Six Senses Laamu is honored to be named the 2018 Winner of Green Hotelier’s Community Award, in addition to being the Highly Commended Runner-up for Responsible Hotel of the Year. The 2018 Green Hotelier Award Winners represent the world’s leaders in environmentally and socially responsible hotels. The awards were based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also called the Global Goals for 2030.
The 17 SDGs cover issues of energy use, water conservation, waste management, human rights, partnerships and more. Six Senses Laamu strives to align its operations with these goals in order to lead the way in the sustainable tourism industry and encourage others to follow suit. Protecting the ocean and its coral reefs, onsite production to reduce imports together with staff members and community development are all critically important to the Six Senses brand concept.
Editor of Green Hotelier and Awards Judge Siobhan O’Neill said, “Every single hotel (applicant) is deeply committed to doing their bit for people and planet, and many of them go above and beyond to have huge positive impacts for the communities and environments where they’re located. We saw so much innovation and many environmental solutions that both make sense for that hotel’s location and also help drive the sustainability agenda forward.”
Six Senses Laamu jointly organized the second annual ‘Turtles in Laamu – Safe and Protected’ festival in September 2017
The Community Award focused on ways the resort provides financial and educational support to the local communities in order to drive sustainable development. Six Senses Laamu’s Sustainability Fund allocates 0.5 percent of total revenues towards projects that conserve the marine environment, ensure clean drinking water, reduce the use of plastics, or improve public infrastructure. However, the resort is most well-known for resources allocated towards its community outreach and education programs. The Eku Eky program brings together all eleven islands in the atoll, as well as local government agencies and international NGOs to discuss sustainable development and long-term conservation strategies. The resort’s marine team has been conducting educational programs in local schools for the past four years, has led swimming and snorkeling lessons to expose kids to wonders of their backyard coral reefs and has jointly organized two annual festivals with the theme Turtles in Laamu – Safe and Protected. These initiatives not only raise awareness about the importance of marine conservation in Laamu, but also strengthen relationships between the resort and all stakeholders in Laamu Atoll.
Six Senses Laamu was also recognized as Highly Commended Runner-up for Responsible Hotel of the Year, for its commitments and achievements across all SDG categories. These awards add to the resort’s accolade of Maldives Travel Awards 2017 Leading CSR Program. General Manager of Six Senses Laamu, Marteyne van Well, said, “We are delighted to be recognized for our community work, which is critical to the sustainability of the resort’s operations. Without a flourishing local community, we would not be able to run our business in an environmentally-friendly or mutually beneficial way. Over the years we have been inspired by the work done by some wonderful environmentally and socially responsible hotels and I hope this award can in turn help serve as inspiration for other hotels to give back to their local community and the surrounding environment.”
Read more in the Green Hotelier feature article: http://www.greenhotelier.org/our-themes/community-communication-engagement/worlds-greenest-hotels-inspired-by-the-global-goals/.
