Going green is not a new concept. Neither is charity or humanitarian aid. None of these are referred to as ‘trends’ in any industry. What is commendable, however, is how much importance the travel and hospitality industry place in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the various activities they organise to lend a hand to a good cause. From the simple act of planting a tree to reducing carbon footprint, or rescuing and subsequently recruiting street animals to allowing homeless children to experience the joy of a flight – the industry is coming up with more and more ways to make the world a better place.
The influx of foreign brands into India has brought with it several global CSR activities that prove to be a boon for India. Rotana most recently brought its Global Corporate Sustainability Platform- Rotana Earth to India. Starwood has its Global Citizenship programme. Marriott International indulges in environment conservation and charitable contributions. Hyatt Hotels has a CSR initiative known as ‘Thrive’ which looks at the environment, economic development and education and health of communities.
The Indian brands look closely at India-specific problems and plan their activities. Hotel Leelaventure focuses on conservation and training and education. IHCL provides training and employment to underprivileged women, and promotes artisans and craftsmen through their ‘Building Livelihoods’ initiative. The Oberoi Group organises plantations and organises green weeks at various properties.
Be it international or local, several times a year the industry sets aside its worries over bottomlines, numbers and occupancies, to give those in need a helping hand.
“To practice low impact, educational, ecological and culturally sensitive tourism that offers livelihood benefits to local communities in rural areas.. With what they know, what they do and what they have. Offer equal livelihood opportunities to all humanity protect, conserve, preserve and propagate the neighbourhoods nature, heritage, art, culture, belief, lifestyle and practices is the motto,” Steve Borgia, CMD, INDeco Leisure Hotels follows.
Corporate Responsibility at Kuoni India is of significant importance. Kuoni India conducts various activities in association with NGOs and its employees participate in these activities. The company also encourages its employees to volunteer for the activities.
“For most corporates, they need to put CSR on their agenda to ensure they attend to it. For us it is a little different… It is a part of our lifestyle. We do not take on one CSR initiative and then focus on it for a period of time and then move onto the next. As and when our heart says, as and when an opportunity comes up and in some cases on a very long term basis, we engage in CSR,” said C B Ramkumar, Founder & Managing Director, Our Native Village.
According to Rahul Pandit, President & Executive Director, The Lemon Tree Hotels Company, Lemon Tree Hotels goes beyond just CSR and believes in running its business in a sustainable manner. Lemon Tree’s vision for 2020 is to be the most trusted and admired Indian hospitality brand and to build a reputation for ‘responsible growth’.
Going Green
Reducing carbon footprint is a tale almost as old as the industry itself. With large tourist numbers come great wastage, and rapidly depleting resources have forced the world to take drastic measures to tackle this issue. It was the starting point of the green revolution that has led to the advent of environmentally-friendly hotels today, each doing their bit for the planet. Our Native Village, for instance, is a 100 per cent eco resort which generates 50 per cent of its own electricity using solar panels; 40 to 60 per cent of its water is rain water; and all their kitchen waste water is used for the plants while chemical detergents are not used in the kitchens. The property also has two bio-gas plants and around 30 per cent of their cooking is done using bio gas.
Accor launched its Planet 21 initiative last year, a sustainable development program in which the company made 21 commitments to improving its environmental and social performance, including reducing water and energy consumption and protecting and promoting biodiversity. “Each of these commitments is linked to a concrete target for 2015. Targets include a 15 per cent reduction in water consumption, 10 per cent reduction in energy use and carbon emissions and 100 per cent ban on endangered seafood such as shark’s fin,” said Ashwin Shirali, Regional Director, Human Resource, Accor Hotels, India.
To monitor environmentally friendly practices, various green certifications such as LEED and Green Globe Certification have been introduced, and hotels that are awarded these honours wear the badge proudly on their brands and follow a set of guidelines to better help the environment. ITC Gardenia, for instance, was the first Indian LEED Platinum hotel, while the ITC Grand Chola Chennai is the largest LEED-certified hotel in the world. Each of these properties is monitored and audited by LEED.
The Lemon Tree Hotels also brandishes the LEED certification. “Our hotels are designed and constructed to qualify for the LEED Gold Standard. Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) is the internationally recognised eco-friendly building certification standard awarded by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) to buildings designed for energy savings, efficient use of water, reduction of CO2 emission and overall improvement in environmental quality. Variable refrigerant volume; heat recovery ventilators; heat pumps; key tag energy saver system; auto time managementLT voltage stabiliser are just some of the measures we have adopted for energy conservation,” said Pandit.
Similarly, Moevenpick Hotel and Spa Bangalore, has monitored and audited itself through the Green Globe Certification, and has reduced its grid power maximum demand, adopted wind energy, introduced aerators in guest room showers, and reduced LPG consumptions, among other efforts, revealed Binoy Sreedhar, Director of Engineering, Moevenpick Hotel and Spa Bangalore.
Concept Hospitality (CHPL) has been the industry leader on energy and resource management since 1996. “We are pleased that initiatives such as CFL lighting, STP plants, garbage segregation and dual-flush toilets have become industry standards. Sourcing produce and material from local resources is an important practice to reduce transport’s significant carbon footprint while supporting local businesses,” said Param Kannampilly, Chairman & Managing Director, CHPL.
People Pleasers
An important facet of CSR activities is aiding the needy. And tour operators and hoteliers go out of their way in their initiatives and allegiances to NGOs and support groups to this end. Thomas Cook India, for one, has earmarked two critical CSR activities which find resonance in its PRIDE values – Education & training and supporting the Girl Child. Adrian Williams – Head, Human Resources, Thomas Cook (India) revealed that the company has partnered with two credible NGOs in this sphere, and added that the Centre of Learning, will provide training in the travel and tourism space to ensure smooth transition into employment for the Girl Child into the organisation.
Kuoni India has undertaken various programs in association with NGOs for energy conservation, creating sustainable development opportunities for rural Indian artisans and craftsmen of India, education for under privileged children, paper recycling, among others. “This Diwali, we supported the NGO – Akanksha by collaborating with them on Diwali Gifts for our esteemed partners. To support the cause of child education, Kuoni India launched its CSR initiative ‘Donate a book.’ 1001 books were donated to Pratham, an NGO working for education of underprivileged children in India. We also successfully collaborated with Help Age India and organised a Walkathon which proved to be a success when employees volunteered time and effort to the cause. In addition, we supported the NGO- Goonj in relief to the Uttarakhand flood victims in a donation campaign where employees donated house-hold articles and necessities to the victims of the disaster. We also conduct the annual Christmas Campaign where funds are collected through a raffle. These funds are then donated to an NGO,” said Rajeev Wagle, Managing Director, Kuoni India.
Cox & Kings supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation of India, an NGO that is dedicated towards granting wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions. It is also the official travel partner to MAWF and sponsors ‘Travel Wishes’ of the children within India. It arranges for the travel & boarding of the “Wish Child” and the family members travelling with them. In all, the company supports about 10 NGOs and has supported several initiatives including Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and PUMA Urban Stampede 2013, among others.
Hotels aren’t restricted to green intiatives either. Several hospitality companies have taken to supporting various humanitarian causes, from joining hands with NGOs to supporting local artesans and handicrafts. The Accor Foundation lends support to Dastkar for the revival of dying crafts and provides a fresh impetus to the traditional Indian craftsmanship in contemporary times. It also supports the NGO Nireekshana and the Mallika Sewing Project.
“Our hotel has actively been involved in hosting social and cultural events/activities making it a hub for art. Project Art is a first of its kind initiative where the hotel lends its large atrium space to budding artists and professionals alike, willing to display their works of art electronically projected making it ‘virtual art’. Time and again the hotel has directly and indirectly supported CSR initiatives by hosting events for organisations that work for the betterment of the society,” stated Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager, Moevenpick Hotel and Spa Bangalore.
And then there are those who have made their properties entirely inclusive for the local communities. “There are two sides to this business. One is the hotel and the other is its inevitable relationship to the environment where it exists, the villages, the neighbourhood and its people. Perhaps if I were a typical hotelier, I would have taken the CSR route and ended up digging a couple of wells or planting a hundred trees to selfishly find security to survive in that niche but here was this Indian from UN development circuit ,wanting to find equal employment opportunities and attain basic livelihood standards. The intention was so deep rooted that I held on to my original manifestation values. The hotel is designed to serve as a one-stop-step was to market all that they do, all that they have and all that they knew,” said Borgia.
In a bid to provide the authentic Indian experience, INDeco Hotels imports nothing. Architecture was vernacular. It was the local masons, craftsman, carpenters etc. Nearly 60 per cent of the project budgets were spent on labour and wages. Similarly, nearly 70 per cent of operation budgets are spent in the vicinity and are directly beneficial to the local communities. “Today the relationship has grown to the point of the hotel giving a wish list to the supply chain in the village to meet operational needs,” he added.
Catering to the physically challenged has been another focus area for hotels. Employing and training physically challenged personnel and building more facilities to enable them to work on the premises has been made part of companies’ HR policies. Lemon Tree Hotels has been recruiting employees with disabilities since 2007. Currently, close to 6 per cent of the group’s employees (~124 people) are from this segment of the population. Our Native Village even has employees’ names in Braille on their business cards.
Of course, all charity begins at home, which is why companies have begun to take employee benefits into consideration as well. Be it staff welfare facilities or medical facilities, they have their employees’ backs.
The road less travelled in CSR
Aiding the environment and the needy has been an ongoing effort for the industry. But T3 pays its kudos to the ones who have not limited themselves to road much travelled. Cox & Kings donates old newspapers and waste papers to Paper & Pooch, an organisation that supports stray animals. The money that the organisation gets after selling the papers is used for providing basic necessities like medicines, food and shelter for stray dogs.
One of the most unique initiatives is The Lemon Tree Hotels’ Pooch Policy. “At all Lemon Tree properties, we have adopted a street dog that is cared for by the Lemon Tree team. We name the dog, inoculate it and feed it well. The team at the hotel builds a great bond with the dog and some customers too are forthcoming and engage with the dog occasionally,” explained Pandit.
