‘Tis the season for giving. Perhaps no other industry is better at giving back and philanthropic efforts than the hospitality industry. After all, people are at the core of the industry’s business.
As the holidays quickly approach, I want to take the time to see what hoteliers are doing this season to give back to their communities. Here’s a (by no means comprehensive) rundown of what some of you are doing to be charitable this season.
Pumpkins for lions, tigers and bears—oh my
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| A lion cub at the San Francisco Zoo chomps on a donated pumpkin from the San Francisco Marriott Airport Waterfront. (Photo: Marianne Hale for the San Francisco Zoo) |
In an effort to reduce waste and feed the local community’s cutest critters, the staff at the San Francisco Marriott Airport Waterfront donated pumpkins from the hotel’s fall decoration display to animals at the San Francisco Zoo.
What a great way to dispose of decorations and make animals happy at the same time. Kudos!
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| Because it was difficult to choose just one image, here’s a wolverine munching on a pumpkin. (Photo: Marianne Hale for the San Francisco Zoo) |
Giving kids a village
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| San Francisco’s Hotel Zephyr, pictured here, has partnered with nonprofit Give Kids The World Village during December. (Photo: Courtesy of Hotel Zephyr) |
Hotel Zephyr, a boutique hotel in San Francisco, strives to enhance children’s lives through an initiative that will benefit nonprofit organization Give Kids The World Village, which provides vacation experiences for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
To lend support to the organization, guests who book a stay at the hotel through 31 December can contribute an amount of their choosing to the organization. For each guest contribution during this period, Hotel Zephyr will donate $1 to the nonprofit. This is the first charitable endeavor for the hotel, which opened this past summer.
Nothing better than donating a love for travel, right?
Cleaning up the United Arab Emirates
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| The staff of the Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai lends its support to the Clean Up UAE drive. (Photo: Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai) |
The Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai gave its support in a 10-day campaign to the Clean Up UAE drive organized by the Emirates Environmental Group. A team of volunteers from the hotel joined more than 125,000 environmental enthusiasts with the goal of beating last year’s record of diverting 94 tons of waste from landfill. The campaign covered seven emirates.
Great job getting your hands dirty in the name of giving back, hoteliers!
A month of service
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| Throughout the Global Month of Service, Hilton volunteers completed 4,145 projects across 92 countries. (Photo: Business Wire) |
Members of Hilton Worldwide Holdings participated in the hotel company’s Global Month of Service, a monthlong, global initiative to help address social, economic and environmental needs around the world. This year, team members worked on 4,145 projects and contributed more than 213,000 volunteer hours in 92 countries, including teams from the United States to Mexico, Italy to the United Kingdom, Kenya, Malaysia, Australia and more.
My favorite on the list? The “Soap for Hope” initiative, a soap-recycling program. Through the program, hoteliers can donate soap to communities to help improve hygiene and prevent the spread of disease. The Hilton Mexico City Reforma was the first Hilton hotel in Latin America to implement such a program, according to a news release. The Hilton Nairobi team in Kenya also implemented this program for a local school.
A commitment to combat human trafficking
This topic has appeared over the years on the Hotel News Now pages. And I think it’s one that should repeatedly appear as the issue still looms all around us. (According to ECPAT, this crime affects more than 1.8 million young people annually.)
Kudos to Hyatt Hotels Corporation, which this month signed the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct, also known as The Code. The Code is an industry-driven tourism initiative and is supported by UNICEF and The World Tourism Organization. Its mission is to provide awareness, tools and support to the tourism industry to prevent sexual exploitation of children.
Hoteliers, a lot of this can be happening right on your property. If this issue isn’t on your mind, it should be. Don’t know where to start? Check out the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s information center here or talk to your brand representatives to see what they are doing to join the cause.
These are just a few examples that made their way into my inbox this month. More attention is paid to philanthropy around the holidays; however, hoteliers are no strangers to giving back throughout the year at large. If you are giving back this season, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Or send me an email at ahoisington@hotelnewsnow.com, or find me on Twitter @HNN_Alicia.
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