Select Your Search Criteria

VT Web VT People

Enter your search here

• Virginia Tech Home
• Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center

Featured Sites
 

• Outreach & International Affairs
• Computing.vt.edu computer resource site
• Continuing and Professional Education

Track 2: Green Hospitality & Tourism Training

Green tourism training is rapidly becoming a necessity in the world of hospitality.  The state’s Virginia Green program now has more than 500 certified green facilities, and various regions are striving to be known as ‘green destinations’.   And yet, in-service training, understanding and buy-in by hospitality staff is sorely lacking causing these facilities to fall short in their claims to be green.  Participation in Virginia Green and other similar hospitality programs is expected to double in 2009 alone!  Moreover, green job training will prepare hospitality workers to be leaders in this field!  

Track 2 addresses the need for this critical instruction and provides certifications and skills that will be valuable for career development in this field. 

Green Hotel Management Certificate Program.   Environmentally-aware consumers, energy efficiency, non-VOC building products, sustainable menu items, green cleaning techniques, and how to run a waste audit…..none of these things are taught in Hotel Management Schools!  Today’s hotel and resort operators have these and many other issues to worry about and manage.  This course will provide orientation and awareness regarding the ongoing corporate sustainability programs being developed and implemented by major hotel ownership groups and chains and the cost-savings and recognition opportunities that are available.

Length:  5 classes – 2.5 hours/class over 5 weeks OR offered in 1 and a half days.
Audience:  Hotel Owners, Facility Managers & Green Program Coordinators

 Green Hospitality Employee Certificate Program.  Every employee working for a green hotel or other hospitality organization should have an understanding of what it means to work in a facility that is committed to being green.  Furthermore, all employees must be aware of what their facility is doing that is green and be able to communicate that to the public.   This 1.5 hour class will provide a general introduction applicable to all employees who do or might work in a Green Hospitality setting.   

Length:  1.5 hour class. 
Audience:  All employees who work in green hospitality establishment.

Green Conference & Event Planning Certificate.  Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is currently developing a green events planner training certification in conjunction with the Green Meetings Industry Council.  This class will cover the concepts of green meeting planning which are straight-forward, but VERY necessary in this growing field since nearly every organization now asks for some sort of green conference function.  

Length:  8 hours; 1 Day
Audience:  Meeting & conference planners

Sustainable Restaurant Certificate Program. This economy has been especially hard on restaurants because people are eating out much less frequently.  Increasingly, it’s just not enough to serve good food or provide friendly service.  Choosy consumers want tasty food and sustainable menu choices and they want to support restaurants that are responsible about their operations.  Recycling bottles and food wastes, energy efficiency, and water reduction are important to the dining public and when given an option between restaurants that do integrate these practices and those that don’t, they are making the green choice!  Similar to hotel management, it’s a whole new world out there!  This 4 week series will provide an overview of sustainable restaurant programs and opportunities, as well as potential for cost savings and marketing.  The series will include sessions on (1) Recycling & Waste Management, (2) Energy & Waste Savings, (3) Sustainable Cuisine** , and (4) Sustainable Restaurant PR and Marketing. 

Length:  4 classes – 2.5 hours/class over 4 weeks. 
Audience:  Restaurant managers and owners and designees to run sustainable restaurant applications
** This session can be audited separately by chefs and other interested parties ($60).

Sustainable Restaurant Employee Certificate Program.  Employees who work for a restaurant that cares about the environment should have a cursory understanding of what it means to be a “Sustainable Restaurant”.  This 1.5 hour class will provide a general introduction applicable to all employees who do or might work in a sustainable restaurant setting.   

Length:  1.5 hour class. 
Audience:  All employees who work in Sustainable Restaurants

SOL™ Cuisine Certification:  Sustainable, Organic, & Local – the Keys to Sustainable Cuisine.  Sustainable cuisine includes harvested fish, beef and fowl grown responsibly without artificial growth hormones and antibiotics, and vegetables and fruits without a layer of pesticides which are purchased in the local markets.  The public is increasingly aware of these seemingly practical measures for healthy living on this planet – and chefs and restaurant owners need to be conscious of the risk of alienating a rapidly growing segment of their customers.  Luckily, the public doesn’t expect dramatic changes in these foods and menu items, they just want to see an initial effort and growth over time.  Providing certain menu choices that are “SO or L” are the first step in this direction.  This certification will significantly distinguish chefs in this growing field.

Length:  2 hour session once a month series with 30 minutes of instruction and a rotating sustainable chef ; in a separate offering, this could also be offered through VB CVB as a tourism attraction and it could be periodically hosted by various restaurants.
Audiences:  Chefs, restaurant managers, and the general public

If you would like more information please contact Stacy L. Harvey, CMP, CMM at stacylharvey@vt.edu