Awareness cards urging hotel
guests to conserve launched
PHILIPSBURG--Environmental awareness cards urging hotel guests to conserve on water and electricity by reusing their towels and keeping appliances off when not in use will soon be placed in all hotel rooms in St. Maarten.
The cards were launched on World Tourism Day Saturday in keeping with the theme “Tourism: Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change.”
The cards, a collaboration among the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, the Nature Foundation and St. Maarten Pride Foundation, were presented to President of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) Emil Lee as well as several hotel owners during a ceremony at Island Flava Restaurant on Saturday.
Lee will turn the cards over to the various hotels and resorts to be placed in their rooms.
The cards inform guests that water and electricity are “precious commodities” in St. Maarten and advise them not to waste them. It encourages conservation by encouraging guests to reuse towels and to turn off electrical appliances not in use when leaving the room. The message is in Dutch, English, Spanish and French. A number of hotels around the world and in the region already convey similar messages.
Dubbing the initiative a good one, Tourism Commissioner Roy Marlin said the venture shows that cooperation among the government and private sector can bear fruit. “Most hotels in the Caribbean and US already (send this message), so maybe we are a little late, but it’s better late than never,” Marlin said.
Thompson said this is an initiative that the Pride, Nature and Heritage Foundations have been working on for several years. “We have been trying to get this done so that the visitors who come to St. Maarten can really appreciate that we are working on conserving our environment and (let them know) that they can also contribute, especially nowadays with the high oil prices and global warming (which) is also tied into this.”
He said Pride is “very happy that this has finally been realised” adding that the Tourist Bureau and the Department of Spatial Planning and Development VROM are two departments with which environmental foundations have forged a close working relationship. “We commend the Tourist Bureau for always being there and helping us out when we are in need and look forward to working with them in the future; we also congratulate the commissioner of tourism for having this done.”
The ceremony wrapped up with the participants being treated to lunch at Island Flava Restaurant.
