The Siam Bayshore has joined the Green Leaf Foundation’s “Smoke-Free Hotels” program, becoming the latest Pattaya resort to adopt the recommendations of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
Sanphet Suphabuansathien, president of the Thai Hotels Association Eastern Region, joined Green Leaf Thailand Vice President Wiwan Pongbooronakij and hotel management to sign the agreement with the foundation Dec. 14.
Sanphet Suphabuansathien, president of the Thai Hotels Association Eastern Region, joined Green Leaf Thailand Vice President Wiwan Pongbooronakij and hotel management to sign an agreement to adopt the recommendations of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
The smoke-free campaign is designed to motivate more Thai hotels to ban cigarettes and tobacco and offer smoke-free accommodations. Once they have become smoke-free hotels for a set period of time, they qualify to be graded as “health-promotion hotels” by adding health and environmentally-friendly programs.
These include products, facilities, and services such as climate-friendly menus, health-promotion packages, spas, etc. They help participating hotels to become more competitive in attracting visitors, while preserving the environment and promoting “healthy tourism”.
According to the Green Leaf Foundation, the Health Promotion Hotel project is designed to publicize the participating hotels in order to enhance their competitive edge in attracting clients and guests in an era of increasing environmental consciousness.
It will also help promote and enhance the roles of hotel developers, employees, customers, material and service suppliers, and community members in preserving the environment and promoting healthy tourism.
Participating hotels are listed in a directory and can also publicize their certified status via their respective brochures, websites, email newsletters, etc. They can also attract a higher caliber of staffer who wishes to be proud of working for a hotel that is environmentally and socially conscious.
The Green Leaf Foundation organizes several activities and projects to maintain the momentum.
These include anti-smoking campaigns for staff, suppliers, and guests; introduction of health-friendly menus, which stress use of local and seasonal vegetables, fruits, and herbs, all organically grown; and development of spas, which emphasize energy conservation and use of products, which are bio-degradable, free of chemicals, and packaged in environmentally-friendly materials.
Meetings, functions, and events in these hotels are also designed to be climate-friendly, as are all the internal engineering and maintenance operations. Transportation systems used by the hotels also follow the same principles, including the use of carpooling for both hotel guests and employees.
