This week the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH) and the Center for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES) signed a memorandum of understanding to forward renewable energy technologies to improve the energy efficiency of Greek hotels.
CRES General Director Lampros Pyrgiotis and HCH President Alexandros Vassilikos signed the understanding and laid out the outline for cooperation for; formulating policy measures and actions to be proposed to government authorities; accelerate the integration of RES and energy-saving technologies; and other initiatives. Alexandros Vassilikos had this to say according to GTP:
“For the Greek hotel, sustainability is a priority. The hotel, utilizing the set goals of the Recovery Fund, can and should become a protagonist in the ‘green transition’, which will serve the environment, the economy and society.”
The HCH president went on to say HCH has already developed an “ambitious action plan” in this direction which will be enhanced through the HCH’s partnership with CRES. Lampros Pyrgiotis added this:
“Tourism is a strategic sector of the Greek economy and the integration of modern RES and energy efficiency technologies by hotel enterprises can serve as a condition that will economically and environmentally enhance their competitiveness, improving the energy footprint and quality of their services and offering significant leverage for the economy as a whole.”
According to the announcement, some of the measures include educating hotel companies on RES technologies; drafting technical and operational specifications for units in the “green hotels” category; developing new forms of accommodation such as “glamping”; and more.