Dubai: Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing has extended the deadline for implementation of the 19 sustainability requirements and 'carbon calculator' submissions to July 1, 2021.
The requirements have been laid out to support hotels in their compliance with Dubai Tourism’s classification system, and the long-term objective of advancing sustainability across the sector.
In light of the current pandemic situation, hotels will benefit from an additional 12-month implementation period to finalise their sustainability compliance. All requirements will now be mandated from July 1, 2021.
Dubai is already home to many eco friendly resorts, including Jumeirah Al Naseem, Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai, Radisson Blu Hotel Creek and JA Beach Hotel.
The sustainability requirements include performance metrics; energy, food and water management plans; guest education; employee training initiatives; and the presence of sustainability committees within hotel establishments.
Since its inception in January 2017, the carbon calculator – part of the Tourism Dirham Platform - is a tool that has been measuring the carbon footprint within Dubai’s hospitality sector. On a monthly basis, hotels submit their consumption of 11 carbon emission sources.
This information is aggregated and analysed to provide industry insights on the sector’s collective carbon footprint.