Sustainable Luxury in the Heart of Bangkok

Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel has achieved the highest individual score in attaining GOLD Certification to the global sustainability certification standard for travel and tourism, Green Growth 2050. With a score of 86%, Anantara Siam has set the benchmark for all other Hotels to aspire to across all assessment elements including social, cultural, environmental and operational best practice.

In the heart of one of the world’s most enigmatic capital cities, Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel offers discerning travellers a luxurious retreat to enjoy life’s finer pleasures and engage in soulful, original journeys. As ethical tourism continues to grow, certifications such as this allow travellers to feel more confident that they are not only getting their money’s worth, but are leaving behind a better chance for younger generations to enjoy the same liberties.

Anantara Siam attains GOLD certification by Green Growth 2050.

“Sustainability is very important to us at the hotel and throughout the brand. We worked hard to comply with the Green Growth standards and we are thrilled with the result of 86%. The work doesn’t stop there, and it is important we maintain these high standards. We’ve already identified other areas to expand our practices, including planting more produce on our fourth floor garden, consumed in our staff canteen,” says General Manager Patrick Both.

In achieving GOLD Certification, Anantara Siam implemented a range of innovative sustainability initiatives including transitioning the hotel to glass water bottles in the rooms and related front of house areas, eliminating the use of PET plastic bottles. The hotel also used reclaimed, treated and filtered water in its air-conditioning cooling towers saving approximately 100 kilolitres of water each day.

“The team at Anantara Siam has worked tirelessly during the last six months to fully embrace the Green Growth 2050 Standard and ensure this outstanding result” said CEO of Green Growth 2050 Wayne McKinnon. “Patrick and his teams took the unique approach of establishing multi-layered ‘Green Teams’ across the organisation and providing them with the tools and responsibility to own all aspects of the process. Taking the teams on field trips to garbage collection centres, recycling companies and environmental programs gave everyone involved a ‘real-life’ view of why areas of the Standard were important and helped to instil a unique sense of engagement.” added McKinnon

Green Growth 2050 is the world’s most comprehensive GSTC recognized sustainability framework for the travel & tourism industry. It was designed and developed to meet the needs of hotels and travel businesses seeking today’s solutions to the issues driving social, cultural and environmental change.

Garden Terrace rooms at Anantara Siam Bangkok exemplify a sustainable oasis in the city.

The Green Growth 2050 Global Standard is based on a range of internationally recognised UN Global Compact;

• The UNEP Green Economy Principles;
• The Code against the sexual exploitation of children;
• UNWTO Ethics in Tourism; and
• The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators

Green Growth 2050 has been selected by the Minor Hotel Group to not only provide certification but also performance measurement, CSR impact analysis and business intelligence dashboard analytics across all aspects of sustainability reporting.

Editor’s Notes:

Anantara is a luxury hospitality brand for modern travellers, connecting them to genuine places, people and stories through personal experiences, and providing heartfelt hospitality in the world’s most exciting destinations. The collection of distinct, thoughtfully designed luxury hotels and resorts provides a window through which to journey into invigorating new territory, curating personal travel experiences.

From cosmopolitan cities to desert sands to lush islands, Anantara connects travellers to the indigenous, grounds them in authentic luxury, and hosts them with passionate expertise, currently boasting over 35 stunning properties located in Thailand, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Mozambique, Zambia, the UAE and Qatar, with a pipeline of future properties across Asia, the Indian Ocean, Middle East and Africa.

For more information on Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, please visit www.anantara.com.

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/anantara; Twitter and Instagram: @anantara_hotels

About Global Hotel Alliance:

Founded in 2004, and based on the airline alliance model, Global Hotel Alliance (“GHA”) is today the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands. GHA uses a shared technology platform to drive incremental revenues and create cost savings for its member brands, and operates a multi-brand loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, which has over seven million members. GHA currently includes more than 30 brands, encompassing over 550 upscale and luxury hotels with 110,000 rooms across 76 different countries.

For more information visit www.gha.com

About Green Growth 2050

Green Growth 2050 is a new dynamic product and service set that links sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibility in support of Green Growth. It has been developed by Greenearth.travel, based in the EU and Vision CSR based in Australia. It draws on their multi decade experience as leaders and innovators in creating sustainable travel and tourism frameworks, as well as their extensive partnerships and alliances focused on green economy transformation and climate response.

To learn more, visit www.greengrowth2050.com

For media enquiries, please contact Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel:  Tel: + 66 (0) 2 126 8866

Monica Majors

Cluster Director of PR – International

Tel: +66 (0) 2 126 8866 ext 1705

Email: mmajors@anantara.com

Nannadda Supakdhanasombat

Director of Marketing Communications

Tel: +66 (0) 2 126 8866 ext 1720

Email: nannadda_su@anantara.com

Singapore Businesses and Sustainable Development Goals

Singapore moves towards Sustainable Development Goals with the help of the business fabric.  By Mallika Naguran

Singapore, 23 June 2016. Singapore businesses were urged today to respond to pressing social and environmental issues by heeding the newly minted United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). 

At a thought leadership session organised by Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS), a mix of small, medium and large companies listened to sustainability strategies and measures outlined by multinational conglomerate Unilever and Diageo as well as homegrown City Developments Limited (CDL). These ranged from conducting materiality assessments to setting sustainability targets, implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, measuring performance and public reporting. 

Read more here: Singapore Businesses to Embrace Sustainable Development Goals

 

Air France-KLM leads CSR in air transport sector

For the eleventh successive year running, Air France-KLM surpassed other companies in its corporate social responsibility performance to emerge top in the “Airlines” category of Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). By Tan Hui Zhen.

Singapore, 6th October 2015- Ranked amongst the 24 most accountable groups in the world, Air France-KLM is reputable for its active commitment towards environmental and social sustainability in the air transport industry. Mr Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of Air France, shares that corporate social responsibility is at the “heart of [their] corporate strategy”.

Carriers of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France. Photo credit: Air France

"Every day, Air France-KLM does all it can to design the future of air transport. We want the transport we provide to be caring, innovative and responsible,” says Mr Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman and CEO of the major long-haul air service provider outside Europe.

Together, the two air carriers operate flights to 231 destinations across approximately 100 countries from their bases in Paris- Charles de Gaulle, and Amsterdam- Schipol. The group carried 87.3 million passengers in 2014 and boasts more than 24.5 million members for its Flying Blue frequent flyer programme in Europe.

To incorporate corporate social responsibility into its large-scale flight operations and activities, Air France-KLM prioritizes four key agendas:

(1) Minimizing environmental degradation by optimizing processes, engaging all staff and industry stakeholders, and improvising supply chain;

(2) Mainstreaming objectives of corporate social responsibility across entire service chain to produce creative and responsible goods and services;

(3) Providing opportunities for individual development and promoting a responsible workforce policy to maintain competence and drive of employees;

(4) Supporting local socioeconomic development in regions where the group operates.

Amongst its many innovative initiatives, Air France-KLM will be continuing the use of sustainable biofuel for some flights to spur the industry into establishing a biofuel market. It has also channelled investments towards designing more eco-friendly goods on-board flights to reduce carbon emissions.

Responding to Air France-KLM outstanding corporate sustainability performance in DJSI, Mr Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines says, “It confirms not only that we assume responsibility as an employer, but also pursue innovation and take our responsibility with regard to the environment and society seriously. KLM has an established track record proving this.”

Apart from being listed in DJSI by global asset management company RobecoSAM since 2005, the Group also performed strongly in non-financial indexes like NYSE Euronext Vigeo, Ethibel and FTSE4Good.

Green Meetings: Companies reduce environmental impact

Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay introduces a service where aware companies can reduce their environmental impact, enjoy healthy meals - and help forestation by sponsoring tree planting at the same time.

Novotel Clarke Quay is innovating business meetings with its new range of offerings

Singapore, April 2015 – In line with its sustainability intiatives, the Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay (part of the Accor Group) has designed a new offering it calls “Green Meeting packages” along with environmentally friendly MICE facilities it describes as helping to “Plant your company success“.

Under its Planet 21 framework, Accor has made 21 commitments in favor of sustainable practice. Planet 21 echoes Accor’s recognition of the urgent need to focus efforts on changing our production and consumption patterns with the goal of protecting our planet, its people and their environment. Following the hotel’s recent ISO 14001 certification, it was awarded 2014’s Champion of the Singapore Environment Council under the Kimberly Clark Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards for its achievements in the Services category.

Its latest initiatiove allows companies wishing to keep their consumption patterns under control to make what it calls a “Green Choice” when booking the next meeting. The hotel has committed to plant one tree in plantation sites in Indonesia for every 40 meeting packages booked. The trees will be planted on the company’s behalf and a certificate of participation with the number of trees will be supplied to the organisers. The scheme is part of Accor’s reforestation program called “Plant for the Planet”.

The hotel will also supply Eco-pens as part of its green meeting packages. These are handmade by the poor using recycled newspapers through the “Yayasan Peduli Tunas Bangsa” Accor foundation in Indonesia. Accor channels funds collected to run workshops and financially support the underprivileged, who are then able to send their children to school.

Companies can enjoy 10% off when booking the Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay Green Meetings packages from now until end September 2015, and residential groups will enjoy a complimentary room. Terms & conditions apply. 

For more information about the “Planting your company success @ Novotel”,  visit www.novotelclarkequay.comor call +65 6433 8633oremail: H5993-SM3@accor.com

For more about Accor’s PLANET 21 drive, visit : http://www.accor.com/en/sustainable-development/the-planet-21-program.html.