Tapping into renewable energy technologies in order to improve the energy efficiency of Greek hotels is at the center of a memorandum of understanding signed this week between the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH) and the Center for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES).
The MoU was signed by CRES General Director Lampros Pyrgiotis and HCH President Alexandros Vassilikos and lays out two key targets:
– formulating a set of policy measures and actions which will be proposed to government authorities in order serve as incentives for the simultaneous development of the Greek hotel industry and renewable energy sources
– accelerating the integration of RES and energy-saving technologies at a large number of hotel units in Greece under relevant funding programs set to be announced.
“For the Greek hotel, sustainability is a priority. The hotel, utilizing the set goals of the Recovery Fund, can and should become a protagonist in the ‘green transition’, which will serve the environment, the economy and society,” said Vassilikos.
Vassilikos added that the HCH has already developed an “ambitious action plan” in this direction which will be enhanced through the HCH’s partnership with CRES.
Some of the measures and policy actions towards the hotel industry’s sustainable development include educating hotel companies on RES technologies; training hoteliers on the integration of RES technologies and bioclimatic design for their businesses; drafting technical and operational specifications for units in the “green hotels” category; developing new forms of accommodation such as “glamping”; spatial planning and identifying potential of tourist destinations; assessment of hotels’ ecological certification procedures; and converting hotel units into “energy positive buildings”.
“Tourism is a strategic sector of the Greek economy and the integration of modern RES and energy efficiency technologies by hotel enterprises can serve as a condition that will economically and environmentally enhance their competitiveness, improving the energy footprint and quality of their services and offering significant leverage for the economy as a whole,” said Pyrgiotis.
