Event Sustainability Leadership by Singapore, Macau and Taiwan

It is two and half years since the London Olympics, which not only set world records in many sports but introduced the new international gold standard for sustainability for the events industry.  Is Asia now doing events more sustainably? Could do much better, says Ken Hickson, in the annual sustainability issue of CEI Magazine, the events industry leading publication.  “It is an ideal opportunity for the Asian tourism and business events industry to show real leadership — not just to make more money, but to do it better.” Read More

Singapore, Macau and Taiwan Showing Event Sustainability Leadership

By Ken Hickson in CEI Asia (December/January 2015)

Sustainability for the events industry in Asia is taking time to take hold.

A lot of events people have good intentions and while we are seeing signs of acceptance of the importance of sustainability, but as with many industry sectors, there’s a need for less talk and more action.

It is two and half years since the London Olympics which not only set world records in many sports but introduced the new international gold standard for sustainability for the events industry.

ISO 20121 – like any international standard – might seem like a very high bar to reach and achieve, but it is no doubt worth it as it speaks to your customers and all your stakeholders that you are as professional and as business-like as you can possibly be. That sustainability matters to the events industry.

Europe, America and Australia are a way ahead in the race for sustainability for events.

It goes beyond just offering “green meetings” to show that you are managing events in a totally sustainable fashion – managing energy and all related resources, reducing waste, improving accessibility, being ethical and responsible in all you do.

So who gets it and who’s accepted the challenge?

Singapore is adopting a sustainability mantra for MICE events, with the Tourist Board drawing up very useful guidelines and pointing to the value of international benchmarks and standards.

SACEOS (Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers) has followed this up by presenting sustainability workshops and is now working on developing a professional sustainable event certification process.

Marina Bay Sands has taken a MICE sustainability leadership position on its own, announcing in February 2014 that it became the first venue in South East Asia to be certified with the international sustainability standard ISO 20121.

Around the same time its sister resort in Macau – The Venetian – was also awarded the gold standard for sustainable event management.

The company’s certification process, audited by independent certification body BSI, was obviously aided by its sustainability efforts based on the Sands ECO360° global strategy designed by its parent company in the United States, the Las Vegas Sands.

For Marina Bay Sands and the Venetian, the initiatives include energy and water efficiency in building management, waste recycling in its resort operations, and sustainability outreach programmes. It also offers sustainable event planning services, which assist planners meet their ‘green’ meetings goals through tracking of energy usage in specific areas, sustainably choosing food and beverage menu and providing a post-event sustainability report.

Taiwan is certainly showing that its MICE industry is prepared to stay with the leaders in the sustainability game. With strong Government encouragement, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council announced in May that its premier event, EPIF 2014, became the nation’s first exhibition to pass ISO 20121 standards.

According to the independent external certification body SGS, this event was the first in Asia to be certified ISO 20121 compliant. Associated with that is the award of IS0 20121 to the Taipei consultancy Artecture covering the provision of event and exhibition operations until March 2016.

Let’s hope that the rest of the events industry in Asia gets the message and can see the value-add of sustainability standards and certification processes.

After all, besides environmental sustainability, we are also talking about economic sustainability.

And surely everyone wants that for now and the future.

Source: www.cei.asia

The future of sustainability

Asia’s environmental awareness slowly growing

By Garry Marchant in CEI Magazine (December/January 2015)

Green, sustainable, environmentally friendly, ecotourism. These terms are increasingly heard in recent years wherever the business events industry meets. Even conferences, such as the Inaugural Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality in Asia, held in Hiroshima, Japan in October, now focus on the topic.

Once considered a fringe form of travel trade, today sustainable business events and incentives are becoming more and more mainstream, practiced with varying degrees of success and enthusiasm region wide.

How seriously the industry takes sustainability depends on the sector, says Roger Simons, group sustainability manager of MCI, a global event company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Hotel chains are quite mature on their approach to the environment and society, whereas many event agencies and other types of suppliers are only just starting on their journey to responsible business,” Singapore-based Simons adds.

Ken Hickson, chairman of Sustain Ability Showcase Asia, a Singapore sustainability consultancy business, says that many in the tourism and events industry take sustainability seriously. “But in terms of practically applying sustainability measures, there is still a long way to go,” he adds. “ISO 20121 is the Olympic standard for events, but very few have applied this in Asia.”

In the accommodation sector, there is much more to sustainability and being green than asking guests to reuse towels, turn off the lights and limit their air conditioning usage.

“Hotel chain upstarts like Alila have adopted an approach to ultra-luxurious, yet sustainable development,” says Simons. The Asian chain’s green efforts, which extend beyond the operational aspects of the resorts, affect the community economically, socially and culturally. This includes employing and training local people, using products and services from local suppliers and educating its guests on local culture and traditions.

Marina Bay Sands Singapore and its casino and business events venues actively promote green meetings, says Hickson. “There are many others in Singapore who have taken steps toward this, and the Singapore Tourism Board and SACEOS (Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers) are actively encouraging it,” he says. “But it is baby steps on the sustainability journey. Much more is needed.”

Challenges involve changing the mindset of those in the industry, Hickson adds. “Beyond transportation, it is vital to measure and manage the footprint of guests and organisers, and to everything from food and beverage, waste management, energy efficiency, paper and printing.”

Simons points out that waste is a huge problem in the events industry, both with food and traditional waste created from meetings and business events.

“At the high end of the scale, customers want to know that their hard-earned money is being spent responsibly, giving back to the community and supporting, rather than destroying the environment,” he says. “At the same time, we’re seeing a massive boom in local, organic and foraged foods in the food and beverage industry. Any restaurant worth its salt is flogging its local credentials from ‘market garden’ through to ‘farm to table’.”

Environmental awareness in the industry has led to some high profile, concrete results. For example, sales of shark fin have fallen from 50 to 70 per cent, according to a report by WildAid, a US-based organisation focusing on reducing demand for wildlife products. A number of large hotel chains have stopped serving shark fin soup and more than 20 airlines have agreed not to transport it, partly as a result of pressure from the travel and events industry.

However, things have not all been positive.

“I would have hoped we’ve learned the lesson of the early travel boom to places like the Costa del Sol, Spain in the 1960s. But it appears not,” says Simons. “Unscrupulous development is rife across Asia, with places like Phuket being overdeveloped. And it can often be foreign investment corrupting the situation, and creating infrastructure designed to please the incoming low-end visitor in a very unsustainable way.”

Simons believes that it is important for local governments to regulate and control the industry, only permitting projects that meet codes of sustainable development.

Some Asian companies/countries are more environmentally conscious than others, he says. “Likewise, many organisations across Asia may not have the MBA approach to sustainability, issuing reports and creating departments focused on corporate social responsibility.

“However, the Buddhist philosophy of harmony can still be core to their business, and drive the same impact.”

Sustainability for tourism and events involves the four ‘Es’ — Environment, Energy, Economy and Ethics, says Hickson. “We cannot have one without the others. Energy and money can be saved if we are smart, so it makes business’ sense to operate sustainably.”

Citing the London Olympics as setting the gold standard for sustainable events, Hickson says we should be seeing the equivalent in Asia. “Events might not be sustainable per se, but we could be better managing events by taking sustainability into account,” he adds. “It is possible to have major events that contribute positively.”

While the Western world is generally environmentally conscious, Asia is waking up to the problem and the opportunities, say industry leaders.

“It is an ideal opportunity for the Asian tourism and business events industry to show real leadership — not just to make more money, but to do it better,” Hickson adds. “Asia is where the growth is. Let’s grow sustainably.”

Source: www.cei-asia.newspaperdirect.com