Green Key signs a cooperation agreement with Aurinkomatkat to make the hospitality industry greener

Aurinkomatkat and Green Key have entered a cooperation agreement to increase the awareness about sustainable practices in the hospitality industry and to encourage hospitality businesses to take positive action.

Aurinkomatkat is Finland’s largest tour operator, and the goal of Aurinkomatkat is to assure that future generations can continue to enjoy the diversity of the world. There are various sustainable actions that Aurinkomatkat are taking to reach this goal. One of them is to establish long-term local partnerships with local hotels, tour operators and entrepreneurs to create a source of livelihood for the local community. Another very important aspect of Aurinkomatkat's sustainability work is to cooperate with stakeholders who are taking actions toward sustainability.

Aurinkomatkat has a wide range of hotels holding an environmental certification.  The object of the cooperation agreement between Green Key and Aurinkomatkat is to further increase the awareness about the sustainability certification among Aurinkomatkat hotel partners, staff and customers.

Green Key is a leading eco-certification programme for hotels and other establishment categories with currently more than 3,700 certified establishments in 60 countries worldwide. The certification is based on compliance with a strict set of internationally recognised criteria that are regularly confirmed through on-site audits and a subsequent independent third-party verification. The Green Key programme is managed by the international charity, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), and its national member organisations in 40+ countries.

“We are excited to start this cooperation with Green Key to increase the awareness about the sustainability certification among hotels. We have over 200 environmentally certified hotels in our selection and our aim is to increase the amount going forward,” says Annika Rusanen, Sustainability Manager at Aurinkomatkat.

Green Key International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, added a few words about this cooperation agreement:

“We are very happy to have the cooperation with Aurinkomatkat, which gives us the possibility to increase the awareness about Green Key and the importance of our certification in the hospitality industry. We appreciate this opportunity to further ensuring a greener hospitality industry. The importance of joining a certification programme, such as Green Key, not only shows the commitment of the hospitality and tourism operators towards sustainability but also raises awareness and creates behavioural changes among staff, suppliers and guests.”

To learn more about Aurinkomatkat, click here. 

To learn more about Green Key, click here.