Best of NZ green tourism features in new guide

Gerard Hill and Sally James, owner-operators of the Great Ponsonby Art Hotel.

A travel guide published this week has given a range of New Zealand tourism businesses the green light.

The AA Qualmark Travel Guide 2010 released this week features only those businesses which meet expectations of environmental quality.

New Zealand is the first country with such an award system that combines accommodation quality with environmental performance.

The guide aims to provide options which minimise environmental impact, with criteria covering energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, community activities, and conservation initiatives.

Of the 2,300 tourism businesses listed, all have achieved a minimum level of environmental care, while the best have been awarded gold, silver, or bronze status.

Qualmark chief executive Geoff Penrose says the level of commitment to green standards has grown despite the financial crisis during which the Qualmark Green initiative launched.

"Our tourism industry has recognised that with rising environmental awareness, we simply must deliver on consumer expectations," he says.

It is important that it the standard was a world-first considering the "clean, green" image associated with New Zealand.

"This effort has well placed us an industry and as a world class visitor destination, with our fully integrated quality and environmental accreditation system attracting interest from countries looking to develop a similar model."

Penrose says the listed tourism groups include a range of operators from low-end to boutique businesses.

Somewhere in between those measures is the Auckland bed and breakfast The Great Ponsonby Art Hotel. Owner operators Gerard Hill and Sally James have achieved a gold rating under the enviromental ranking system.

Hill is now working with other tourism operators to help them improve their environmental ratings. Three of these in Auckland have now achieved the Qualmark Enviro Gold award and formed a group called Auckland CityInnz.

"We're not selfish about it. We think everyone should have Qualmark awards," he says.

Hill says that they talk about sustainability with their staff on a regular basis and one of them came up with the idea of a hibernation policy. A sign is put in the uninhabited rooms to alert staff and all appliances are turned off. He says their upbringings have earned them the title of being "grey-greens".

"Discerning people around the world are concerned with travel. We were never eco-warriors out on the front-line. We come from a generation of people who were brought up by parents who grew up during the depression and learnt not to waste things."