Original Sokos Hotel Lappee is a Green Key-certified hotel and we are also part of the Sustainable Travel Finland program. Aspects of responsibility include financial sustainability, social responsibility, socio-cultural sustainability and environmental sustainability. As a hotel, which is part of the S group and Etelä-Karjalan Osuuskauppa, Lappee wants to support financial sustainability with its own activities and bear its share of social responsibility.

What is Green Key?

Green Key is the world's leading sustainability program and certificate in the tourism industry. There are already more than 4600 Green Key-certified destinations in a total of 60 different countries. The criteria for the certificate is based on the UN's sustainable development goals. The criteria include requirements related to reducing the environmental load, increasing social benefits and supporting the local economy. The criteria are practical, taken into account the characteristics of the tourism industry. The Green Key certification tells about meritorious sustainability work.

You can read more about sustainable tourism and Green Key here.

What is STF?

The STF program offers our hotel a 7-step sustainable tourism development path. Each step has its own criteria and the fulfillment of the criteria is verified by Visit Finland.

The steps are:

• Commitment
• Developing skills
• Development plan
• Sustainability communication
• Certification & Audit
• Verification
• Measurability
• Contract & Continuous development

You can find more information about the Sustainable Travel Finland sustainability program here.

This is how sustainability can be seen in Lappee;

One big theme of our company's Etelä-Karjalan Osuuskauppa 5-year strategy (2021–2025) is sustainability. Sustainability is part of our daily life, from the perspectives of social and personnel responsibility, as well as environmental and financial sustainability. Lappee is involved in the planning and development of sustainable tourism in the region, in cooperation with the local tourism organization GoSaimaa.

Responsibility can be seen in our everyday life, as follows:

• We treat job seekers, employees, customers and stakeholders fairly and within the framework of the law. We offer comprehensive employment relationships to our employees. In the competition, we follow good business practices. Procurements are planned and in the planning attention is paid to the ethical manufacturing of the product, the length of the life cycle, durability and also recyclability. We develop our operations sustainability first. The aim is to make as many purchases locally or domestically as possible.
• We are proud of our province South Karelia and we want to promote the well-being of the local culture. We bring knowledge of culture and even competing local companies to the customers with the hashtag #reasonontocome, for example on social media. We also sell activities of our local partners. We have minibar products from Micaro Makeinen, which is a business located in Lappeenranta. We offer fresh local bread from Rikkilä bakery at breakfast, beverages from the local Tuju Panimo at Venn & Rosso. Our themes Pihka and Paatti for the renovated rooms respect the local nature, Saimaa and the forest industry.
• We aim to use energy in reasonable amounts and we are keen to reduce energy consumption. Water consumption is also being reduced with technical solutions. Sorting is enhanced within the scope of the possibilities offered by our partners. We aim to reduce waste at breakfast and in our restaurants with even more detailed planning. If necessary, we use the ResQ Club app at breakfast and Coffee House. In 2021 & 2023, Lappee breakfast received recognition and a certificate from the ResQ Club for responsible operations.
• We pay attention to the environment in all of our operations. Original Sokos Hotel Lappee supports WWF's work to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal with an annual contribution. We guide the customers to enjoy the city in such a way that it has as little environmental impact as possible. Borrow a bike and go to the beach. In winter grab a sled and enjoy the speed in snow!

As a customer, you can also take part in the sustainability work by paying attention to energy and water consumption, sorting your trash, choosing an organic or vegetarian food option and reducing your breakfast waste by only taking what you eat. Small actions are big steps towards protecting our common environment.

Let's do it together - Thank you for caring!