Are you the owner/manager of a tourism business in North West Wales? Are you interested in reducing your running costs?  Would you like to reduce the carbon footprint of your business?  If the answer to any or all of the above is yes, then the Growing Sustainable Tourism Workshops are for you, and they're free!

In May Snowdonia-Active ran the first three workshops in a series of six free workshops in 2010 for the owners and managers of tourism businesses addressing different aspects of running a sustainable tourism business.

The next workshop will take place at the end of September, hopefully after a gloriously sunny and busy summer season!  The topic will be 'Green Accreditation for tourism businesses' and representatives of the Green Tourism Business Scheme and Green Dragon will be present to talk about their schemes and answer your questions.  The date will be confirmed at the end of August.  

Other workshop topics for the Autumn are 'Retrofit of renewable energy technologies' (October) and 'Running a sustainable holiday park' (November).

All the workshops are informal and friendly and designed to enable you to ask questions and discuss issues with other business owners/managers and experts.

Snowdonia-Active is running the Growing Sustainable Workshop Programme on behalf of Snowdonia National Park Authority, Visit Wales and Tourism Partnership North Wales.  

What you've missed! The Growing Sustainable Tourism Workshops to date

Tuesday 11th May: Day to Day Environmental Management at the Dunoon

Hotel, Llandudno

Charlotte Williams of the Dunoon Hotel, gave a guided tour of the hotel and discussed the changes she and her staff have made following an audit undertaken by the Carbon Trust in 2008.  Relatively small changes to the existing heating system have reduced the heating bills by more than 20%.  Other changes include the adoption of a chemical free cleaning system.  

Tuesday 18th May: Day to Day Environmental Management at Bryn Elltyd
Guest House, Tan y Grisiau

John and Celia Whitehead of Bryn Elltyd gave a guided tour of their property emphasising how they incorporate good environmental practice into the day-to-day running of their business. Issues addressed included use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, and the benefits of green accreditation and marketing.

Thursday 27th May: Being a Sustainable Catering Establishment, Plas Tan y Bwlch, Maentwrog - SNPA Environmental Studies Centre (business offering residential courses and B&B)

Andrew Oughton (Manager) discussed how they run the Plas in a sustainable manner, with particular emphasis on catering.  The Plas has a new kitchen and it's smaller than you might think, but that's because it's much more energy efficient!   The discussion ranged from cutting energy usage in the kitchen, how to deal with your waste, using fair-trade and local suppliers, and lots more.

Our thanks go to Charlotte, John, Celia, Andrew, Steve Woosey (North Wales Energy Advice Centre), Ffion Jones (Flexible Support for Business), Mark Richardson (Dwyfor Coffee Co), Rebecca Huck (Welsh Institute for Sustainable Environments), Elizabeth Hudson (Wales Co-operative Centre), Iona Evans (Green Foxes Bags and Boxes) and Stephanie Woods (Flexible Support for Business), for their expert advice.

For more information regarding the workshops please email Emma Edwards-Jones at emma@snowdonia-active.com or call 07900 500588