BANGKOK—Cambodia’s business conglomerate The Royal Group has unveiled its vision to create Asia’s first environmentally planned resort island pioneering high-end international tourism on the country’s idyllic coastline. With interests ranging from telecommunications and IT to banking, international schools, media and entertainment, hotels and resorts, property and infrastructure development, The Royal Group has been at the heart of Cambodia’s economic development for almost two decades. Now the corporation led by visionary tycoon Neak Oknha Kith Meng is setting its sights on transforming the country’s tourism industry, which until now has almost exclusively depended on the attraction of world famous Angkor...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.—Representatives from Shaw Industries Group, Inc. joined California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and William McDonough at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. recently for an event marking the launch of the Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII). The first nonprofit institute of its kind in the United States, the GPII is dedicated to transforming the way companies design and manufacture products by advancing the Cradle to Cradle framework developed by architect and designer William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. Speaking at the event, Shaw CEO Vance Bell said that Shaw, an early adopter of Cradle to Cradle design, was...

DENTON, TEXAS—Travel and tourism is the second-largest services export industry in the United States, with the industry being one of the nation’s largest employers. Sustainable tourism—tourism development that strives to meet the needs of the present tourism market without compromising the resources of future generations—is a tourism specialty that balances environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits and concerns. A new master’s degree in the University of North Texas School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management (UNT) will educate students for management and leadership positions in this specialty as UNT’s first joint international graduate degree. The degree is the first of its kind...

BEIJING—The four winners of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards were announced during the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Of the 12 finalists, Emirates Hotels & Resorts, Whale Watch Kaikoura, Accor, and Botswana Tourism Board were crowned the winners for their successful work in advancing sustainable tourism best practices in different parts of the world. “We are seeing a new horizon in the global travel and tourism industry where more and more companies and destinations, both large and small, are leading the way forward...

WHITEFIELD, N.H.—Visitors to the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa in New Hampshire’s White Mountains can’t miss the 121-foot wind turbine that stands like a tall white tree behind the 144-room hotel and adjacent to the on-property nine-hole golf course. The 100-kilowatt system has been up and running since late last September. According to Gene Ehlert, marketing manager for the resort and spa which sits on 1,700 acres, it is too soon to know exactly what percentage of the property’s electricity needs it will eventually meet, but he said the $500,000 turbine has been meeting about 15 percent of...

MADRID, SPAIN—As the world comes together to celebrate 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, the United Nations World Tourism Organization announces that the World Tourism Day (WTD) celebrations, hosted officially this year by China, will take place under the theme of “Tourism and Biodiversity.” The theme provides a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of biodiversity to tourism and the role of sustainable tourism in the conservation of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a key tourism asset and fundamental to its sustained growth. Intact and healthy ecosystems form the cornerstone of thousands of tourist enterprises and...

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Columbia Forest Products was named a 2010 Corporate Sustainable Standard-Setter by the Rainforest Alliance at the organization’s gala dinner and awards ceremony on May 12 in New York City. The honor recognizes companies that have worked with the Rainforest Alliance and exhibited outstanding leadership in efforts to promote sustainability. “Columbia Forest Products is one of those companies that truly understands the principles of sustainability, integrating them into the core of its business practices,” said Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance. “We consider the company to be a leader in its field.” Columbia is one of North America’s...

ITHACA, N.Y.—A team of three researchers has developed a standard measurement of expenses for energy and supplies that can be used as a sustainability gauge for the hotel industry. The researchers, Jie Zhang and Nitin Joglekar, of Boston University, and Rohit Verma, of Cornell University, explain their measurement in a new report from Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research, “Developing Measures for Environmental Sustainability in Hotels: An Exploratory Study.” The report is available at no charge from the center. “Looking at the hotel chart of accounts, we see that managers have to analyze expenses in at least five areas of their...

TROY, OHIO—For the fourth consecutive year, the Hobart Center for Foodservice Sustainability (HCFS) is awarding a $5,000 grant to the individual or company judged to have the best-executed foodservice or food retail sustainability project of the year. Submissions are currently being accepted, and the recipient will be announced at the 2010 Greenbuild Expo scheduled for November 16 to 19 in Chicago. “At a time when every dollar counts, the Hobart Center for Foodservice Sustainability is again able to offer an additional payback for the foodservice or food retail individual or company deemed to be a best practice leader,” said...

MIAMI—Mexico’s El Dorado Royale, A Spa Resort by Karisma has introduced the philosophy of using fresh, local and sustainable produce to the Riviera Maya. The resort’s 70,000-square-foot greenhouse facility now provides produce not only for El Dorado Royale, but also for its sister El Dorado Spa Resorts & Hotels and Azul Hotels throughout the region. The expansive greenhouse—the first resort greenhouse in the region—celebrated its first harvest in August 2009. Now in its fourth harvest, the greenhouse produces a variety of organic vegetables and herbs, including cucumbers, bell peppers, chilies, basil, cilantro, and mint, supplying produce for El Dorado Royale,...