Philippine Tourism News

Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu recently received the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard award because of the five star hotel resort’s compliance with environmentally friendly and energy conservation measures. The 10 member countries of the ASEAN consider the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard is one of the six ASEAN tourism standards as very essential to help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be a Quality Single Destination. The 10 member countries of the ASEAN are the Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The ASEAN established the tourism standards as one measuer in the road map for the integration of the tourism sector to realize the ASEAN economic community. The ASEAN tourism standards task force is currently chaired by Thailand.

Several hotels from each country was selected by the Green Hotel Recognition Committee with these criteria and requirements: Environmental policy and actions for hotel operation, use of green products, collaboration with the community and local organizations, human resource development, solid waste management, energy efficiency, water efficiency, air quality management (indoor and outdoor), noise pollution control, waste water treatment and management, and toxic and chemical substance disposal management.

Shangri_La Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu is one of the leading environmentally friendly deluxe property in the Philippines because:

• The Shangri-La Marine Sanctuary spans five hectares from the beachfront, and teems with over 50 species of fish and coral.
• Staff and hotel management participate regularly in coastal cleanups, dive clean ups, and coral recovery programs.
• Shangri_La Mactan Resort and Spa is also one of the first resorts in the Philippines to be awarded a certificate of approval by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LQRA).
• Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Cebu is one of the first resorts in the Philippines to comply with ISO 14001, the international environmental standard, in all operations, encompassing environmentally friendly and cost efficient practices that include installing energy-saving light bulbs, biodegradable cleaning materials, water restrictors, and sewage treatment facilities to prevent water pollution.
• A water desalination plant processes the resort’s drinking water. Seawater undergoes chlorination to kill bacteria, after which it goes into the neutralization tank to balance water hardness. The US$1.4 million facility is capable of producing an average of 900 cubic meters of water daily, while the resort’s consumption is 800 cubic meters.
• A sewage treatment plant manages waste by means of processing waste to water, and simultaneously providing water to irrigate the resort’s extensive landscaped gardens.

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