Green tourism has become an important trend in recent years, with travelers and hospitality operators alike all doing their best to minimize the impact that tourism can have on the environment.
Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi, which is set directly on the beach in a small bay that can only be reached by boat or along a pathway through the national park that surrounds the resort, is especially aware of its environmental responsibilities having last year been awarded EarthCheck Silver Certification for its environmental management programs.
As part of the resorts ongoing commitment towards environmental responsibilities, Centara Grand Krabi has launched its own water bottling plant using a reverse osmosis system. Also known as hyper filtration, this process allows the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution therefore reverse osmosis is used to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the color, taste or properties of the fluid.
“We have been working on this concept for some time now, and have followed the pattern that we have at our Grand Island Resort in the Maldives,” says David Good, vice president for operations at Centara Hotels&Resorts.
“Our bottling plant filters the water, which comes from underground wells, and uses renewable glass bottles rather than plastic bottles.
“We save on unnecessary use of fuel in transporting bottled water by boat, and we do not have the environmental problem of disposing of plastic bottles.
“Our own art department, under the direction of Winfried Hancke, has created a distinctive label for the glass bottles, and we feel that in addition to the environmental advantages we have a very attractive product.”
David Martens, general manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi says that the bottled water commenced distribution to our guests in September of this year, with an extremely positive reaction from our guests.
This is the first water bottling plant for Centara in Thailand and with the successful roll out of this service in Krabi, Centara Hotels and Resorts is examining the possibility of a similar system being installed at other resort properties, as part of its corporate environmental program.
Centara Hotels&Resorts is one of Thailand’s leading operator of hotels, with 48 deluxe and first-class properties covering all the major tourist destinations in the Kingdom. A further 26 resorts in Maldives, Vietnam, Bali, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Qatar, Laos and Oman brings the present total to 74 properties.
