Airbnb and Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly drive the country’s green growth agenda by helping to revitalise post-pandemic travel and support Malaysia’s target of becoming a carbon-neutral nation by 2050.
To this end, the partners will work to educate Malaysia’s Airbnb Host community on how to incorporate sustainable practices into their day-to-day hospitality operations and offerings. Both parties will also work to empower Malaysians to reduce their carbon footprint and adopt more sustainable travel habits.
Key areas of collaboration include conducting sustainability workshops for accommodation providers and Airbnb Hosts in Malaysia, co-creating an energy conservation guide for Airbnb listings in Malaysia, and partnering with MGTC’s flagship event International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM) – one of Southeast Asia’s largest trade events for green technologies and eco solutions.
Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb’s general manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said, “Last year, Airbnb launched our inaugural Green Stays Awards to celebrate and drive visibility around Malaysia’s wide variety of innovative, environmentally conscious travel accommodation. Today, we are excited to continue this work through our MoU with MGTC. Malaysians are increasingly prioritising conscious travel; and we are committed to working with MGTC to develop green competencies in the tourism industry and empower our local Hosts and guests to go green in their daily living, hosting and traveling.”
Ts. Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, Group Chief Executive Officer of MGTC, said, “Our first-ever MoU with global hospitality platform Airbnb marks a stepping stone for public-private collaboration to further Malaysia’s green growth agenda. To make green living a reality in Malaysia, we need to start with our community. We look forward to working hand in hand with Airbnb to educate Malaysians and businesses on small steps they can take towards reducing their carbon emissions, and to cultivate greener lifestyles and sustainable traveling habits.”
In conjunction with the partnership, Airbnb hosted a panel discussion titled ‘From Ecotourism to the Everyday: Evolving trends in Malaysia’s green tourism landscape’ with Amanpreet,Ts. Shamsul Bahar and Siti Norasiah, an award-winning Malaysian Airbnb Host who converted an old unused university bus into a thoughtfully designed Airbnb stay with energy-saving appliances and a rainwater collection and filtration system.
The panelists discussed how green tourism is changing Malaysia’s tourism landscape, key challenges faced in fostering green tourism, and ways to help make green living more accessible for everyday Malaysians.
In 2021, Airbnb launched the Green Stays Awards in collaboration with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) and the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Malaysia (ECOMY).
