Responsible Business at Rezidor SAS Hospitality

Rezidor SAS Hospitality is a hotel management company operating four different hotel brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These brands are:

1. Radisson SAS,
2. Country Inn,
3. Park Inn, and
4. Regent.

Currently, Rezidor SAS has over 180 hotels and resorts in operation and under development in 40 countries. Rezidor SAS is a fully owned subsidiary of the SAS Group.

In 2001, Rezidor SAS expanded its long-term environmental commitment to also include social responsibility, when social and environmental responsibilities were integrated into one programme. Known as Responsible Business, this programme aims at satisfying the following objectives:

1. Taking responsibility for the health and safety of employees and customers
2. Respecting social and ethical issues in the company, and in the community
3. Reducing the negative impact of the company on the natural environment.

The Responsible Business (RB) programme represents a systematic approach to addressing environmental, social, and health & safety issues supported by an ambitious policy and concrete objectives linked to seven key stakeholders. The development of this programme has been a challenge, as the hotels in the Rezidor SAS Group are situated in many different countries, with different levels of awareness, infrastructure and needs. To address this complexity, the RB programme has been built to be flexible, where the hotels adopt common performance objectives, based on continuous improvement, but can choose activities suitable for their local conditions.

To measure the performance of each hotel, indicators have been developed for each RB objective. Furthermore, in order to track improvements, hotels are required to report their performance annually, and in some areas, monthly to the corporate office.

Each hotel has a Responsible Business co-ordinator working part time within the scope of the Responsible Business programme, under the supervision and guidance of the corporate Director of Environmental and Social Affairs. These co-ordinators assist the General Managers, who are ultimately responsible for the programme at each hotel, in implementing the local RB action plans.

As a support tool for each co-ordinator, a Responsible Business Handbook has been developed, providing a step-by-step approach to the implementation of the programme, and suggestions regarding possible actions to take to improve environmental and social performance.

Some examples of activities included in the RB programme are:

• Employee training,
• Community involvement,
• Energy efficiency,

Training

In 2002, Radisson SAS initiated a chain-wide Responsible Business training programme which to date includes 35% of staff.

The RB training focused on global environmental and social concerns, linking them specifically to hotel operations. Through the training programme, staff have been given concrete tips on how they can make a positive contribution by linking the training material to the local RB Action Plan. Moreover, all employees are continuously informed about Responsible Business related issues through the staff magazine Hotline.

Community involvement.

The Radisson SAS hotels play a very active role in their local community. For example, several Radisson SAS hotels in the Middle East have organised Terry Fox runs, where the proceeds are given to cancer research. Similar events, such as the Kids to Kids in Norway, have raised money for children in need. Additionally, many hotels in Eastern Europe provide food, old furniture, and amenities to orphanages and homeless children. Lastly, 75 Radisson SAS hotels have made it possible for staff and guests to support Save the Children by launching a money collection campaign in the hotel lobbies.

Energy

One focus of the RB programme is to shift to renewable energy sources and improve energy efficiency. Overall, 25% of the electricity supplied to the Radisson SAS hotels comes from renewable energy sources. Moreover, the Radisson SAS hotels have reduced their energy consumption per square meter by 5% over the past 3 years.

Some activities that have contributed to this reduction are:

• Installing energy efficient light bulbs,
• Having outdoor lighting steered by demand,
• Installing automatic cut-off air-conditioning equipment,
• Using programmable thermostats to control ventilation.

Over the next few years, Rezidor SAS expects an increased demand and awareness among customers for environmental and social accountability, especially from large corporate accounts and tour operators. Even though the tourism industry has been a slow starter, Responsible Business practices are expected to become an integral part of any larger tourism business' operations in the near future. Some overall objectives for the hotels within the Rezidor SAS Group over the next few years are :

1. To purchase more environmentally adapted products from socially and environmentally responsible suppliers
2. To become less dependant on non-renewable resources
3. To become more operationally efficient to reduce the consumption of key resources such as energy, water and various products
4. Continue to train staff regarding how their actions can make a positive contribution to a hotel's social and environmental performance.

In summary, though the means to reach the Responsible Business goal of each hotel may vary due to local differences and conditions, all brands within the Rezidor SAS Group are united as they strive to improve their Responsible Business performance.

For more information, please contact

Rezidor SAS Hospitality

Pia.Heidenmark@RezidorSAS.com

+32 2 702 92 00

www.RezidorSAS.com