COUNTRY: Egypt

CLIENT/PROJECT PARTNERS:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, TUI AG, Orascom Hotels & Development, Travco Group

PROJECT TITLE:
Environmental Performance and Competitiveness in the Egyptian Hotel Industry – PPP Green Star Hotel Initiative (GSHI) – Phase II

SHORT DESCRIPTION

The ‘Green Star Hotel’ initiative is a sustainability programme for the Egyptian hotel industry, designed to combat the negative effects of the rising visitor numbers and steady expansion of tourism destinations in Egypt. The Green Start Hotel programme has significantly increased the competitiveness of the participating hotels by raising their operational efficiency, while reducing operating costs and negative environmental impacts (e.g. through energy and water saving and waste reduction measures). Furthermore, the programme gives participants an increased competitive advantage through its marketing, which follows the global trend towards more sustainability in the tourism industry. The programme, which was successfully implemented at the destination El Gouna resort, as part of the second expansion phase of the project (GSH Phase 2), was upscaled into other top destinations on the Red Sea (e.g. Hurghada, Madinat Makadi), Sinai (e.g. Sharm el Sheikh, Taba) in the Nile Delta (Luxor) and on the Mediterranean Coast (e.g. Alexandria). TUI AG and the Egyptian Travco Group joined as additional strong partners.

The objective of the project was the upscaling of the Green Star Hotel Initiative (GSHI) from the pilot destination El Gouna, to further top tourism destinations across Egypt and the professionalization of the Green Star Hotel Certification System (Training, Audit).

The following measures were carried out by AGEG Tourism for Sustainability Consultants:

• Overall project steering and technical coordination
• Professionalization of the Green Star Hotel Certification System (training, audit, rating and certification)
• Development and Implementation of an awareness campaign for environmental protection and resource efficiency represented by the GSH label.
• Implementation of training, train-the-trainer workshops and capacity-building for the Egyptian hotel sector
• Technical support throughout the implementation of the certification processes