April 5th, 2021
We are the only British finalist in Hostelworld’s HOSCARS awards in the category of Extraordinary Sustainable Hostel.
Hostelworld’s HOSCARS run every year and are awarded to hostels based on their guest reviews. Due to the hit our industry has taken during the COVID-19 pandemic Hostelworld are doing things a little differently for 2021.
This year there is a panel of expert judges from the hospitality industry and hostels were invited to submit entries across seven categories. There are thousands of hostels listed globally on the Hostelworld platform and 35 finalists were chosen – 5 in each category. The seven eventual winners will be based on a combination of the judges’ votes and a public vote between 5th and 18th April.
Due to its beautiful landscape and coastline sustainability has always been high on the agenda in Cornwall, demonstrated by the choice of Carbis Bay as the location of the next G7 Summit in June 2021. This makes us being named as a finalist in this category even more poignant, both for Cornwall and the UK.
Cornwall is set to be at the centre of amazing advances in renewable energy and green technology and so it’s a hugely exciting time to have a business in the centre of that nucleus being recognised for its work towards sustainability. As Cornwall starts to become a global model for its low carbon economy we want people to know that Cohort is 100% committed to that vision; it’s not just tokenism, it’s real.
Since our inception in 2015 sustainable practices have been built into the fabric of the building and ethos of the business.
At Cohort our aim has always been to have a low eco-impact. Initially that was about how the building worked as we renovated from the ground up. More recently it has been about how we operate as a business – our ethos, the way we work with others and how we communicate with our guests.
We already have a Gold Green Tourism award along with other awards for sustainability and innovation; we have a carbon offsetting scheme in place, are almost entirely plastic free and our electricity is 100% renewable.
We are so excited to have made it into the finals of the HOSCARS but weirdly we’d also be delighted to not have done because that means other businesses are doing just as much as us, if not more, and that can only be a good thing.