Anchorage Motel has recently earned a Qualmark Enviro-Gold logo as recognition for their efforts around sustainability. For owner-operators Fiona and Nigel, sustainability is not “just about the environment, it’s the relationship between the environment and our business together – they’re inextricably linked – you can’t separate the two of them”. By monitoring key indicators such as electricity, water and gas usage, as well as waste, Fiona and Nigel can closely gauge the effect of sustainability initiatives they implement. Most units have a two-bin waste system, with general rubbish going in one and recyclables in the other. Guests at Anchorage Motel are also encouraged to place their compostable waste into a container located in each unit, which is collected daily and fed to their worm farm or compost bin. “We’ve had amazing word of mouth and much more referral business, and repeat business ever since we put these (waste) initiatives into place”, says Fiona. “It’s been huge on the bottom line”.
Much of what has been achieved has taken considerable time and energy on the part of the owners. However, Nigel and Fiona explain that making progress has actually proven rejuvenating; giving them the energy to continue moving forward because they really enjoy improving the sustainability of their business. They strongly believe that sustainable business practices represent a strong competitive advantage in tourism where many customers appraise your product based partly on its environmental impact.
Business background
Anchorage Motel is located in Te Anau and includes 16 motel units. Owner-operators Fiona and Nigel Humphries employ up to seven staff in total; generally three cleaning staff on any given day. They host some domestic guests, but their main market is the overseas visitor who predominantly comes from Australia.
The business has recently earned an Enviro-Gold logo through the Qualmark Responsible Tourism programme as recognition for their efforts around sustainability. Fiona and Nigel are the main drivers behind this achievement, with their predominantly part time staff playing a smaller, support role.
What sustainability means at Anchorage Motel
For Fiona and Nigel, sustainability is not “just about the environment, it’s the relationship between the environment and our business together – they’re inextricably linked – you can’t separate the two of them”. At Anchorage Motel sustainability is an ongoing process, where the owners are always open to new ideas, initiatives and ways of doing things better. According to Fiona, a lot of this comes down to being in the right place at the right time and seizing on opportunities as they arise.
Motivations to pursue sustainability
One of the primary motivators for Fiona and Nigel implementing sustainable business has been competitive advantage. Four or five years ago they realised that New Zealand is promoted as being 100% pure, but there is concern that some may not consider this to be accurate. Nigel believes this to be a potentially significant risk for tourism in particular, when sustainability is such an enormous part of everyday life in many European countries; including some of New Zealand’s key visitor markets.
Another reason for improving the sustainability of their business is that this represents an extension of the way Nigel and Fiona live. Many of the initiatives they have adopted are things they have been doing in their everyday life anyway, making it a natural inclusion in the motel’s operation.
Sustainability in action
Anchorage Motel has been assessed under the Qualmark Responsible Tourism Criteria and has been awarded an Enviro-Gold logo in recognition of the sustainability initiatives in place. This puts the business among the best performing in New Zealand’s tourism industry for sustainable practice. Fiona and Nigel are able to closely gauge the effect of these practices by monitoring key sustainability indicators such as electricity, water and gas usage, as well as waste.
The motel is involved in the Sustainable Tourism South Charter programme and the owners received a report two years ago which identified energy usage as a priority area. Since then, Nigel and Fiona have renovated all the units to include insulation, double-glazing, energy efficient heat pumps and under floor heating in the bathrooms (controlled by thermostats and timers). They also utilised an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) grant which subsidised the cost of installing solar hot water heating. “It’s been a really big buzz looking out there seeing the sun shining on the roof and knowing that that’s warming up our water”, Fiona says.
Guests at Anchorage Motel are encouraged to place their compostable waste into a bucket located in each unit. This waste is collected each day during cleaning and fed to the on-site worm farm or compost bin. As Fiona says, “the worm farm’s come in quite recently; we are looking at just extending the composting and worm farm because we can hardly keep up with the amount we are generating”. Most units also have a two-bin waste system, with general rubbish going in one and recyclables in the other. Nigel and Fiona report that guests respect this system and generally need very little prompting to use it correctly.
Any guests staying at the motel buy their groceries at the local supermarket, so green re-useable bags are provided in each unit for them to use. Guests are also encouraged to take away their toiletries to finish. All of the brochures promoting the business are printed on recycled paper stock using vegetable-based inks and all office paper is printed on both sides prior to being recycled.
“We’ve had amazing word of mouth and much more referral business, and repeat business ever since we put these (waste) initiatives into place”, says Fiona. “It’s been huge on the bottom line”.
Water is also an area of the business where progress has been made on sustainability. Guests are encouraged to only ask for their towels to be changed when needed and all of the units feature dual flush toilets. In addition, the property’s gardens are watered in the morning or evening, in order to avoid the hottest time of the day.
Fiona and Nigel are keenly aware of their local community, as well as their business’ place within it. They put into practice their sense of social responsibility through every aspect associated with operating their business. “We feel that you have to run the business with integrity, and treat people the way we would like to be treated if we were on the other side of the check-in desk”, says Fiona. One of the ways that this business makes a contribution to the local community is via donations to the Pomona Island Trust. Pomona Island is located in Lake Manapouri which is being developed as a predator-proof sanctuary to restore native biodiversity.
Challenges involved in seeking sustainability
There have been challenges involved in implementing sustainable business practices at Anchorage Motel, but these tend to be balanced by rewarding outcomes. For example, there was a significant cost involved in renovating the units in a way that is future-focused, but Fiona and Nigel see this as an investment rather than a cost.
A lot of what has been achieved in the business has also taken a considerable amount of time and energy on the part of the owners. However, Nigel and Fiona explain that making the progress they have has actually proven rejuvenating; giving them the energy to continue moving forward because they really enjoy improving the sustainability of their business.
Advice for other businesses
Nigel and Fiona strongly believe that sustainable business practices represent a strong competitive advantage; especially in the tourism industry where many customers appraise your product based partly on its environmental impact. They recommend asking other operators and industry peers what they’ve tried and to start with something small that you feel comfortable with.
onitoring key indicators is also a central part of introducing sustainable practices to your business. As Fiona explains, “it’s really important when you are running a business to know where your money’s going, so if you’re not monitoring, you really have no idea where you are spending your money”.
Planning is another important aspect to running a successful and sustainable business. Fiona and Nigel feel that success is based on regularly planning, looking ahead and implementing new ideas. “You can just implement things one step at a time, you don’t have to bite the whole thing off in one go”, Fiona says.
Assistance available
Nigel and Fiona found that participation in the Sustainable Tourism Charter to be of great benefit to their business. This was especially the case as they first began to think about sustainability in their business.
They also recommend networking and sharing knowledge with industry peers. As Fiona explains, “those of us who are really trying out new initiatives tell other people; we all go away with new ideas, try some things out and try to spread the news”.
Thank you to Sustainable Tourism South for providing this information.