Methodology And Benefits Of Ecotel Hotels Tourism Essay

Methodology And Benefits Of Ecotel Hotels Tourism Essay ECOTEL ®? ECOTEL ® is an environmental certification that enables hotels to be truly green, socially responsible, and sustainable over the long term by involving the entire value chain of owners, architects, operators, employees, suppliers and hotel guests. What is the ECOTEL ® Methodology? The ECOTEL ® methodology evaluates a hotels systems, processes and practices for environment friendliness through a stringent assessment of its range, scope and results across five crucial parameters, known as The Five Globes. These are: Environment Commitment, Solid Waste Management, Energy Management, Water Management, and Employee Education and Community Involvement. To be certified as an ECOTEL, a hotel must score the minimum qualifying percentage on each of the globes. What are the benefits for ECOTEL ® Hotels? †¢ Lower operating costs, greater profits through a focused effort on reducing waste generation and increasing operational efficiencies. †¢ Enhanced visibility for members through the ECOTEL ® website who also gain access to the reservation engine and other marketing features. †¢ Publicly recognized branding for hotels that may have/not have partnered with international chains. †¢ Value for money, as the cost of certification is comparatively lower than others to enable hotels to truly benefit from the transfer of knowledge. HISTORY of ECOTEL ECOTEL ® was developed by HVS in association with the Rocky Mountain Institute, USA with the help of engineering and hospitality experts. Conceptualized in 1994 by HVS the worlds leading consulting and services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries ECOTEL was a pioneering program specific to hospitalityWhy should you choose to be an ECOTEL ®? Rigorous standards used for the certification methodology that are regularly updated to keep current with scientific advances and international thinking. Specific to hospitality as ECOTEL ® is managed by HVS, a global consulting giant in hospitality. Recognition of hotelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ specific green operations with hotels demonstrating substantial such evidence encouraged to seek certification, instead of just those who could build in the features. Broader in scope than other certifications as it enables a hotel to function responsibly while positively impacting the local community. Handholding throughout certification period, as clients are updated and assisted to improve their performance through consultation, training and identification of operational areas where they can improve efficiencies and cut back consumption. Spans the positioning spectrum, recognizing high levels of environment commitment and environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ friendly operations in hotels irrespective of size, positioning, or profile. How to be an ECOTEL ®? Hotels seeking the ECOTEL ® Certification are assessed for their environmental readiness through a property walkthrough, which entails inspection of different departments and random interviews with hotel staff. As per their status, they are either awarded the specific certification or enabled through a customized blueprint to achieve a specific level. In case of the later, the hotel is finally audited after the intervention and awarded the certification The Five Globes The methodology for the ECOTEL Certification is centered upon the idea of the Five Globes or five areas of certification, which together encompass the processes, systems and practices that ensure an environmentally responsible hotel operation. An audit is undertaken in each of these globes based on an audit checklist. The audit checklist for each of the globes is very well researched and based on scientific and technological advances and international charters and treaties specific to saving the environment. Environment Commitment A hotel demonstrates its environmental commitment through wide ranging programs and best practices that minimise its impact on the environment throughout its value chain while lowering overall business costs. Solid Waste Management For the hospitality industry, the waste created by daily operations is an ongoing challenge. In addition to incurring the costs of waste disposal, hotels need to also allocate valuable back-of-the house space for waste to be stored and sorted. For hotels, a good waste management strategy results in greater operational efficiencies, keeping waste out of the landfill, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Management Energy is among the fastest-growing cost items for the lodging industry worldwide. In India, it approximates 8-15% of a hotels gross revenue. While design and operating system-improvements provide the framework for conservation of resources, large energy savings and thereby economic efficiency results through the switch to low-cost, easy-to-implement alternatives and a regular maintenance schedule. Water Management The rampant overusing and wasting of water along with global warming has led to a water-scarcity challenge that has serious implications for the global community and economy. A good water management strategy includes conservation of water through Efficient technology and programs, recycling through measures like grey water treatment, as well as earth-friendly practices like ground water recharge and rainwater harvesting. Employee Education and Community Involvement Motivating employees to understand the need for a change to environment-friendly practices, believing in them, and adapting them is a necessity for environmental initiatives to be both successful and sustainable. A well-thought out and well-executed education and training effort enables this. ECOTEL hotels also raise eco-consciousness in the community through either awareness campaigns or practices that can be built into the community, thus truly facilitating a change for a better environment. The graphic on the right shows the ECOTEL logo represented by the Earth in the centre, surrounded by the five globes or areas of ECOTEL Certification. Together, these five globes encompass the processes, systems, and practices of environmentally responsible hotel operations. Thus, the image conveys that ECOTEL through its five globes is a Certification that cares for the WORLD. Certification Details The certification is valid for a period of one year only, after which members must reapply. It is applicable to hotels irrespective of a member hotels country of origin since it is designed specifically for recognizing environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ friendly systems, operations, and practices in hospitality. The Process The Process for Certification is typically undertaken in three steps, which are: D:Z-ArenaSIMSR AssignmentsPOMECOTELFlowChart.gif Step One: Property Assessment: In an effort to understand the current standards observed by the hotel, an in-depth assessment of the property is conducted covering all the relevant areas of focus. The inspection includes: Interviews with the management and staff to comprehend the propertys commitment to environment. Physical inspection of the subject property including back-of-the-house areas to evaluate the systems employed for undertaking environment friendly operations. Collating data on consumption of various resources such as electricity, water, diesel, and chemicals among others to assess the processes for environment friendly operations. Interviews with the staff to assess their knowledge, attitude, and training levels to carry out environment friendly operations. This stage of the certification process culminates in generation of a Property Assessment Report that details the propertys baseline status as regards achieving minimum standards considered essential for an ECOTEL. Step Two: Roadmap for Certification:- If the hotel wishes to certify itself as an ECOTEL, our team prepares a detailed blueprint for the certification in conjunction with the hotels management team. This Roadmap for Certification includes mutually decided targets, technology, and training workshops that will enable the hotel to become an ECOTEL. The process is estimated to take upto 5-6 months and will include training initiatives, inclusion of best practices as part of the hotels standard operating procedures and the necessary capital infusion where required. Phase Three: Audit: A final audit of the property shall then be conducted and a certification awarded on its successful completion. Rating System: The hotel is rated on the parameters defined in our checklists covering the five globes. Our methodology rates every standard on a Likert scale, assigning weights to them based on their contribution. The checklists have a predefined minimum standard, Primary Criteria, which every participating hotel has to clear before being certified as an ECOTEL.

The Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System (GPS), the pioneer in navigation technology, was launched by the government of USA for military purposes to guide the missiles and to move targets. The systems currently consist of 31 satellites (as of March 14, 2018) orbiting twice a day in circular motion at an altitude of 20,200 km. GPS provides precision in computing the velocity, position and time. Although, it is subsidized and maintained by Department of Defense, the civil users across the world use it, at free of cost for various purposes.TechnologyGPS consists of three segments namely, the satellite or the space segment, user segment and the control segment. The space segment consists of satellites, the user segment are the GPS receivers and the control segment helps to monitor the satellite operations. There are five control units to monitor the proper functioning of the satellites, and they are stationed in Krasnosnamensk (Moscow), Schtscholkowo (Moscow), Komsomolsk (Russia), St. Petersburg (Florida) and Ternopil (Ukraine). The location of the user is determined by the line of visibility of four or more satellites and measured by two factors: pseudorange and carrier phase. Usually three satellites points to the coordinates of the user and the fourth is for the user's clock error. The GPS tracking system which is augmented by Low Earth Orbit (LEO) which is orbiting at an altitude closest to the earth's surface provides comprehensive internet access to remote areas even with low intensive users. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones having integrates sensors and GPS receivers uses multicopter technology to fly and capture photos and videos. The drones are capable in identifying objects and avoiding collisions and quickly react to the environmental disturbances like wind, tress, buildings by adjusting their position and movements accordingly. Most importantly, the multicopters have an automatic landing when there is an interruption of signals. UsesWhen people affected by Dementia or Alzheimer's are lost, the GPS tracking device helps to locate the person. The devices are available in various forms to wear them as watch or as pendant around the neck or in the soles of shoes and or can be even attached to the clothing of the patient. Apparently, to avoid restricting such people within nursing homes, it maximised the autonomy and protected them from getting lost. Perhaps, these devices not only help to monitor the location of the person but has fall sensors to alert the caregiver in case of an emergency. The usage of drones in live sports telecasting is an added advantage giving stunning views and movements to the spectators. As they are smaller in size and less noisy, the drones are able to manoeuvre and get some closer shots which helps in decision making in the corresponding sport.Materials and MethodsResultsConclusionOver the years, there will be a paradigm shift for business running with GPS technologies by Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) or Galileo. GLONASS was the system developed by the Soviet Union whereas Galileo by the Europe Union (Rizos, 2003). Although, these satellites differ in orbital planes and the altitude from the earth, they provide accurate navigation to the military and the common man. Today, there are several networking and telecommunication companies like St-Ericsson, Qualcomm and Broadcom to offer devices supporting GPS and GLONASS.

My Opinion On Critical Thinking - 882 Words

Attending this class was pretty nerve reacting, English is my worst subject and I tend not to do so well on it. I told myself that I need to get better at English because it matters and maybe one day I’ll make it my favorite subject. What I think of critical thinking still reminds the same, I believe that critical thinking is for someone to think outside the box. By thinking outside the box, it makes you be more open to new ideas and you’re not afraid of taking a risk. Also by making you seek to more information and the information you get helps you have a better understanding of the material. Critical thinking is very important to our society because every person uses critical thinking in every aspect of their life by thinking, writing, interacting with others, and reading etc. Taking this course made me become a better thinker. I’m more open to new ideas, sometimes our post will allow us to write our own opinions about religious beliefs. 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The Chaldean Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II

Name: Nabà »-kudurri-uÅŸur in Akkadian (means Nabà » protect my child) or NebuchadnezzarImportant Dates: r. 605-562 B.C.Occupation: Monarch Claim to Fame Destroyed the temple of Solomon and started the Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrews. King Nebuchadnezzar II was the son of Nabopolassar (Belesys, to Hellenistic writers), who came from the Marduk-worshiping Kaldu tribes living in the extreme southern part of Babylonia. Nabopolassar started the Chaldean period (626-539 B.C.) by restoring Babylonian independence, following the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 605. Nebuchadnezzar was the most famous and important king of the Second Babylonian (or Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean) Empire, which fell to the Persian great king Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. Accomplishments of Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar restored old religious monuments and improved canals, as other Babylonian kings had done. He was the first Babylonian king to rule Egypt, and controlled an empire that extended to Lydia, but his best-known accomplishment was his palace --- a place used for administrative, religious, ceremonial, as well as residential purposes -- especially the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Babylon, too, lies in a plain; and the circuit of its wall is three hundred and eighty-five stadia. The thickness of its wall is thirty-two feet; the height thereof between the towers is fifty cubits;9 that of the towers is sixty ​cubits; and the passage on top of the wall is such that four-horse chariots can easily pass one another; and it is on this account that this and the hanging garden are called one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Strabo Geography Book XVI, Chapter 1There were in it also several artificial rocks, that had the resemblance of mountains; with nurseries of all sorts of plants, and a kind of hanging garden suspended in the air by a most admirable contrivance. This was to gratify his wife, who, being brought op in Media, among the hills, and in the fresh air, found relief from such a prospect.Thus writes Berosus [c. 280 B.C.] respecting the king....Josephus In Answer to Appion Book II Building Projects The Hanging Gardens were on a terrace supported by brick arches. Nebuchadnezzars building projects included surrounding his capital city with a double wall 10-miles long with an elaborate entry called the Ishtar Gate. 3] On the top, along the edges of the wall, they built houses of a single room, facing each other, with space enough between to drive a four-horse chariot. There are a hundred gates in the circuit of the wall, all of bronze, with posts and lintels of the same.Herodotus The Histories Book I.179.3These walls are the citys outer armor; within them there is another encircling wall, nearly as strong as the other, but narrower.Herodotus The Histories Book I.181.1 He also built a port on the Persian Gulf. Conquests Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish in 605. In 597, he captured Jerusalem, deposed King Jehoiakim, and put Zedekiah on the throne, instead. Many leading Hebrew families were exiled at this time. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Cimmerians and Scythians [see Tribes of the Steppes] and then turned west, again, conquering Western Syria and destroying Jerusalem, including the Temple of Solomon, in 586. He put down a rebellion under Zedekiah, whom he had installed, and exiled more Hebrew families. He took the inhabitants of Jerusalem prisoner and brought them to Babylon, for which reason this period in Biblical history is referred to as the Babylonian captivity. Also Known As: Nebuchadnezzar the GreatAlternate Spellings: Nabu-kudurri-usur, Nebuchadrezzar, Nabuchodonosor Additional Resources Sources for Nebuchadnezzar include various books of the Bible (e.g., Ezekial and Daniel) and Berosus (Hellenistic Babylonian writer). His many building projects provide archaeological record, including written accounts of his accomplishments in the area of honoring the gods with temple maintenance. Official lists provide mainly dry, detailed chronicle. Sources Seat of Kingship/A Wonder to Behold: The Palace as Construct in the Ancient near East, by Irene J. Winter; Ars Orientalis Vol. 23, Pre-Modern Islamic Palaces (1993), pp. 27-55.Nebuchadnezzar King of Justice, by W. G. Lambert; Iraq Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring, 1965), pp. 1-1Images of Nebuchadnezzar: the emergence of a ​legend,, by Ronald Herbert Sack