EAGLE BEACH, ARUBA—After giving Aruba decades of great change, the island nation has gifted its sustainable tourism pioneer with something permanent. The government of Aruba honored Ewald Biemans, founder of Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts and one of the Caribbean’s most prominent environmentalists, by naming a street after him. A stretch of L. G. Smith Boulevard, conveniently located near the namesake’s resort on the world-famous Eagle Beach, is now officially known as Caya Ewald Biemans.The “caya,” meaning “street” in Papiamento, Aruba’s official language, is a tribute to Biemans for his significant contributions to the island’s tourism industry and recognizes...

LAS VEGAS—MGM Resorts International employee volunteers build a house from the ground up, and hand over the keys to an elated single mother and her children. Tens of millions of dollars are spent conducting business with minority- and women-owned enterprises, supporting the company's strategic objectives and commitment to diversity. MGM Resorts and NRG Renew partner to install one of the nation’s largest rooftop solar arrays at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, stretching a massive 20 acres.These are just a few of the powerful displays of corporate citizenship chronicled in MGM Resorts’ 2014 Annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Themed “Inspiration...

ORLANDO, FLA.—The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and Interstate Hotels & Resorts announce the recent launch of AHLEI’s human trafficking awareness training into Interstate’s mandatory training curriculum for front-line associates and managers at more than 300 hotels in the United States. “The Role of Hospitality in Preventing and Reacting to Child Trafficking” is an online program developed in partnership with ECPAT-USA that provides hotel staff and managers with the information they need to identify and respond to crimes of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).“The safety of our guests and associates is always top...

LAS VEGAS—MGM Resorts International joined the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge by pledging to reduce energy consumption 20 percent by 2020, during the National Clean Energy Summit held at the Mandalay Bay Resort Convention Center, sponsored by U.S. Senator Harry Reid, and with closing keynote comments by President Barack Obama.“MGM Resorts is committed to being a leading corporate citizen in all it does,” said Jim Murren, Chairman & CEO of MGM Resorts International. “Climate change and consumption of traditional energy sources are among the most critical issues of our day.”“Innovating our resorts to operate more efficiently while...

NEW YORK—The Bodhi Tree Foundation (TBTF) announces the launch of its Power of 10 initiative, an expansion of its S.A.F.E. campaign created to “Safeguard a Future for African Elephants.” With 10 percent of Africa’s elephant population lost each year, the next 10 years will decide the species’ fate. And in Asia, disappearing habitats due to logging and urbanization have driven once wild elephants to the cities or tourist camps where they face a debilitating lifestyle.To counter forces that are aligned against the elephant, the Power of 10 supports 10 elephant conservation projects in 10 critical landscapes that can make...

LONDON—In the Silver Jubilee year of World Water Week (August 23 to 28), multiple global hotel companies are meeting the challenge “to think innovatively—together—about new development pathways” and are developing a methodology and calculation tool to enable hotel companies and individual properties to measure and report on water consumption in a consistent way.Following the success of the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative, now used by over 21,500 hotels around the world, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) is developing the equivalent tool for water consumption. As World Water Week demonstrates, water scarcity is a recognized global problem, with demand for water...

STAMFORD, CONN.—With more than half of its current and future properties in areas facing critical water issues, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. shared its holistic water story detailing the company’s efforts to tackle this important matter. As part of the company’s overall strategy on water issues, including scarcity, flooding, and quality, Starwood has set a system-wide water reduction goal, introduced new technology and dedicated on-property actions, offered conservation-focused guest programs and joined with community partners.“Some say water is the new oil and, as we execute a global growth strategy, water is not only an environmental consideration, but also...

OAK BROOK, ILL.—The Monarch butterfly population has been in decline, but the Illinois state insect is getting some unlikely help with their migration in the western suburbs of Chicago. At the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, which features a Horticultural Gallery on its 150 acres of Audubon-certified grounds, waystations are attracting Monarchs on their annual trek south. Due to the spirited efforts of hotel staff and horticulturalist Karen Paquin, who has created an official on-site Monarch habitat, the beloved pollinator is dropping by in significant numbers. “It’s encouraging to see so many Monarchs enjoy our beautiful...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Twenty-five years after its founding, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is still going strong with more than 14,700 members. Earlier this year its annual Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) in Ecuador drew more than 500 attendees from 46 countries. An ESTC is already being planned for April 25 to 28 in Botswana and for the first time ever there will be an ESTC America—at the University of South Florida in Tampa from January 25 to 27. The Tampa event will be limited to 220 participants.As strong as TIES has been over the years, 2015 is turning into...

PARIS—In celebration of its 10 year commitment to the ISO 14001 certification, the internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems, AccorHotels has led two studies that assess the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on guest satisfaction and hotel performance. The surveys were conducted by Accenture and Ernst & Young (EY) in 2015 and revealed three key findings on the positive impact of CSR: increased guest satisfaction; improved hotel profitability; and increased loyalty of key BtoB customers.“We have been committed to sustainable development for over 20 years and always believed that, as well as being essential to preserve our...