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Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa relaunches Sustainable Day |07 July 2021

Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa relaunches Sustainable Day

The ceremony yesterday to relaunch Sustainable Day by Hilton Northolme Resort & Spa (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa has relaunched its Sustainable Day.

This was in a ceremony yesterday graced by the presence of the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert; the principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis; the principal secretary for Agriculture, Denis Matatiken; the chief executive of the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, David Rowatt; and the general manager of the Hotel, Daniele Fabbri.

Sustainable Day is an initiative from Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa to involve guests into sustainability activities, create awareness and act as a call to action.

The hotel chose every Tuesday of each month to have their sustainable day.

This day was introduced in 2019 but could not continue due the ongoing pandemic.

Mr Fabbri said that we have to start our activities again. “We strive to protect the environment through strong commitments and practices. Sustainability being a key aspect of our culture, we make a point of working with local communities and engage all stakeholders to adopt necessary behavioural changes. Our location in one of the most peaceful and biodiverse places in the world, making it both a necessity and a responsibility to preserve the environment. There is a small step for everyone to take to reduce our carbon footprint and together, we must PROTECT-RESTORE-CYCLE.”

Ten activities are proposed to the guests. Duncan Bond, the operations manager, gave a brief description of the activities.

  1. Hotel & In Villa: EarthHour. The guests will be asked to switch off electricity and water for one hour between 7-8pm. They have to place door hangers in Sustainability Kits and guests that would like to opt in for Earth Hour hang it outside of their main door. During Hotel Earth Hour, the hotel will lighten up the resort with candles. The impact of such an event will be 466 KhW energy saved in an hour – enough to wash linens and power the kitchen for a day.
  2. Shower with sand timer: The impact will be if the guests cut their shower time to 5 minutes for 30 days the hotel saves 42kg of carbon dioxide and 1704 litres of water.
  3. Homemade souvenirs recycled, reusable bags: Discarded linen gets transformed into reusable recycled bags after going through sanitisation process. Sustainable Day newsletter and door hangers are placed in the bag and delivered to the guests. The impact Reduce and Reuse concept amplification through guest engagement
  4. Join the Clean Up Beau Vallon beach: Scheduled shuttle takes the guests down to Beau Vallon beach for two hours to join Hilton Northolme team for a clean-up. The impact - guests get to see the impact we have on our beaches and ocean first hand.
  5. Fresh & locally sourced sustainable menu. Guests are encouraged to opt for sustainable menu, a 100% locally sourced, sustainably prepared menu. The impact – Introduction of Creole delicacies to guests while creating a storytelling opportunity.
  6. Sustainability newspaper. A Sustainable Day issue of resort newsletter gets published on each sustainable day and placed in recycled bags. The impact – guests are informed of sustainability activities at Hilton Northolme such as coral nursery and organic garden, as well as Travel with Purpose commitments of Hilton.
  7. Snorkelling tour to coral nursery. Guests are invited to join Marine & Conservation Society experts to see our coral nursery and artificial reef and learn more about the coral reef restoration programme. The impact – guests are informed further on marine conservation efforts and get to see the coral nursery and adopt a coral.
  8. Skip the gym .. It's Sega Time! Save on energy and learn the culture! Guests are invited to learn Sega by a local dancer instead of going to the gym. The impact: Guests are given a chance to see and learn the local dances of Seychelles from a local dancer, as well as saving energy by skipping the gym.
  9. Sustainability presentation: Guests are invited to join the Sustainability Presentation, which includes destination, hotel and NGO efforts to preserve beautiful Seychelles. The impact: Destination image of Sustainability is amplified, and guests are encouraged to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle.
  10. In their rooms – Sustainability video on Channel 1: Channel 1 of the guest TVs are updated with Sustainability Video that showcases Seychelles and Hilton Northolme. The impact: Guests can continue the educational journey in the comfort of their villa.

Mr Bond also noted that before the guests arrive at their hotel, they are aware of the programmes through daily posts, stories and videos on Instagram, Facebook and Linked-In.

In-house, a Sustainable Day desk is set up at breakfast restaurant Mahé on every Sustainable Day with recycled bags and informative collateral. Team creates an interactive environment.

Mr Joubert and Mrs Francis congratulated and praised the hotel for such an initiative and for always being in the forefront in the environment cause.

Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa is a Green Globe certified and also a Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label Holder.

 

Vidya Gappy

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