Hospitality Brands Prioritising CSR During COVID-19 Downtime

With the number of guests greatly reduced over the last few months, some hotels are using this downtime to give back to their local communities. As the world tentatively moves towards reopening, now more than ever, travellers hope to spend their hard-earned money on brands that are finding ways to support their local communities, as well as their own guests and colleagues. Here are some of the amazing activities that are happening.

Capella Ubud, Bali:
Capella Ubud has launched a Solitude in Nature experience, designed to encourage mental and spiritual wellbeing, whilst being in tune with nature in their lush rainforest. Every tent at the Bill Bensley-designed property boasts its own salt water pool, and the new stay experience includes a picturesque floating breakfast plus an in-tent dining experience. Guests will also benefit from a private yoga session alongside a Spiritual Purification Ritual at the Wos River Temple, which aims to cleanse the body and mind, refresh the spirit plus dissolve negativity.

5% of all proceeds from the Solitude in Nature experience will be donated to local families in the Keliki village who have been impacted by COVID-19. The Capella Ubud team will work closely with the Village Chief to determine which families are in need of assistance, and will use the funds to purchase basic food necessities.

The Upper House, Hong Kong:
Café Gray Deluxe is working with Foodlink Foundation to help disadvantaged communities affected by COVID-19.

Foodlink is a charity dedicated to connecting supply directly to demand, by collecting safe-to-eat surplus food from hotels and F&B outlets all over the city, and deliver the edibles to communities in need. The beneﬁts are twofold — while reducing hunger, they also reduce the pressure on the city’s landﬁlls.

Guests who order from the CGD online delivery menu can add a minimum HK$50 to their order to buy a Food Bag. Each bag contains rice, noodles, oats, canned food and soup, cereal bars along with hand sanitiser. Well-wishers can also donate canned food items, which the CGD team will collect when the orders are ready for delivery.

The Upper House also collaborates with Soap Cycling to collect lightly used bathroom amenities for redistribution to those in need whilst minimising landfill waste. For every room booking during COVID-19, The Upper House also donates HK$60 to Soap Cycling to facilitate the distribution of hygiene kits to frontline cleaners and communities. https://www.soapcycling.org/

Capella Shanghai:
In Shanghai, many nurses chose to postpone their wedding to work on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.

To show their gratitude, Capella Shanghai will be celebrating these individuals who have contributed so much to society with a complimentary one-night stay in the spacious Shikumen Villa. The hotel has partnered with luxury bridal salon, Nora Reve Bridal, and each bride will also receive three complimentary wedding gowns for her big day. Nora Bridal offers the finest designer wedding gowns from top international designers such as Viktor & Rolf, Caroline Herrera and Vera Wang.

Additionally, the Capella Shanghai team will give face masks to children of a local kindergarten upon their return to school, as well as donating vouchers for homemade Barba Papa and ice cream to celebrate Children’s Day.

Singita:
Sadly, the temporary halt in tourism has caused a devastating ripple effect on conservation efforts across Africa, thus Singita’s conservation teams and partners are ensuring their ongoing conservation and community programmes continue to thrive, making certain that areas, animals and surrounding communities are happy and safe.

Singita’s conservation efforts are largely dependent on their guests’ donations and so in the meantime, the public can become a part of preserving Africa’s legacy for future generations by:

Supporting the anti-poaching canine unit at Sabi Sand: Singita partners with the Lowveld Trust, expert handlers, and a highly trained group of dogs which are able to pursue intruders or sniff out rhino horn and ammunition from vehicles and bags. Anti-poaching and law enforcement operations are critical in fighting against illegal poaching throughout the reserve and Singita are inviting guests to book a future canine-unit guest experience at Sabi Sand.

Rhino Translocation Fundraiser: Singita is the illustrious custodian of 350,000 acres of the western Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania, Africa. Working together with the non-profit group Grumeti Fund, they have translocated and reintroduced several endangered, and locally extinct wildlife species to both Grumeti and the wider Serengeti ecosystem. The Grumeti Black Rhino project is set to be a flagship conservation initiative in the region to accelerate the breeding and expansion programme, and to contribute to rhino conservation in the area.

Last year, nine critically endangered black rhinos were relocated from South Africa to Singita Grumeti; and Singita is now helping to raise USD $500,000 (SGD $710,650) to support the next translocation of five eastern black rhinos to the Western Serengeti – every penny raised will go towards the planning, infrastructure, security and technology required to ensure the successful relocation of critically endangered black rhinos to this area.

The Opposite House (TOH), Beijing:
TOH has been doing a series of WeChat posts titled ‘Top Sanlitun Picks’ to support and introduce various independent businesses in the Sanlitun area during the COVID-19 period.

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