Australia Provides Korea with Sustainable Tourism Standard

Nov. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- 10 November 2010, Seoul – The joint partnership between the Korean private sector and Australian company EarthCheck came to fruition after Coex – South Korea’s top convention and exhibition centre and the venue for the G20 Seoul Summit – had successfully benchmarked with EarthCheck.

The partnership is a result of an agreement which involves the Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD) and EarthCheck; the world’s largest environmental management system in use by the travel and tourism industry. The agreement incorporates the establishment of a public-private partnership on sustainable tourism, which will help South Korea boost its competitiveness as a tourism destination and raise public awareness of the benefits of sustainable practices.

Global Leaders Align
Comprised of chief executive officers of enterprises that share a vision for economic development that is in harmony with environmental preservation and social development, KBCSD members include corporate heavyweights such as; GS Caltex, Samsung, Ernst & Young, LG Electronics, KIA Motors and POSCO.

EarthCheck is the world's largest environmental management Program used by sustainable travel and tourism industry. It was developed by the world’s largest not-for-profit research centre into sustainable tourism; the Australian Government-funded Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.

The Program leverages some $260 million worth of academic research and contains more than a decade of industry benchmarking data. It is already used by more than 1000 organisations in over 70 countries; including tourism leaders such as ACCOR, Langham Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Banyan Tree and Six Senses.

Demonstrating High Standards of Performance

The Republic of Korea understands that in order to succeed, there is a need to measure and monitor performance, identify areas for sustainable improvement and promote and recognise good commercial practice.

The nation recognizes there exists a global need for consistency and comparability across country and sector; especially when it comes to financial and emissions reporting. Information collected needs to be harmonized and baselines created to facilitate destination planning.

In-keeping with the national vision of a ‘Low-Carbon, Green Growth’, KBCSD is working closely with the Korean Government concerned with a view to adopting the EarthCheck methodology and approach as an internationally-recognised scientific solution to underpin their national program.

“As part of new growth engines for the low-carbon future, the Korean government aims at increasing the market share of green tourism from 20% in 2008 to 25% in 2014. The Korean business sector also strives to build a strong business case and marketing opportunities for green tourism. In light of this, KBCSD believes that our alliance with EarthCheck will ensure that Korean businesses are internationally evaluated in the course of achieving meaningful sustainability performances,” said Sonia Hong, Secretary-General of KBCSD.

EarthCheck provides a framework to increase operational efficiencies, maximise the benefit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and minimise environmental impacts. Having been in market for almost 13 years, the EarthCheck infrastructure and internationally recognised standards will benefit Korea, which will white-label it for their own travel and tourism industry, associated infrastructure, communities and business clusters of associated service industries.

It is hoped that the adoption of the Australian program will help promote more cooperative projects between the two nations, encourage corporate investment for national economic growth, and lead to job creation.

“We are delighted to have signed a Strategic Alliance agreement with The Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD),” said Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global. “Korea has shown strong leadership in this region by being proactive with this initiative.”

Early Signs of Success
Last week, it was announced that Coex – venue for the G20 summit – had successfully benchmarked with EarthCheck. Located in the World Trade Center Seoul and boasting Asia’s largest underground mall, Coex is sprawled across a staggering 190,386 square meters. With over 2,500 different events staged at the venue each year, Coex has the ability to significantly influence the MICE sector in South Korea.

More than 35 million people – almost double the entire population of Australia – visit Coex and surrounding facilities each year. Yet, despite this massive volume of foot traffic, Coex has managed to become a pioneer in Korea’s green growth industry. In fact, Coex exceeded Best Practice levels in energy efficiency and water conservation, as well as other important areas of sustainable business operations.

   
Although the EarthCheck Program was developed for the travel and tourism industry, it has also been successfully applied to schools, communities, business clusters, green buildings, infrastructure and even the manufacture of consumer goods such as beds. It will certainly be interesting to watch how broadly Korean business takes up the Program and encourage others to take up sustainable practices.
   


EDITOR’S NOTES

The Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD) is a business association comprised of chief executive officers of enterprises that share a vision of putting Korean industry on track to economic development in harmony with environmental preservation and social development. KBCSD, which also serves as a focal point of ‘Green Growth Business Dialogue’ under the Presidential Committee on Green Growth, is an umbrella institute of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) as well as a regional partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The Coex Center is a vibrant city landmark located in the heart of Seoul's bustling downtown business district. In addition to the convention and exhibition center, Coex hosts an array of on site tourism and transportation amenities, including Asia's largest underground mall, three 5 star hotels, Seoul's only city air terminal, two popular performance theaters, and more than 100 restaurants featuring cuisines from every corner of the globe. Coex also boasts first class catering services and an extensive, award winning green operations program, guaranteeing that your event’s attendees can enjoy the highest service in a modern, globally conscious environment. Learn more at www.coex.co.kr/eng

EarthCheck is the world's largest environmental management Program in use by sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 70 countries, EarthCheck responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet; including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. Learn more at www.earthcheck.org  or www.sustainabletourismonline.com

For further information please contact:   

KBCSD
Chai-Un Hahn
Senior Researcher
P: +82 2 3465 0692
E: chaiun@kbcsd.or.kr
W: www.kbcsd.or.kr      

Coex
Sonia Hensley
International Marketing Coordinator
P: +82 2 6000 1121
E: marketing@coex.co.kr
W: www.coex.co.kr/eng         

EarthCheck
Chantal Dunbar
EC3 Global Communications Manager
P:  +61 401 058 159
E: chantal.dunbar@ec3global.com
W: www.earthcheck.org

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EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel & tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, the company’s EarthCheck Program responds to the environmental problems facing the planet.