The Francis Hotel located in the heart of Regency Bath has been awarded a Gold Green Tourism Award, achieving the first step on its sustainability journey.

Following on from their first GreenCheck, the hotel won the accolade as part of their involvement with the Green Tourism Accreditation Programme, an awards certification programme that strives to amplify the efforts of tourism businesses in becoming more sustainable. Green Tourism’s Bronze/Silver/Gold Awards are acknowledged worldwide as being an indicator of positive environmentally friendly practice amongst tourism businesses. The award recognises and supports eco-friendly achievements of tourism businesses, and the Gold award stands as its most prestigious.

The award is testament to the sustained engagement with the local community and an excellent performance in all areas of protecting and supporting staff and customer health and wellbeing. Although the historic hotel was first opened by Emily Francis in 1884, a leading entrepreneur of her time, who merged seven Georgian townhouses to form the property standing today, the hotel has shown great initiative to pave a way for a greener future.

The Francis Hotels worked in partnership with hospitality specialists Mission Net Zero to create a strong and enduring commitment to sustainability.  This award has been a testament to some of their key initiatives introduced such as reducing energy use, minimising food miles by working with local suppliers, promoting biodiversity and adopting a smart, sustainable outlook from the top to bottom.

The Francis Hotel is also paving the way in sustainable tourism with their ‘Give Back for Feedback’ initiative, where every time a guest provides feedback via an online site or by direct email, the hotel will plant a tree with their partner ‘More:trees’, supporting their tree planting and community programmes in North Haiti, East Kenya and Madagascar.

For more information on The Francis Hotel’s ongoing sustainability journey, click here.