Environment and sustainability concept

Our environmental declaration

At the Austria Trend Hotel Congress Innsbruck, sustainability and the responsible use of
resources are not just buzzwords, but a central part of our daily work. As
a hotel operated by VERKEHRSBUERO HOSPITALITY, we are part of a comprehensive
corporate environmental management system. Through a wide range of measures and targeted initiatives across all
areas of our hotel, we make a significant contribution to sustainable
corporate management.

We are currently aiming for recertification with the Austrian Ecolabel for tourism businesses.
For us, this means not only maintaining existing measures, but also regularly
evaluating them and continuously setting new targets to further improve our environmental performance.

The following topics are particularly important to us:

1    Management & Communication

Environmental awareness isn’t just a top-level priority! We actively involve all employees, suppliers and visitors in the implementation of our environmental policy:

• Transparent communication: we provide comprehensive information about our measures and targets. Our internal environmental team carefully monitors their implementation. Through regular training sessions and meetings, we foster a strong awareness of sustainable practices.
• Continuous monitoring and optimisation: Energy, water and chemical consumption are systematically recorded and regularly reviewed – forming the basis for ongoing improvements across all areas.
• Social responsibility: We offer our staff a breakfast and lunch buffet prepared fresh daily, a wide range of training opportunities, and measures to improve work-life balance. Free medical advice is also available. We support our teams’ charitable activities and collaborate with tourism training institutions on joint projects.
• Sustainable promotional materials: we deliberately avoid traditional promotional gifts – unless they are clearly certified as sustainable.
• Focus on health: out of consideration for guests and staff, our hotel is operated as a completely smoke-free establishment.
• Accessibility: our hotel is designed to be accessible. A suitably equipped room is available for guests with reduced mobility. All public areas – the lobby, bar, restaurant and function rooms – are accessible.
• Sustainable procurement: we source office supplies and consumables according to strict sustainability criteria and consistently ensure that our partner HOGAST holds recognised environmental certifications.

2    Resource conservation

Conserving resources is a key component of our environmental policy, as many of our natural
resources are finite. We therefore focus on measures that reduce consumption in a sustainable manner:

• Reducing paper and waste 

  • We have largely eliminated printed information materials. All essential information
    is available to our guests in the digital guest folder.

  • Wherever possible, we use reusable containers for food and drinks.
  • Waste separation systems are available to our guests
    in the hotel’s public areas.
• Water-saving fittings: through the economical use of shower heads, taps and
  toilet systems, we reduce water flow rates and thus sustainably lower
  consumption.
• Energy-efficient appliances and regular maintenance: dust-free cooling fins, intact seals
  and regular maintenance prevent unnecessary energy consumption – for example
  in heating systems or minibars. When making new purchases, we consistently ensure
  we choose energy-efficient appliances.
• Preventing food waste: we are taking a strong stand against food
  waste and are an official member of the ‘Too Good To Go’ initiative. In this way, we ensure
  that surplus food is put to good use.

3    Environmentally conscious use of cleaning materials

• Eco-friendly cleaning products: a large proportion of our cleaning products have been switched to
  an eco-certified ECO range. To reduce waste, we purchase these in
  bulk containers or use refillable bottles.
• No single-use hygiene products: we deliberately do not use single-use
  hygiene products in our rooms – to protect the environment and avoid unnecessary
  packaging.
• Sustainable textiles: our bed linen, as well as our upholstery and blankets, are sourced from certified
  organic cultivation and are verified to be free from harmful substances.
• Certified laundry partner: our laundry supplier demonstrates its commitment to
  environmental protection through an environmental management system certified
  to the international standard ISO 14001.
• Sustainable disposal of used cooking oil: used cooking oil is collected by a
  certified partner company, cleaned and processed for the production of biodiesel.

4    Quality enhancement through high-quality food

• Waste reduction: to keep the amount of packaging waste to a minimum,
  we deliberately avoid single-serving packs and opt for reusable containers instead.
• Sustainable wine selection: when sourcing our wines, we look for organic certification and
  supplement our range with selected regional wines from Tyrol. 
• Regional and seasonal food: we place great importance on regional sourcing to avoid long
  transport distances and to be able to offer seasonal produce. For this commitment,
  we have been awarded the ‘bewusst.tirol’ quality seal.
• Increased proportion of organic produce: when sourcing food, we aim for a growing proportion of organic
  products and are constantly working to further expand our range of regional produce.
• Freshly prepared meals: all dishes are freshly cooked daily – naturally,
  we completely avoid imitation foods.
• Environmentally friendly waste disposal: food waste is collected professionally by certified
  organic waste disposal companies and subsequently processed into environmentally friendly energy
  in biogas plants.
• Climate-friendly menu selection: we regularly offer climate-friendly dishes and
  always provide our guests with vegetarian or vegan alternatives.

5    Environmentally friendly mobility

• Excellent public transport links: our hotel is perfectly connected to the public transport
  network. We reward guests who can prove they have travelled in an environmentally friendly way with attractive
  benefits.
• Bicycles for our guests: hire bikes are available right outside the hotel for a small
  fee – ideal for exploring Innsbruck in an eco-friendly way.
• Sustainable mobility for staff: thanks to bikeleasing.at, our
  staff have the option of commuting to work cost-effectively and in an environmentally friendly way using
  a (company) bicycle.

6    A look into the future

We continuously review, scrutinise and improve all our measures, setting them out in
a binding action plan. Together with our staff, guests, partners
and suppliers, we are thus making an active contribution to a sustainable future.

Do you have any further ideas or suggestions? We’d love to hear them!

We wish you a pleasant stay with us – and hope that it will remain a lasting
and fond memory.

Your Austria Trend Hotel Congress Innsbruck

Theresa Gollner  
General Manager