Cleaner Technology Projects in Denmark 1996
Pre-project on the Establishment of Denmark’s first Ecological Hotel on Bornholm
Forprojekt for etablering af Danmarks første økologiske hotel på Bornholm
Arbejdsrapport nr. 57, 1996, Miljøstyrelsen
This report describes the market possibilities, the economic possibilities and the conceptual sustainability in connection with the establishment of an ecological hotel in Svaneke on the Danish island Bornholm.
Recently the years the hotel- and restaurant industry has experienced a worse financial and operational situation. The experience of establishing new hotels is that it may create problems to procure profitability to a given business - unless the concept of the overnight place is innovative.
In the light of the financial problems of the industry, the idea of an ecological hotel in Svaneke on Bornholm was considered realistic, especially because of a unique and innovative concept: The ecological hotel should offer a "green" holiday adventure. Therefore, it was planned to build the hotel as part of an environmental centre, which was intended to include several other facilities.
To avoid that the building of an ecological hotel should contribute only to an increase in the over-capacity already existing in the hotel industry of Bornholm, it was decided to initiate the plans of establishing an ecological hotel through a pre-project.
The pre-project was established on the basis of the following three phases:
 | Phase 1: Market research. Drafting of operating and cash budgets. Drafting of a frame for an environmental account |
| Phase 2: Temporary fundraising |
| Phase 3: Invitation to architects to submit ideas. Holding of an architectural competition. Raising of funds to procure investors for plant, facilities, and possible initial operating of the hotel |
Phase 1 was concluded early April 1996.
The subsequent success criteria were listed for the results of phase 1:
| The probability that an ecological hotel on Bornholm will attract new groups of guests to the island to such an extent that the hotel is secured a profitable operation must be proven. |
| Even though the costs of construction to establish the ecological hotel most probably will be paid mainly by national funds, pension houses etc, the hotel shall not operate on a basis that distorts competition. Thus, the ecological hotel must, with regards to standard, correspond to a first-class hotel and differentiate from the other hotels of the island through a higher standard and a correspondingly higher price. Furthermore, the operation must be based on ordinary commercial terms. |
The pre-project should thus form the guarantee for the ecological hotel as a financially, environmentally and socially acceptable business.
Today, nearly no experiments are conducted among the enterprises within the hotel and restaurant industry to investigate resource consumption (water and energy). Therefore, it was the intention that the ecological hotel should serve as an illustration project from which working results should be accessible to all interested parties in the tourism industry. In connection with the introduction of green taxes as of January 1, 1996 for trade and industry, the project acquired even more topicality and significance for the industry.
Investigations of the market potential of the ecological hotel as either a family hotel or a seminar and conference hotel have been conducted. A survey among German families with children indicates that the children-families might be concerned about the environment but not to such a degree that ecology at present is an important factor in connection with their choice of holiday-overnight stays. A survey among Danish, Swedish and German seminar and conference organisers revealed that the idea of an ecological hotel is considered interesting, but that the location on Bornholm does not meet the needs and requirements of the guests such as a central location and a low-priced product.
Each year, the Danish Tourist Board carries out screening analyses of seven European holiday travelling markets to expose the holiday motives of the populations. When looking into the results from the Swedish and German holiday markets, it proved impossible to point out any special interest in environmental considerations when planning a holiday. Neither was it possible to segment each single market to identify one or more target groups with greater concern for the environment than that of an average holidaymaker. If the results of the different market investigations are compared, it must be concluded that the existing material presents no possibility that an ecological hotel on Bornholm will be able to attract new segments to the island so as to secure the hotel a profitable operation.
The operation and cash budgets for the ecological hotel on Bornholm are based on the concept of two target groups which, during the survey, turned out to be non-existing. Thus, the budgets must be regarded to include great unreliability. This is also the case in the budget results, which from the offset were calculated at a very low yield on the capital invested in the hotel. Therefore, the necessity of a profitable business cannot be said to be plausible.
The frames of an environmental account for the ecological hotel are estimated to form a fine basis for the Danish hotel industry’s further work with the way in which the environmental problems present itself.
From an overall point of view, the results of phase 1 of the pre-project could not demonstrate the likelihood that an ecological hotel on Bornholm could offer a profitable operation. According to the grounds of the pre-project it was therefore suggested to "Miljøstyrelsen" (The Danish Environmental Protection Agency) that the pre-project should be stopped after the presentation of the report on phase 1.
Author/ institution
Turismernes Udviklingscenter
This report is subsidised by the National Council for Recycling and Cleaner Technology
ISSN no. 0908-9195
ISBN no. 87-7810-657-5