IFT’s Educational Hotel, Pousada de Mong-Há, has retained its “Gold” status under the Macao Green Hotel Award programme. The training unit first received a Gold Award – the highest ranking in the scheme – in 2013.
Pousada de Mong-Há was additionally granted a Green Supporter Award for being a participant in the Green Hotel Award programme since the scheme was launched 10 years ago. The Educational Hotel’s environmental efforts were first recognised in the award scheme’s inaugural 2007 edition.
The Green Hotel Award programme is organised by Macao’s Environmental Protection Bureau, with the Macao Government Tourism Office as co-organiser. It seeks to emphasise the importance of environmental management in the hotel sector and honour establishments that have reduced consumption of utilities’ services and reduced waste.
A total of 27 Macao hotels won awards in the latest edition, which related to environmental performance in 2016. Awards are valid for 3 years.
Only 7 hotels – including Pousada de Mong-Há – received a Gold Award. A presentation ceremony took place on 22 June.
Pousada de Mong-Há is a training unit of IFT. It is open to paying guests and is designed to provide a rich learning environment, enabling IFT students to interact with those guests.
The Educational Hotel is recommended in several international guides, including a regional edition of the prestigious Michelin Guide. It has also been annually since 2011 a winner of the “Travelers’ Choice Award” from the popular international travel website TripAdvisor: the accolade is considered the highest honour TripAdvisor can bestow.
Green focus
Pousada de Mong-Há has several schemes in place to reduce its environmental footprint.
To reduce the amount of food waste produced during guest breakfast sittings, it has introduced a semi-buffet system for that meal. Thanks to this change in operations, the hotel reduced the amount of food waste produced compared to that generated by a full buffet.
Pousada de Mong-Há invites guests to join its efforts to promote environmental protection. Since 2013, the hotel has made available specially-designed postcards on which guests are encouraged to write down their “Green Commitment”. The Pousada then – after in each case a 3-year gap – mails the guest their postcard, both as a reminder of the person’s commitment to environmental protection and as a souvenir. The first batch of “Green Commitment” postcards was mailed to guests in March 2016.
The hotel regularly offers craft workshops – run by students – aimed at promoting the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste. Participating guests can learn how to make unique souvenirs and other handmade products from used materials and waste, in a demonstration of how household items can be recycled or reused.
Pousada de Mong-Há also provides to guests – free of charge and on request – reusable, environmentally-friendly bags. The aim is to reduce use of plastic bags.
As part of its efforts to promote environmental protection, Pousada de Mong-Há advocates the reduction of carbon emissions, and broadcasts in its lobby promotional messages on this topic. It also has installed environmentally-friendly electric fans in guestrooms, encouraging visitors to use those instead of air conditioners.
Pousada de Mong-Há has, since 2013, been a participant in the “Earth Hour EVERY MONTH” initiative, in partnership with other Macao hotels. It also participates in IFT’s own “Lights Out for 1 Hour” monthly initiative. On aggregate via the 2 schemes, Pousada de Mong-Há switches off its exterior facade lights and all non-essential indoor lighting for an hour twice a month.
In addition, the hotel participates in the annual “Earth Hour” initiative, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) each March, and which aims to engage the public on the issue of climate change. Under the initiative, individuals and businesses are encouraged to turn off non-essential electric lights for an hour.
Pousada de Mong-Há also supports IFT’s “bring your own bottle” policy. The Institute has installed a large number of water dispensers around its campuses, encouraging staff, students and visitors to bring their own water bottles and reuse them, thus reducing the amount of plastic rubbish produced.
The facilities at Pousada de Mong-Há will soon undergo renovation. Once that is completed, the hotel will offer additional eco-friendly features, including “green wall” panels and carbon-emission calculators. It is expected that the revamped Pousada de Mong-Há will help further promote an environmentally-friendly environment for education and accommodation.
