julians Hotel & Spa on Friday 1st of February 2013 and was attended by the Minister of Tourism Hon. Mario De Marco.

More information on Green Key: www.green-key.org