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| Restaurant staff at Alba Thanh Tan making straws from lemongrass |
When there were no guests, the staff of Madam Chau Restaurant of Alba Thanh Tan Hot Springs Resort took advantage of used glass bottles to make flower vases to decorate the dining table. Besides, they use lemongrass as a straw instead of using a plastic straw. At the reception area, 2 organic and inorganic trash bins are placed to classify waste. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly Na, the supervisor of Madam Chau Restaurant, said that in response to the group's green production and business, our restaurant team always finds ways to practice right at the departments. Thanks to that, the restaurant has minimized waste into the environment.
Meanwhile, the resort's environmental landscape department uses a specialized grinder to grind pruned tree branches in the resort and compost them as microbial fertilizer. According to Mr. Phan Van Tien Loc, Head of Alba Thanh Tan's environmental landscape department, the resort has 1.2 hectares of land used to grow vegetables and raise cattle and poultry to serve the restaurant. Production and livestock farming are applied according to a circular model, taking advantage of by-products in the resort.
Coming to Alba Thanh Tan, visitors also have impressive and friendly experiences: using paper bags and aluminum boxes to store food, and using straw made of bamboo, paper, or lemongrass. Goods brought by the supplier are stored in baskets, using large ceramic boxes to fill shampoo and shower gel and set up water refilling machines for customers, etc. Nguyen Thi Hien, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said, she has known Alba Thanh Tan for more than 3 years. Every year she chooses to come here to relax three times, staying 15 days each time. "One of the reasons I chose to stay for a long time is because here I can immerse myself in nature and be motivated to protect the environment from small actions in daily life," Ms. Hien shared.
Ms. Vo Thi Dieu Huyen, Human Resources Director and in charge of the Alba Thanh Tan sustainable development project, informed that Alba Thanh Tan's green business focuses on experiencing health-related outdoor activities such as meditation, cycling, and climbing; investing in organic farms and using environmentally friendly products. In addition, it uses solar energy to replace national electricity, limiting industrial electricity use during peak hours, and investing in a standard natural water treatment system for daily use.
From that approach, in 2023, through a survey assessment, Alba Thanh Tan reduced 70% of plastic packaging used at the departments, saving 12 million VND each month in electricity in the resort, the rate of guests returning to the resort, and the number of new visitors next year is higher than the previous year.
Mr. Eugene Hendriks, Director of Alba Thanh Tan Hot Spring Resort, said that from the first days of establishing the resort, the company set the goal of developing green tourism. However, it cannot be done effectively one day, but one must persevere in doing it day by day. The company consistently performs simultaneously, starting with small actions in each employee and each department to create habits of environmental protection. The company holds monthly meetings with department leaders and regularly conducts internal self-inspections of departments to ensure strict implementation. At the same time, it invites experts and projects to check and monitor how things are done and then improve them step by step. We also actively participate in all programs and actions launched by industry levels for the purpose of environmental protection.
A pioneer in developing green tourism and sustainable tourism, Alba Thanh Tan has received many prestigious international awards, such as the top 1 best resort in the world for health care activities, and the top 3 environmentally sustainable resorts, voted by Luxury magazine customers. In addition, Alba Thanh Tan is honored in the top 20 "National Environmentally Friendly Green Resorts 2023".