Paris. Sofitel Luxury Hotels, along with all Accor brands, are celebrating global Earth Guest Day today, 22 April 2009, highlighting the sustainable development projects carried out by employees of the Accor Group worldwide throughout the year. The day highlights the Group’s ecological and energy conservation activities, involving employees and clients, to enhance social awareness and sustainable development. The Earth Guest Day concept embraces the idea that human beings are but fleeting guests on planet earth and must spend time looking after the planet. The first Earth Guest Day took place in 2006.
Across some 100 Sofitel hotels and resorts located in 30 countries around the world, Sofitel will team to support sustainable development programmes that are organised around people (including projects to protect children, support local development, promote balanced nutrition and eliminate epidemics) and the environment (such as projects to control energy use, limit water consumption, manage waste and preserve bio-diversity). The Day allows individual hotels to get involved at a grassroots level by supporting their local communities and environments.
Over 250 events are planned for the day across 100 Sofitel hotels including 54 tree planting projects, 35 local environment clean-up projects, 15 organic lunches and many other initiatives. Outlined below is a sample of Sofitels and their individual plans:
Wanda Beijing (China): Children from the local Hope School and employees’ children will be invited to an environmental presentation at the hotel. The session will include a competition in which the children can create their own shopping bags by decorating environmentally friendly bags using waterproof pens.
Melbourne on Collins (Australia): All 400 employees will be encouraged to bring in any old mobile phones they have at home to be recycled. Employees will also be reminded of the hotel’s recycling practices as well as encouraged to actively participate in water saving measures not only within the hotel but at home also.
Dalat Palace (Vietnam): 200 employees of Sofitel Dalat Palace will be part of a 500-man team that will go to Ho Xuan Huong Lake where they will clean garbage from the water and the banks of the lake. They will also install new garbage bins to ensure that the area remains clean following the big clear-up.
Amsterdam The Grand (Netherlands): Employees will help in clearing the famous Amsterdam canals of rubbish in and around the area of the hotel. For the third successive year, a commercial dinner, the Black & Bio dinner, is organized without electricity (candlelight only, therefore: black) and with organic food and drinks only (therefore: bio).
Paris Le Scribe (France): The hotel will be selling cocktails, teas and pastries and all the proceeds will be put towards reforestation projects.
Budapest Chain Bridge (Hungary): Staff will plant two trees in Roosevelt Square in front of the hotel. Sofitel staff will also assist in cleaning the Danube River from the Chain Bridge to the Margaret Bridge.
Rabat Jardin Royal (Morocco): A green space of 8,000 metre squared will be created on the hotel site.
Agadir Royal Bay Resort (Morocco): The hotel will be planting 40 olive trees locally.
Chicago Water Tower (United States): The hotel will be involved through several actions: educate its employees about energy conservation at home and work, illustrate consequences and benefits during week long demonstrations in the cafeteria, clean neighborhood park and help provide a clean and safe place for neighborhood to play, display luxury Hybrid car in front of the hotel, Green Team flower arrangements in the lobby, different menu options with an organic feature, green cocktails in the bar and more candles instead of electric light.
Cairo El Gezirah (Egypt): The hotel has organised day of activity for all staff including: an Organic Food Exhibition in the Main Restaurant, the distribution of an information booklet on waste reduction for all participants, an organic lunch for all Participants prepared by the Executive Chef, games and contests on the theme of ecology for the employees’ children, an environmental session on the importance of water and energy conservation.
Cartagena Santa Clara (Columbia): The hotel will plant trees outside and inside the Hotel premises, and organize a press conference [with local media] about saving energy and recycling.
