TUI Distinguishes Greece’s ‘Alex Beach Hotel’ with ‘2015 Environment Champion’ Award

Alex Beach Hotel & Bungalows on Rhodes has received the prestigious TUI Environmental Champion award “TUI Umwelt Champion” for the year 2015 presented by the German leading tour operator.

The award is given annually to the most eco-friendly hotels worldwide cooperating with TUI, based on assessments checking environmental aspects within the hotels and their customer satisfaction worldwide.

Since they were first given in 1996, the main goal of the “TUI Umwelt Champion” awards has been to recognise the achievements of those hotels that meet the technical and organisational requirements of sustainable and responsible hotel management, focussing on areas such as energy and water savings. Hotels that receive the title have passed an assessment process involving points awarded by official auditors; this reflects their environmental and social commitment.

“This aspect has been developed by this family business for several years and we strive to improve every day”, an announcement from the hotel’s management said.

Aiming to combine tourism with agriculture and sustainability, the Passalis family is currently growing a considerable amount of local varieties of fruit and vegetables inside the hotel premises through traditional cultivation methods.

According to the owners of Alex Beach, through the utilisation of land for agricultural purposes, the local community benefits economically from the new job positions that are developed and through the promotion of the local quality products to foreign markets.

“Through our activity people realize that tourism and agriculture are not necessarily two different aspects of economy and with this they are encouraged to return to the cultivation of land as a means of living.

“On the other hand, the quality of goods produced is highlighted by the increasing demand by our guests and proves that our activity is a successful method of promoting our culture through Greek gastronomy with respect to our environment”, the owners of Alex Beach underlined.