TEN of 12 star-rated hotels in Shenzhen are still offering free disposable toiletries one year after a ban on the items was imposed in a bid to build a low-carbon city.
A Southern Metropolis Daily report said many non-star-rated hotels and budget inns, however, have stopped offering free disposable items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and shampoo for environmental protection.
The provincial tourism authorities issued a notice last March, requiring star-rated hotels in the province to gradually phase out the free use of disposable items in six months. However, the disposable toiletries are still available free of charge in many well-known hotels such as Ritz Carlton and Shangri-La due to pressure from clients.
Nanhai Hotel in Nanshan District, the city s first five-star hotel, was one of those that resumed offering free disposable items after receiving dozens of complaints from clients.
The hotel offered free disposable items two weeks after implementing the ban last October. Our manager of custom services spent days and days handling complaints from hotel guests about the disposable items, a hotel manager who refused to be named told the paper.
He said the hotel reception received an average 12 phone calls a day from clients asking for the free items in the first week. One of our clients even rushed to the reception in bath clothes and shouted at our staff for not finding any free toothbrushes in his room, the manager said.
He said the hotel decided to resume offering free disposable items after it lost a number of clients. Some group tourists canceled room reservations after learning that our hotel didn t offer free disposable items, the manager said.
Many hoteliers said the ban on disposable items was not practical and it s also difficult for hotels to manage.
Hotels managed by international hotel chains in foreign countries are still offering free disposable items. It s too demanding to ask only Guangdong hotels to stop offering, said Chen Sulan, chief of the hotel association in Shenzhen.
Chen said it s not practical as hotel residents also need to use shampoo and toothpaste. It doesn t mean that if you don t offer free shampoo in the hotel, they will stop using it, he said.
Chen suggested the authorities tighten supervision on the production of environmentally friendly disposable items to achieve the goal of protecting environment.
(SD News)
