TLH Leisure Resort celebrates Gold Tourism Award
Written by Vicky on 18th December 2009
Nigel Beck & Peter Lloyd in the Toorak wildlife garden
TLH Leisure Resort
would impress the powers that be at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Whilst they are umming and aahing and struggling to make decisions, TLH are leading the way locally with their green initiatives.
The Torquay based hotel company have just achieved 4 awards for Green Business Tourism. The Toorak were awarded Gold with the Carlton, Victoria and Derwent Hotels all being awarded Silver. The Green Tourism Business Scheme is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK and is validated by Visit Britain.
A range of measures were looked at in the audit including laundry, waste and recycling, insulation and the use of Fair Trade products. In fact the inspectors were so impressed, they believe the Toorak could well become leaders in environmental tourism in Torquay.
‘This is a proud moment,’ said General Manager of the Toorak, Nigel Beck,’ and a real pat on the back for all our staff who have worked so hard at maintaining our green initiatives.’
As well as looking at the obvious areas of energy and waste, the Toorak have cultivated a wildflower garden providing a valuable habitat for garden birds, bees and insects, which has become an added attraction to guests at the hotel. Composting bins are supplied by waste from the hotel.
The inspectors were particularly impressed with the commitment from staff to green issues, with suggestions such as paperless meetings, a bike rack and the use of some Fair Trade products all being implemented. There has also been considerable investment from TLH in terms of new eco-friendly boilers, supplied and fitted by local companies.
Nigel added, ‘All the hotels have done brilliantly to reach such a high standard in the Green Business Tourism Awards. It has benefits across the board, to our guests, our staff and, of course, ultimately to our environment.’
