Hilton Hotels support WWF Earth Hour
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Hilton Hotels support WWF Earth Hour
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Category: Worldwide
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-03-24
Hotels get ready to switch off their lights for Earth Hour
Hilton Hotels Corporation (Hilton) today announced that over 60 of its hotels across Europe will be joining the World Wide Fund For Nature’s (WWF) Earth Hour campaign on Saturday, March 28, 2009.
WWF Earth Hour is a global campaign which hopes to eventually reach more than one billion people, asking individuals, businesses and governments to switch off their lights for just one hour on Saturday March 28 at 8:30pm. This symbolic gesture is designed to highlight the importance of action on climate change.
Andy Ridley, Global Director of Earth Hour for the WWF said “The business community has an incredible ability and responsibility to engage employees, customers and suppliers to create a sustainable future for our planet, and we therefore welcome the involvement of major international businesses such as Hilton in Earth Hour”.
At Hilton, the support of Earth Hour will involve a wide range of activities in the region such as:
Switching off main building exterior lighting and rooftop neon signage
Dimming of interior lights in lobby and reception areas
Hosting candle-lit dinners in hotel restaurants and bars
Encouraging guests to switch off their room lights
Staging special candle-lit Earth Hour concerts to raise awareness
Speaking about Hilton’s support of Earth Hour, Simon Vincent, Area President Hilton - Europe said, “At Hilton we work hard to be committed to the heart of the communities in which we operate. Our support of Earth Hour will enable us to illustrate this in a tangible way, while simultaneously improving our efficiencies and environmental practices. Most of all Earth Hour at Hilton will allow our hotel team members to work together with our guests, to raise awareness that everyone can help to make a difference”.
Hilton in Europe is committed to constantly working to improve its environmental performance, having already trained over 30,000 team members through workshops and online ecoLearning programmes - along with rolling out initiatives which have seen a reduction in energy and water consumption, resulting in US$21.5 million of avoided costs - proving that ‘being green’ is also smart for business.
Furthermore, in the UK Hilton has been working with the Carbon Trust since 2005 on major projects to explore further ways of reducing energy use.
Globally, Hilton was one of the founding members of the International Tourism Partnership www.tourismpartnership.org. This organisation is designed to bring together the leaders of some of the largest travel and tourism companies, to work through collective, industry-wide action at local, destination and country level to encourage real progress towards a more sustainable hotel, travel and tourism industry.
The support of Earth Hour by Hilton Hotels Corporation in Europe is in addition to support given by the hotel group in Asia, Middle East, Africa and the US.
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