Eco Hotels ‘Know your impact’


pop hotels that are all substandard at some level and five-star ‘uber’ luxury at the top with nothing in between. There is a huge gap. Also nobody is taking steps to become carbon neutral.” He notes growing environmental


awareness in India, with state governments increasingly acting to ban plastic bags and single-use plastics. But he says: “If people are not so sensitive to the environment, they will still have a high-value experience.”


Property plans The company has a small prototype hotel set up in Kochi (Cochin) where it’s testing brand standards. Umathe says: “We’re building the first, modular new-build hotel and looking at ways to roll out properties through a cookie-cutter model. Buildings of 80-120 rooms should start to roll out within two years.” However, Eco Hotels plans to open its


first properties next year – acquiring existing properties and refurbishing them to become carbon neutral. The first should open in the new year in Mumbai. “Hotels will be located near airports,


railway stations, major junctions and industrial areas,” says Umathe. Our [initial] objective is to get up to 1,000 rooms [about


We aim to be economical and ecological. The key is educating the guest so they feel they are getting value for money. People will get a good-value room with a good mattress, a good pillow, air conditioning and free Wi-Fi


10 hotels] within two years, of which half will be in existing properties.” The investment will come from London-


based Red Ribbon Asset Management, a company set up by Suchit Punnose with the aim of investing responsibly. Umathe says: “The fundamental idea


International arrival figures by accommodation type show a clear


preference for hotels among visitors to Spain, holiday lets are popular in the UK and campsites most popular in France (Figure 77)


is to deliver measurable impacts on the environment and on people, and deliver a return. Suchit saw hospitality is the world’s eighth-most polluting sector, so chose it as the sector to go into.” The investment in the first 500 rooms will


be around £2.5 million, with the company looking to raising further capital.


FIGURE 77: INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS BY ACCOMMODATION TYPE, 2018 Hotels


Holiday lets millions


10 20 30 40 50 60


0 54m 47m 39m 34m 21m* 22m 16m 15m 6m 12m millions


10 15 20 25


0 5


5m 3m 22m* millions 12m 9m 7m 5m 4m


0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8


8m


France Germany Italy Spain UK


4.5m 3m 2m 1.3m 0.5m* 1.2m 1m 1.5m 3m


Austria Croatia Greece


Netherlands Portugal Norway Sweden


*Data 2016 Figures rounded Source: Eurostat


Campsites


Travel Weekly Europe Report 2019 | 49


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52