Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation - SLEF - Ecotourism Sri Lanka

A feasibility study and the Planning Meeting had already been concluded between SLET-LNTA and FK and the programme to be commenced in Septembre, 2008

The Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) was very happy to be associated with Kuoni Travel Ltd, Switzerland, the biggest Tour Operator in Switzerland and number five in Europe, in conducting a Work Shop on Promoting Good Environmental Practices for Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF), the pioneer national ecotourism organization in Sri Lanka, focuses mainly on academic and training components of the ecological and sustainable tourism sector in Sri Lanka. During past ten years, it has conducted series of training programmes, workshops, researches and compiled important data bases with a view to promote sustainable tourism and environmental conservation in Sri Lanka and South Asia. The SLEF has successfully conducted diverse Training and Certificate Programmes to the tourism industry segments, in association with Sri Lanka Tourist Board and other government and non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka.

The overall objective of the Work Shop is to prepare the hotel partners in Sri Lanka with a pragmatic approach to respond to the needs resulting from the mounting environmental challenges such as climate change and water scarcity. The Workshop will provide necessary knowledge and competencies in effectively contributing to the implementation of an Environmental Management System in the hotels. The primary emphasis are on reducing costs and figuring out the advantages of an environmental management system. The targeted groups identified for this workshop are Resident Managers, Engineers, and General Managers of the hotel sector in Sri Lanka with sufficient environmental back ground, who could in turn impart their knowledge gained at the workshop for the implementation of an effective Environmental Management System in their respective hotels.

I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Mr.Matthias Leisinger, Project Manager, Corporate Responsibility Project, Kuoni Travel Ltd, Switzerland, giving us this important opportunity to contribute towards promoting Good Environmental Practices for Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka. We are indebted to the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC), Sri Lanka, a UNIDO sponsored Project and its Director, Mr. Sena Peries, his able staff, for the assistance extended in planning and organizing the Workshop.

The SLEF is hoping to continue the sort of academic and Certification Programmes in future for the tourism and Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka, with a view to promote an awareness, education on biodiversity and environmental conservation of Sri Lanka.

Back Ground Note for the Workshop

The targeted groups identified for this workshop are Resident Managers, Engineers, and General Managers of the hotel sector who could in turn impart their knowledge gained at the workshop for the implementation of an effective Environmental Management System in their respective hotels

There will be around 60 (sixty) participants for this workshop representing all the leading hotels in Sri Lanka. The full day work shop will provide a rare opportunity to the executives of the hotels in Sri Lanka on important global environmental themes such as environmental conservation, depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, a result of the greenhouse effect created by the emission of greenhouse gases, International treaties and protocols such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol which have been ratified by many nations to combat environmental issues referred above.

Air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution etc. are real problems faced by all earthlings daily. Scarcity of natural resources is a problem which we have to live with day in and day out. All businesses not only the hotel industry has to play a major role in mitigating these impacts causing the problems. A unified global effort is the Millennium Development Goal No. 7 which is to ensure environmental sustainability by the year 2015.

Based on the guidelines provided by the Corporate Responsibility Project, Kuoni Travel Ltd, Switzerland, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF), the pioneer national ecotourism organization in Sri Lanka that focuses mainly on academic and training components of the ecological and sustainable tourism promotions in Sri Lanka, drawn up a Workshop Programme to offer an interesting, interactive and brain storming workshop sessions to the participants.

The organizers have identified eminent Presenters who have excelled in their respective disciplines to offer in-depth information with regard to the issues in Promoting Good Environmental Practices for Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka.

"Tourism is like fire: you can cook your food on it, but it also can burn down your house”

By Matthias Leisinger, Project Manage, Corporate Responsibility Project, Kuoni Travels Ltd, Switzerland

Dear business partners, dear colleagues,

I am very pleased to stay here at the Mount Lavinia Hotel and I’m also delighted to visit you today in an official mission as a representative of Kuoni Travel Holding. It’s a great pleasure for me to meet you here in these fabulous surroundings, in an extraordinary country, with superb scenery, great biodiversity, its endless beaches and crystal clear water. This all is the capital – are the resources – which we in the tourism industry are living of. And it is so called ‘the branch we are sitting on’. But we all know that these treasures of nature are in danger. I don’t need to tell you about the consequences of climate change and air pollution. You all know about the results of oil spills and the disposal of untreated waste water into the sea. You know about the outcome of illegal or even legal dumping of solid waste in the landscape. As a part of the industry, the tourism sector is a part of those problems too. What is needed is more awareness and over all more action.

At Kuoni Travel we are well aware of our responsibility for the protection of our environment. And for many years we have taken action. Kuoni not only appreciates the many benefits that tourism brings. It also acknowledges the problems it can cause; and it views these as challenges and actively tackles them, too. Two of our four major objectives related to our Corporate Responsibility strategy are related to the workshop of today– water scarcity and climate change. Climate change and its consequences will have a major impact on the tourism industry over the next few years. Tourism is playing its part in the greenhouse effect. As an affected party - that is also a contributor to the problem - the tourism sector must act on this issue and take steps to combat the global warming threat.

Kuoni is working closely with its own industry partners to achieve those objectives. Kuoni sees its role in the collaborations with its partner hotels as one of sensitizing, informing and exchanging knowledge. We do not expect “green miracles” from you - but we expect that you adopt a healthy attitude towards the environment. Acting responsibly means more than doing the minimum. And anyone who does this is not just acting in a genuine business way; they’re investing in the future, too.

In striving for this objective, we aim to help tap and develop essential sources of income in as many countries as possible. Only by doing so can nature, tourism and the many jobs which this pairing can provide be secured in the longer term. Allow me to count on you as a part of the solution and no longer as a part of the problem. Let‘s all make sure that Sri Lanka remains an attractive destination for our common customers. And last but not least, let‘s make sure that you who live here can be assured of a liveable homeland and enduring economic prosperity in the years to come. In the light of these valuable goals, I look forward to green cooperation with great hope and anticipation.