Hotel brand Voco is shaking up first anniversary traditions, leaving the paper gift behind and instead introducing a series of sustainability initiatives to eliminate paper and waste.
The brand is celebrating a year of sustainability milestones, with its ‘tread lightly’ philosophy playing a foundational role from the first Voco hotel on the Gold Coast all the way to Dubai, Cardiff and Oxford.
Voco Gold Coast and Voco Kirkton Park Hunter Valley have extended the philosophy with new paperless check-out initiatives.
Both hotels have taken the pledge to further reduce paper with a paperless check-out experience, including all receipts, invoices and IHG Rewards Club points updates issued via email.
Voco Kirkton Park has also rolled out Presshub for guests across the estate, enabling them to log in and access newspaper and magazine content digitally.
Voco’s sustainability efforts extend to the guest rooms, with bedding made from 100 per cent recycled materials. To date, the initiative has equated to over half a million plastic bottles that have been recycled to make bedding across the hotels.
In the bathroom, aerated shower heads support the reduction of water usage, while large-format amenities result in up to 80 per cent less plastic waste, compared to bathroom miniatures.
Sustainable meetings
Voco Kirkton Park has unveiled its ‘Trees for Bees’ program to offset the carbon footprint from meetings and events.
Based off an average 70-person event, Australian organisation Carbon Neutral has estimated the expected emission is 44.25 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or one tree per delegate.
In addition to its solar farm, onsite vegetable garden and bee farm, the hotel will now plant one tree per event to support local biodiversity and reduce the environmental impact of events held at the hotel.
Both voco hotels in Australia are home to several beehives, including more than 300,000 bees and a resident beekeeper at voco Gold Coast. Honey and honeycomb are used throughout the hotel, while signature ingredients including lavender are used in shortbread biscuits for guests.
