Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort | The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism
12-11-2021
Last Friday, November 5th, Ewald Biemans, owner/CEO of Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism together with secretary-general of the UNWTO & WTCC Pololikashvili. He also gave a presentation on November 9th at the 26th annual UN climate conference – the Conference of the Parties or COP26. He was invited to speak because Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort is a CO2-neutral hotel since 2018 which eventually led to an award from the United Nations in 2020: the prestigious Global UN 2020 Climate Action Award for Climate Neutral Now.
Last month we also wrote an article about “the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort, the only CO2-neutral hotel in the Caribbean shares framework for debt-free and sustainable holidays at the summit in Glasgow’’. In this article a link to the speech of Ewald Biemans and his view on where to start with sustainability as an hospitality entity. Check out The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism for more information and opportunities to become a signatory.
Reading time: 3 minutes
The Lights of Christmas presents | A drive-thru Christmas
12-11-2021
There is something special about The Lights of Christmas! More than dazzling lights, The Lights of Christmas brings both nostalgia and innovation together for a Christmas experience to lift the spirit and uncover the hope of the holidays. This year The Lights of Christmas presents… A Drive-Thru Christmas, Located in Stanwood, Washington State. This drive-thru event lavishly celebrates the meaning of Christmas through new and classic displays alike.
This is just one of the many Christmas drive-thru’s we have spotted in the last couple of years. As long as we are facing another winter with COVID-19 amongst us, it’s a great way to bring the joy of the Holiday Season to people when they are collecting ordered presents or food boxes. As most streets in shopping areas are decorated this December anyway, why not create a ‘Christmas Wonderland’ and have your clients pick up their orders in a fun and save way! Organise it together with other entrepreneurs, like these restaurants last year. The drive-thru Christmas by The Lights of Christmas is great inspiration.
Reading time: 1 minute
‘Lecker Chess Tournament’ in Utrecht
9-11-2021
Yesterday the ‘Lecker Schaken Schaaktoernooi’ (Lecker Chess Tournament) started in Utrecht (The Netherlands). The ‘Lecker Chess Tournament’ lasts four weeks and has been organized by the ‘De Leckere Brewery’ in collaboration with local cafes and restaurants.
Great idea to organize at a local level, we also happen to know people who started playing chess again after seeing the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. And great that after a lot of online quizzes we can finally play a board game with each other again! By organizing it on the first days of the week, the De Leckere brewery creates an extra source of income for the catering industry. Inspiration for other cities? Or some bars?
Reading time: 1 minute
NL Delivery Game | Meal deliverers safer and more aware on the road
9-11-2021
Since the corona pandemic, the number of meal deliveries in the Netherlands has increased excessively. According to the Food Service Institute Netherlands (FSIN), this market grew by 37% compared to 2019. This development is leading to an increasing number of meal delivery in the industry, especially the 16 to 24 year old age group. According to Veilig Verkeer Nederland (the Safe Traffic Association Netherlands (VVN), this age group takes more risks in traffic, which means that they are more likely to be involved in accidents. To prevent this, the Dutch Association of Meal Delivery Services (NLVVM) has created the NL Delivery Game. The initiators – consisting of ten large delivery chains – join forces and launched this training game for the more than 20,000 meal deliverers they employ. In the game, the traffic and behavioral rules of the Safe Traffic Association Netherlands are tested. Resulting in more meal deliverers safer on the road and more aware in traffic.
Reading time: 2 minutes
New Amarula cream liqueurs | Liqueur with a story
9-11-2021
The range of South African Amarula cream liqueurs has expanded with the arrival of two new flavors. The first Amarula vegan cream liqueur has the recognizable taste of the rare marula fruit, combined with coconut, caramel and vanilla. Unlike the other variants of the liqueur, the vegan Amarula contains no dairy. Another new flavor will be launched at the end of this year: Ethiopian Coffee, a deliciously creamy liqueur with a coffee flavour.
Last week I went to Rotterdam for Horecatrends to taste the new Amarula flavors. I had never tasted Amarula before, but I had heard of the brand. Normally I’m not a cream liqueur lover, but the Amarula liqueurs have now become the exception for me! My favourite? The new flavor: Ethiopian Coffee. ^Sifra Holtslag
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 44
1-11-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about the pop-up ‘Vurger King’ in Madrid, this Burger King location will serve only meat-free items. And Ruby Hotels outlines their Asia expansion plans.
The Accor group will also be entering the house rental market, the accor-residences.com website shows the group’s selected collection of homes.
Last weekend was Halloween, which is also becoming more popular in Europe. Some Halloween inspiration for 2022: ‘Haunted House of Fryght’ by Wendy’s, ‘Haunted Restaurant with Fright Castle Takeover’ by White Castle and in Paris you could go to a Halloween party at ‘Le Manoir de Paris’.
You can enjoy the afternoon tea, ‘Prêt-à-Portea‘ autumn/winter 2021 collection, again in The Berkeley hotel! And recently the Chiaro restaurant opened in the Rocco Forte Hotel de Rome in Berlin. Here chef Tim Mälzer developed an Italian cuisine with Japanese elements.
Pop-up Petit Latour by Ruinart | Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
29-10-2021
This week, Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk opened a temporary champagne bar: Petit Latour by Ruinart. Located on the first floor of the iconic hotel, this stylish champagne bar is open til the end of February next year. At Petit Latour it is possible to order various special champagnes with matching French dishes, such as crostinis with salmon and Gillardeau oyster with champagne-mignonette. The bites are created by chef Marcel van Lier of big brother restaurant Latour, the restaurant of Huis ter Duin, which has been awarded a Michelin star. Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin is located at the coast of the Nord Sea, half a hour drive from Amsterdam.
Reading time: 1 minute
Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort | Caribbean’s only CO2-neutral hotel shares framework for sustainable holidays
28-10-2021
It’s been 29 years since the world-famous UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Ewald Biemans, owner/CEO of Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, is still as inspired as the day he heard the call to action made to the world at that conference. As an passionate news follower, Biemans read and watched all the coverage he could find about the summit in 1992 on the tiny island of Aruba. The conference, which he described as ‘a wake-up call’, accelerated his efforts to what has been awarded the Caribbean’s most ecologically and first CO2-neutral hotel since 2018 and eventually led to an award from the United Nations in 2020: the prestigious Global UN 2020 Climate Action Award for Climate Neutral Now.
This year, Ewald Biemans has been invited to be one of speakers at the 26th annual UN climate conference – the Conference of the Parties or COP26 – which will take place from 1 to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland and is expected to attract 30,000 attendees. COP26 is considered the world’s most important climate change conference in the race to keep the temperature rise within 1.5°C as mentioned in the 2015 Paris agreement. The importance grows with just nine years to go before the ecological consequences would be catastrophic and irreversible.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 43
26-10-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about… ‘The Great Feast’ in The Old Selfridges Hotel in London and Dole suggest carving a pineapple instead of a pumpkin for Halloween. 😉 With a downloadable pineapple Jack-O’-Lantern carving template!
REEF has a great view on redesigning urban spaces in communities hubs and REEF Kitchens uses a unique real estate strategy to its advantage. They opened the first two ghosts kitchens of Wendy’s in the UK. Furthermore, they will open 700 ghost kitchens in the USA, Canada and the UK.
And some sustainable inspiration for sustainable building: the De Halo building in San Francisco made of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and the HAUT building in Amsterdam. And a link to an sustainable fabric for carpets and flooring: Econyl. Just as strong as nylon and made of recycled waste.
A design graduate from the Eindhoven Design Academy in the Netherlands, has created a project to highlight how renewable energy derived from tomato vines could be used to run a cloud server. And a link to an article about artfully Cannabis-infused confections.
In the Netherlands, women’s average gross hourly earnings are 14% lower than men’s, which seemed entirely outdated to De Koffiejongens. So they ask men to voluntarily pay more… And the Franz Fisher ‘Alpenhütte’ in Austria is the first mountain restaurant to serve vegan-vegetarian dishes only.
We spotted a new chain in the USA: The Sweet Paris Creperie & Café with cafes in Houston and one in Mexico opens new locations in Miami.
First edition Amsterdam Taco Festival | One big tasty fiesta!
26-10-2021
Disclaimer: directed more to Dutchies. But if you’re living in or visiting Amsterdam on November the 20th and 21st, this might be the place to go!
You don’t have to fly all the way to Mexico to immerse yourself in the Mexican culture, because this fall, Mexico is coming to Amsterdam! On Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of November 2021, the very first edition of the Amsterdam Taco Festival will take place inside the monumental building “Het Sieraad” at Postjesweg 1 in Amsterdam West. The festival starts at 11 a.m. on both days!
To spread the visitors throughout the day, time slots are used to enter. So you can select a certain entrance time. Once inside you can stay as long as you want and enjoy all the different Mexican snacks. In this article you will find a link to where you can book your tickets.
Reading time: 1 minute, booking your tickets might take a little longer…