Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy

1. Management System


This document forms the basic framework of a Sustainable Management System (SMS) that can be adapted and developed to encompass all management processes of our hotel and sets forth its policies. This document is prepared for the management and staff of the hotel. Our system has been developed to be suitable for the size and scope of our hotel.


The foundation of our management system is based on risk analysis. Risk analysis is conducted in the areas of environment, natural disasters, community, culture, economy, quality, human rights, health, and safety. Additional topics can be added if necessary.


After analyzing the risks, our crisis management policy and system, which determine the actions to be taken in case of risk occurrence, are also included. The annex of this document contains information on how risk analysis and crisis management will be conducted.


Risk analysis is conducted using the method specified in Table-1.


SMS involves the implementation of specific policies, setting objectives, and monitoring whether the objectives are achieved by all employees in the areas of quality, economy, management, environment, culture, human rights, health, and safety, with the aim of continuously improving the business management processes.


When the set objectives are achieved, new objectives are established. If they cannot be reached, our objectives, policies, and practices are reviewed. In this way, we strive to achieve continuous improvement.


The objectives of our hotel's management system and performance indicators that track compliance with these objectives are included in the annex of this document.


The objectives of our hotel and performance indicators are listed in Table-2.


Our hotel commits to fulfilling the first stage obligations of the Turkish Sustainable Tourism Program and continuously improving the sustainability management system to enhance sustainability performance.


The status of the sector, environmental, social, technological, economic, and cultural risks, changes and updates due to legislation necessitate the continuous review of our management system, and if necessary, the system and policies are updated.


The steps mentioned above can be summarized as the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) approach (Figure 1).


image

Figure  1. PUKÖ Cycle


Plan: Our hotel values the environment, society, culture, country's economy, and governance system, and sets goals. To achieve these goals, it plans the roadmap and actions to be taken.


Implement: Our hotel determines its fundamental policies and practices regarding environmental, cultural, social, human rights, health, and safety. It monitors, measures, and records them at regular intervals as defined by the relevant staff.


Check: Feedback from both staff and customers at our hotel is monitored and recorded. Corrective measures are taken if necessary.


Take Precautions: This step is taken when our hotel takes action to correct the issues identified during the "Check" phase. Corrective actions and measures are documented and archived.



2. Legal Compliance


Our hotel commits to comply with the current laws, regulations, and international agreements. It maintains an up-to-date list of these and regularly informs its staff, providing them with necessary training.


The basic legislation to be complied with is listed in Table-3.


Upon request or when required, our hotel presents all the necessary permits, certificates, and documents to the relevant individuals and institutions.


These documents include Workplace Opening and Operation License, the personnel insurance declaration for the last month, tax certificate, emergency action plan, staff training and certificates, contract with the occupational physician, sewage connection certificate obtained from the municipality, documents indicating pest control, and other necessary documents.



3. Stakeholders and Communication


Our hotel provides accurate information to all segments in its promotion. It always uses real visual materials in its promotion. Our hotel, in its website, social media accounts, and other printed and written promotional channels, as well as marketing communications, has a transparent and realistic approach in terms of its products and services.


Our hotel also shares its actions and activities related to policies and sustainability with its employees and customers in an open and transparent manner. Our hotel's website is used for this purpose. Periodic reports on sustainability performance are published on our website. These reports are prepared at appropriate intervals related to the subject.


An example of performance reporting can be found in Table-4.


Our hotel has a system that aims to receive feedback from our customers, public institutions, municipalities, employees, local communities, and other relevant individuals and institutions regarding our sustainability performance, policies, and practices. Through this system, we gather feedback from both our staff and customers.


Our system is designed to enable and encourage our customers and staff to provide quick, simple, and effective feedback. This system includes surveys for guests, regular monitoring of social media accounts, email and messaging services for employees, email communication for other stakeholders, and regular follow-up.


An example of a survey application can be found in Table-5.


Customer Experience: Customer satisfaction is valued in our hotel. Customer satisfaction includes feedback received from the sustainability-related system mentioned above. The received results are analyzed. Negative feedback and responses are recorded, and necessary precautions are taken.


Personnel Participation: Our employees are the most important element of our hotel management system.


Our employees are aware of what they need to do in our management system and regarding our sustainability policies and practices. The tasks to be performed by our employees are defined in writing, communicated to them, and necessary training and guidance are regularly provided. These trainings are recorded.


Our employees actively participate in the improvement and continuous improvement of our management system and sustainability performance. We review and improve our system based on the feedback received from our employees.


In line with our sustainability policies and management system, employees are provided with orientation training, periodic training programs related to sustainability and their work areas, on-the-job training, training required by legal regulations, and guidance support. We implement annual training plans on Occupational Health and Safety training, hygiene training for kitchen/service/massage, water and energy conservation, rules for chemical substance use, fire protection, first aid, etc.


Our employees have free and open access to all our training materials.


Our hotel commits to comply with the relevant provisions of Law No. 4857 on Labor and pays its employees at least the minimum wage. In addition, our hotel commits to comply with Law No. 5510 on Social Security and General Health Insurance and Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety.


Our hotel has formed a "Sustainability Team" to manage sustainability activities.


The distribution of duties of the Sustainability Team is included in Table-6.



4. Accessibility


Our hotel commits to providing accessible tourism services for everyone within its capabilities and informs its customers and stakeholders about the level of accessibility through its website accurately and transparently.


Our hotel also commits to fully comply with legal regulations regarding accessibility and to continuously monitor and improve in this regard.


We strive to make continuous improvements not only for physically disabled individuals but also for guests who cannot participate in tourism activities due to visual, hearing, and other impairments.


Our hotel regularly maintains and repairs the accessibility arrangements and infrastructure and makes improvements when necessary. We also regularly inform our employees about accessibility.



5. Purchasing


Our purchasing policy includes local, environmentally friendly, fair trade-based, and efficient purchasing practices.


Our hotel monitors our material and service resources. We engage in regular discussions with our suppliers and verify their sustainability certificates, information, and documents.


Local Purchasing: When purchasing goods and services, our hotel gives priority to local suppliers, provided that they are of high quality and reasonably priced. Therefore, we regularly inspect and update our supplier list and inform our suppliers accordingly. The proportion of goods and services obtained from the local community is measured.


When purchasing imported products, our hotel also gives priority to fair trade suppliers, provided that they are of high quality and reasonably priced.


Environmentally Friendly Purchasing: Our hotel follows an environmentally friendly purchasing policy, emphasizing efficient purchasing to reduce food and solid waste, as well as energy and water conservation.


Our hotel prioritizes the purchase of environmentally friendly products (eco-labeled products) when there are such options in the product category. If eco-labeled products are not available in the desired product category, we select suppliers and manufacturers whose production and other processes do not harm the environment.


Within this framework, our hotel prioritizes the selection of suppliers with sustainability certifications when making purchases. Some example certifications that suppliers may have include ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 14064, ISO 20400, among others.


We prefer environmentally certified (FSC, MSC, EU Ecolabel, etc.) or traceable products for wood, fish, paper, and other food items.


Endangered species and prohibited species (fish, trees, plants, game animals, etc.) are not procured or used in our hotel.


The ratio of our purchases from environmentally certified, local producers and suppliers, and fair trade suppliers is measured in relation to the total purchases.


Our hotel has goals related to environmentally certified, local, and fair trade purchasing. In this regard, we aim to increase the proportion and number of purchases from local and fair trade suppliers and pay attention to achieving this goal.


The supplier evaluation form is provided in Table 7.
The approved supplier list is provided in Table 8.


Efficient Purchasing: Our purchasing policy prefers reusable, returnable, and recycled goods.


Additionally, our hotel prioritizes bulk purchasing and purchasing in bulk containers, which results in fewer transportation trips and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.


It is our fundamental priority and preference that unnecessary and excessive plastic, nylon, paper, glass, and wooden packaging materials are not present in the products delivered to our hotel.


When purchasing consumables and amenity products, we avoid single-use items and unnecessary packaging (especially plastic). The procurement and use of consumables and single-use items are monitored and managed.


Table 9 is used for tracking disposable, plastic, and packaged products.



6. Cultural Sustainability Policy


Presentation of Cultural Heritage: Our hotel respects the intellectual property rights of the local community.


We incorporate authentic elements of traditional and contemporary local culture in our cuisine, design, and decoration.


Artifacts: Our hotel does not buy or sell historical and archaeological artifacts, act as a mediator in their trade, or display them.


Promotion of Sustainable Local Gastronomy: Our hotel prioritizes the promotion and consumption of local products. We implement innovative and creative practices to ensure sustainability in gastronomy throughout all our activities.



7. Energy and Environment


Energy Conservation: Our hotel has an energy conservation policy. The policy includes regular measurement, monitoring, reduction, and the use of renewable energy sources for energy consumption.


Our hotel prioritizes the use of renewable energy sources whenever possible.


Our hotel categorizes energy consumption based on energy types and monitors the energy consumption of different units.


The total energy used in our hotel is measured according to the energy type. Table-11 is used for measurement purposes.


We track the energy obtained from renewable sources in our hotel.


Table-10 is used for tracking electricity consumption.
Table-11 is used for tracking total energy consumption.


Our hotel identifies activities with high energy consumption, plans and implements corrective measures to reduce energy consumption in these areas and activities (such as insulation systems, preference for low-consumption devices with energy efficiency ratings, use of LED bulbs instead of high-energy-consuming lighting like incandescent bulbs, etc.). Additionally, our hotel uses energy-efficient equipment.


Our hotel informs and educates its employees and stakeholders about energy conservation.



8. Water Management and Waste water


Our hotel has a water conservation policy. Our policy includes the regular measurement, monitoring, and reduction of water consumption.


The water risk situation in the area where our hotel is located has been determined. For this purpose, the Water Risk Atlas prepared by the World Resources Institute is used. The link to the relevant website can be found here.


Water risk has been evaluated in the risk analysis, and a water management plan has been established. This plan includes the measurement and monitoring of water usage, as well as goals and reporting for reducing water consumption.


Due to our hotel's water usage activities, aquatic creatures living in seas, lakes, and similar bodies of water are not harmed. However, the possibility of harm to these organisms has been evaluated in the risk analysis, and necessary precautions have been taken.


Our hotel complies with all legal requirements and regulations regarding water usage.


Water is sourced from a legal and sustainable source. Our water comes from either municipal water supply or authorized well water.


We measure our water consumption. The total water used per guest or per overnight stay is calculated and reported. The attached file in this document is used for measurement purposes.


Table-12 is used for measuring water consumption.


We have water reduction targets. In line with this, our hotel plans and implements corrective measures. Water-saving equipment is used in our hotel. Good practices, such as changing sheets and towels upon guest request, are implemented.


Our hotel informs and guides its employees and stakeholders about water conservation. Our hotel makes every effort to ensure that wastewater does not harm the environment.


The disposal of wastewater complies with the regulations determined by the local authorities. Legal requirements regarding this matter are adhered to.



9. Food Waste and Solid Waste


Our hotel has a Solid Waste Management Plan. The plan includes the regular measurement, monitoring, waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and disposal of waste.


Table-13 is used for waste tracking.


Solid waste is segregated according to types such as food waste, recyclable waste, hazardous waste, and organic waste, considering recycling and reuse opportunities during segregation.


Our hotel regularly informs and guides its employees and stakeholders about waste management through various visual and communication materials.


Solid waste, segregated by type, is collected by authorized and licensed companies.


Solid waste, including food waste, is measured by type. The amount of solid waste per guest or per overnight stay is calculated and reported in our hotel.


Furthermore, our hotel has identified activities and areas where solid waste generation is high and at risk. Corrective measures are planned and implemented to reduce food waste and wastage.


The aim is to ensure that solid waste disposal has no adverse impact on the local population or the environment. Compliance with the "Zero Waste Regulation" legislation regarding solid waste management is ensured.