Selling The Ecotel Concept

Selling the ecotel concept was a tough challenge but once established there was no looking back says Vithal Kamat, (Green Hotelier), chairman and managing director The Orchid-An Ecotel Hotel.

When Orchid first introduced the Ecotel concept there was a feeling, at least among the business clientele that this was just a promotional gimmick, an idea that would gain it some marketing brownie points. With 26 awards under its belt The Orchid has now become the most awarded hotel in the world in the environment category, thus proving its critics wrong.

When The Orchid was being conceptualised, the management of Kamat Hotels India Ltd decided to focus on environment consciousness, making it a niche market to enter into since there were no environment players in the field. The need to maintain a fine balance between business and eco-conservation became the driving force in building the hotel. When financial institutions were approached with the idea of an Ecotel hotel, they initially mistook it for an economy hotel. On providing further details about the project the financial institutions were very sceptical about the success of the same. The fact that there were no environmentally friendly certified hotels in Asia let alone India made them wonder if the concept was a lucrative option. It did not make economic sense for them that someone would spend an extra amount to buy eco-sensitive products or go to the extent of manufacturing them when all other hotels in the country are using the conventional products. It took a lot of convincing and persuasive skills on the part of the management to get the financial institutions to loosen their purse strings.

The employees at the hotel too gauged the seriousness of the management, and within no time were totally committed to the cause. With the entire hotel staff participating in the movement, it became easier to convince the guests about the genuineness of the same. The fact that each and every practice of the hotel was environmentally friendly, went a long way in convincing the people associated with the hotel of its viability.

With the environment awareness growing across the globe more and more people in India too wanted to contribute towards making this world a better place. Moreover we believe in the statement - "Comfort need not compromise, deluxe need not disturb, entertainment need not be insensitive, luxury with responsibility.” Being the first ecotel in the continent, the high level of environment consciousness achieved by the hotel and its staff is a unique selling point in attracting guests. The hotel maintains a cordial relationship with the guests and encourages them to participate in the conservation effort. The hotel has installed a green button in all its rooms. If the guest wants to participate in the environment conservation, he or she just needs to press the button. On pressing the green button the thermostat of the air-conditioning unit is stepped up by two degrees. The saving in electricity resulting from the two degrees increase in temperature is translated into rupee terms and the same is displayed on the guest folio and profile. A certificate is then issued to the guest who has voluntarily participated in conserving energy. A database is maintained of all these guests and we develop a direct mail link with them, telling them about our ongoing environmental activities through a monthly magazine. We also have a customer loyalty programme. Here customers earns points for his stay at our hotel. If they does not wish to redeem them for gifts, they can donate them towards environment projects. This helps our esteemed loyal guests to participate in our environment endeavours. Our guests both domestic and international, who are very conscious of their contribution to the environment, end up being regular customers of the hotel.

The various sustained environment activities undertaken by the hotel over the years are detailed below:

Advanced Locality Management (ALM): The Orchid is credited with popularising the ALM concept by starting The Orchid ALM trust in association with the BMC. As on today there are over 700 ALM's in the city. The Orchid also organises an ALM competition involving all the 24 wards and felicitates the best of the lot to promote a spirit of competition among them.

Anti Plastic Drive: The Orchid hotel is a no-plastic area. The hotel does not use plastic bags or sachet. The suppliers to the hotel are encouraged to supply their products in cloth bags rather than plastic bags. This effort has generated huge media interest.

Green Forum: The Green Forum was formed in association with United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP), a US government body to bring about a green revolution in the hospitality industry. The Green Forum has also organises seminars on Environment Management System (EMS), which was very well attended. The biggest initiative taken by The Orchid so far has been to embark on a massive tree plantation drive in the city. The Orchid under its ‘TEAM’ (Tree, Environment and Me) has initiated planting of 50 lakh trees in the city of Mumbai by the year 2025.

Awareness Campaigns: The Orchid organises a lot of awareness campaigns to educate the public about environment conservation and efficient utilisation of resources. Street plays, skits are organised on popular days like "World Earth Day", World Water Day" etc where the message is conveyed by capturing public attention through these plays.

The Orchid thus maintains a fine balance between social responsibility and marketing activities. This juxtaposing of social responsibility with the innovative media campaign has helped the hotel achieve excellent mileage. These efforts and initiatives undertaken by The Orchid has made it the winner of the world's highest number (26 awards) of environment awards in the last six years. Due to the best practices being followed at the hotel, it runs in the same efficient manner even in the absence of the top management. The philosophy, culture and vision laid by late Venkatesh K Kamath, chairman Emeritus, 70 years ago combined with the future need of environmental sensitivities and technology along with a team of honest, hardworking and efficient team members, has made The Orchid a force to be reckoned with in the Indian hospitality industry. v