Blog post
Orbit & Qualmark: A Partnership
29/04/2024
Marketing
Sustainability is important to us at Orbit World Travel, and that’s why for two years we have been partnering with New Zealand’s quality tourism assurance organisation, Qualmark.
When looking at our offerings and working on our preferred suppliers as part of our Orbit Plus+ programme, we needed a way to ensure that these providers were operating under sustainable practices. Our partnership with Qualmark has made it easier for our customers to be confident that our Orbit Plus+ accommodation options operate under sustainable practices, helping them meet their environmental goals.
Who is Qualmark?
Qualmark is a New Zealand-based company with over 30 years of experience identifying and working with sustainable businesses that operate within the tourism industry.
Currently, Qualmark works with over 2,000 businesses providing sustainable accommodation, experiences and other tourism services across New Zealand. To receive a Qualmark award, an individual specialist accommodation assessor comes out to the business and runs through a range of criteria to ensure that they are meeting sustainability levels in the following five key areas:
- Business Systems
- Environment
- People & Culture
- Social
- Health, Safety & Wellbeing.
Properties are awarded a Gold, Silver or Bronze status depending on how far they are on their sustainability journey. To receive one of the status levels, properties will have met all of Qualmark’s standards, offer a high level of service to customers, and are aware of their environmental impact.
Our Long-Term Goals
As part of our sustainability commitment, we are also a Toitū net carbon zero certified organisation. Through our work with Toitū, we are proactively offsetting our impacts through the purchase of carbon credits to become carbon neutral within our own operation.
Sudima Hotels
One property that champions our partnership well is Sudima Lake Rotorua. They have been rated highly against Qualmark's Sustainable Tourism Business Criteria as a Silver accommodation provider.
Sudima Hotels is a family-owned business, and while they have seen significant growth, they have managed to maintain their family-focused values. As they continue to grow, their procurement strategy evolves, and they make sureto work with partners and suppliers who support the same values at them. Sudima Hotels is creating an ethical supply chain, and considers the effects of their purchasing on human health, the environment, and society.
Sudima Lake Rotorua takes sustainability seriously. They are committed to being at the forefront of environmental stewardship, and in 2018 achieved the Toitū net carbonzero certification. Since then, the company has realigned its commitment to carbon emissions and is focusing on carbon reductions and energy efficiency.
They have switched to a Toitū carbonreduce certification and have 4 hotels currently certified, 2 being added to the 2023 inventory and the most recent Sudima property will be added in 2024. They are committed to adding new hotels to this certification as they are built and become operational.
Sudima Lake Rotorua are aware of their environmental impact, and because of this,have key targets and external audits to ensure that they are on the right track to guarantee preservation for future generations.
If you have any questions about our partnership with Qualmark or want to learn more about Sudima Lake Rotorua, please reach out to your Orbit Account Manager.