Valamar Holds HEP's ZelEn Certificate for Sixth Consecutive Year
September 19, 2020 - Because Valamar procures 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, it holds HEP's ZelEn Certificate for the sixth consecutive year.
HRTurizam reports that when it comes to the use of electricity from renewable sources, this is not news for Valamar, but only a continuation of the development policy because the largest tourist company in Croatia, for the sixth year in a row, are holders of HEP's ZelEn certificate. This means that 100 percent of the electricity used in hotels and camps is provided from renewable sources.
Over the past few years, the procurement of electricity from renewable sources and other energy efficiency and sustainability measures has reduced total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70 percent.
This year, Valamar successfully implemented a project to increase energy efficiency and end the use of heating oil in the Corinthia Baska hotel complex on Krk, with a total value of as much as HRK 10.6 million, co-financed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy.
In Valamar, 96% of the accommodation units have the ISO 14001 environmental management certificate, and six camps have been awarded the EU Ecolabel.
"By implementing a series of initiatives within the Green Valamar program, we want to emphasize the importance of sustainable tourism development and care for the environment as an indispensable criterion for creating new value and long-term quality of the tourist offer," says Valamar.
Valamar Riviera has developed nine umbrella corporate social responsibility programs, in which it invests a minimum of 2.5 percent of its annual revenues. In 2019, 5.8 percent of revenues, or HRK 129 million, were invested in these umbrella programs.
Green Valamar is one of the nine umbrella programs of the company's socially responsible business, within which activities in the field of environmental protection are systematically carried out and in which almost HRK 100 million has been invested in the previous three years.
One of the most famous actions is certainly last year's Valamar initiative "1,000 Valamar trees,", otherwise the largest green initiative of this type in Croatian tourism, as part of which Valamar plants at least a thousand new trees a year in its destinations along the Adriatic coast. This largest green initiative in Croatian tourism emphasizes the importance of sustainable tourism development.
Thus, over 1000 trees have been planted and more than 50,000 different seedlings such as tall shrubs and perennials in 2019 in Valamar hotels, resorts, and camps. The current Valamar plant fund covers a total area of 589 ha from Istria to Dubrovnik with 30,000 trees. Also, two years ago, Valamar completely eliminated plastic straws from use in its hotels and camps.
Green Valamar is much more than a socially responsible business program. It is a value, business philosophy, and currency that is increasingly sought after. Whatever one might think about Valamar, they have the facts to back up their positive actions, and that is that in 2019 alone, they invested 129 million kuna in umbrella CSR programs.
Well done to Valamar!
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