Sustainability

At Heritage Hotels, we recognise the importance of our role in protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations, and to help secure the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry of New Zealand. Since early 2000, we have subscribed to an external audit and accreditation system to benchmark our hotels' sustainability practices, and have established ourselves as an industry leader in this field.

Qualmark New Zealand is our most recent partner in the audit of our sustainability programmes. To earn this official tourism environmental award, the hotels have had to achieve high levels of efficiency in energy, water and waste management, plus show strong community responsibility during the assessment.  We are pleased to have achieved the top tier of Enviro Award Gold status at almost all our Heritage Hotels and CityLife Hotels.

This commitment has been reflected through the implementation of the following sustainability initiatives:

  • Using energy-saving lamps
  • Installing water saving devices
  • Encouraging guests to re-use towels and bed linen on a voluntary basis
  • Operating a glass, paper and plastic bottle recycling program
  • Recycling waste kitchen oils through a third party bio-fuel manufacturer
  • Using fire extinguishers that are not CFC based
  • Furnishing the hotel with live plants
  • Ensuring our suppliers demonstrate excellent sustainability practices
  • Encouraging staff to use energy efficiently
  • Reducing paper and packaging throughout the hotel
  • Making sustainability an integral KPI and empowering staff to form working groups to constantly improve our performance
  • Introducing sustainable dining menus with plant based meals, and sourcing seasonal food from within a 50 km radius where possible
  • Gifting surplus hotel items to charity when refurbishing
  • Rewarding staff for community environmental initiatives, such as volunteering for replanting conservation land with native trees
  • Operating an extensive community support programme, i.e. sponsoring numerous children's charities, community events and festivals.