The Radisson Hotel Group has shared some of its most significant responsible initiatives for 2021.

In 2019, the Green Key partner had already set high standards for sustainability after deciding to offset the carbon footprint for every meeting and event from its hotels at a global level. In 2021, the Radisson group achieved a new benchmark by offsetting twice the CO2 emissions from all the events and meetings across more than 400 hotels in their EMEA portfolio, becoming the first hotel chain in the world to make its events and meetings carbon negative. According to the hotel group, the initiative that started in 2019 has allowed for offsetting more than 30,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 6,500 fuel-powered cars off the road.

Among other responsible initiatives, the Radisson Hotel Group has also developed two new partnerships that reinforce its position as a green mobility leader. The new collaborations with pan-European Allego and the Indian Sunfuel focus on bringing new electric vehicle options and stations across Radisson establishments in Europe and India. Furthermore, the Group has also compromised to reduce the surplus food from all of its hotels across Europe in an effort to reduce food waste.

At a global level, the Radisson Hotel Group is also one of the 25,000 hotels worldwide that support the creation of the Basic Sustainability Framework, currently being developed by the WTTC and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. This new framework will be announced in March 2022, and it aims to provide shared knowledge about sustainability and sustainable practices in hotels across the world.

With a new year ahead, the Global Senior Vice President Sustainability, Security and Corporate Communications for Radisson Hotel Group, Inge Huijbrechts, has reinforced the importance of continuing to develop responsible initiatives in Radisson hotels in 2022:

“[…] Sustainability is a top priority for our industry and our customers. At Radisson Hotel Group, we continue to work on our roadmap to Net Zero and are proud of the milestones we have realized in a challenging year for our industry. 2021 marked an opportunity to harness our focus on responsible business initiatives for both our Group and collectively for the hospitality industry. We look forward to another year of establishing strong strategic partnerships as we all work towards a responsible recovery and return of travel”.

More details of Radisson Hotel Group’s achievements can be read here.

Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel from the Greek Island of Astypalea received on February 24, 2020 the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Award in the category of Collaboration with the local Communities for its Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Initiative “Kallichoron Room2Give” for actively supporting the local community projects with special focus on Astypalea’s younger generation, but also the protection of the environment and the responsible use of the available resources.

Various green offerings and give aways as part of Kallichoron Goes Green initiative, like fairtrade cotton bag, local handpicked herbal tea, Kallichoron Green Stories initiative with Taf coffee as an attempt to reuse used coffee beans, organic, loca… — Various green offerings and give aways as part of Kallichoron Goes Green initiative, like fairtrade cotton bag, local handpicked herbal tea, Kallichoron Green Stories initiative with Taf coffee as an attempt to reuse used coffee beans, organic, locally produce soap or Kallichoron bike rental program.

Kallichoron introduced the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “Room2Give” initiative in 2015, and since then, with the help from its visitors, it has actively been involved in a number of activities for children and young adults and cultural activities where possible, including:

Purchase of books for the children's lending library of the Astypalea Nursery and Narkissios Lending Library of Astypalea.
Scholarship for young students for studies on Tourism in collaboration with IST College and Axion Hellas.
Providing the courtyard area of the Astypalean Nursery with equipment and toys, and continuous support of the teachers and the Parents and Guardians Association efforts to improve existing infrastructure.
Day of creative work and painting at the Nursery school of Astypalea with the painter
and artist, Gefso Papadakis, on "I paint the world I dream of".
Support of Axion Hellas and +plefsi activities.
Beach cleaning initiatives in collaboration with HELMEPA.

Kallichoron active participation and support in beach cleaning activities organized either locally or as part of wider environmental activities.

For the last year, Kallichoron has started collecting funds for establishing a Robotics school on Astypalea Island, which will be a project with huge impact to the local society.

The Hellenic Responsible Business Awards is the first significant initiative of promotion and reward of Greek Businesses, who choose to do “the right thing” and lead by example by implementing on a daily basis actions to protect the environment, to support marginalized communities and to empower life-long learning. The ceremony took place in the Pireos 138, Benaki Museum on February 24, 2020 and was presented by the journalist Elena Papadimitriou.

Chairman of the jury was George Vernicos, Economic and Social Council of Greece. Among the winners of the evening were Vodafone, KPMG, Mitilineos Group, Greek Gold, Lafarge and Hellenic Petroleum, while Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Development and Investment, addressed the audience and welcomed the awarded initiatives for their activities.

Maria Mavroudi and Carolina Alkalai, co-founders and General Managers of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel receiving the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Awards 2020.

“We are delighted to receive this Award, which is special to us, as it reflects our commitment to work towards sustainable tourism, support local community and welfare. Purpose defines the identity of a business and the reason it exists, forming the benchmark to every decision. At Kallichoron, and as we grow as a hotel business, what drives everything we do is our collective and individual commitment to operate in a responsible manner and in line with our values. The trust of our guests, community and our people place at Kallichoron, alongside our high standards to ethical behavior, is fundamental to our actions and this award encourages us to work harder." said Maria Mavroudi, co-founder and General Manager of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel.

Carolina Alkalai, co-founder and Hotel Manager of Kallichoron continued "This award is yet another incentive to continue offering great, innovative services to our guests, in a sustainable manner and with responsibility. Thank you for your support all these years, and we hope we don’t ever disappoint!”

Notably, Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel has also been awarded for Best Greek Hotel at the Greek Tourism Awards that were held last year at the famous Golden Hall, known as the Nobel’s Hall, in Stockholm. Nevertheless, Kallichoron‘s personalized breakfast service known as “Grandma’s Breakfast” was also named Best Greek Hotel Breakfast at the Greek Hospitality Awards 2019.