With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaching on April 22nd, we’ll be spotlighting some hotels and businesses who are the sustainability champions the world needs right now.

First up, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, who recently released its ‘Beyond Horizons’ video to spotlight the incredible ‘green’ work the group is doing. Responding to an increased awareness among traveller of the impact mass tourism is having on the planet, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas’ environmental programs are woven into each property’s operations, with their green initiatives designed to encourage sustainable travel through meaningful community involvement.

For example, having launched its Holistic Approach to Reef Protection Programme in 2015 in the Maldives, in a bid to reverse coral bleaching in the region, a recent 2019 field study by a marine biologist revealed that rehabilitation efforts have encouraged extraordinary growth across all the nurseries, which gives great hope for the future of the Maldivian underwater world.

With a mission to use less plastic and waste less water, the reverse osmosis plant at Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort produces 2,000 liters of clean water a day which is bottled for drinking, whilst its degradable waste is composted and used to fertilize a vegetable garden and rice paddy. Waste not, want not.

The Anantara Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation was set up in 2006 to improve the plight of Thailand’s elephants, and whilst it has diversified to include welfare projects and broader philanthropic objectives since its inception, it has rescued over 30 elephants from Thailand’s city streets.

And in support of smallholder farmers, the team at The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Zambia works hard to ensure they get a share of the tourism economy by buying all the crops directly from the smallholders and forgoing the middle man. The hotel also supports Maramba Women’s Mushroom Farm, and trains the 3,000-plus works at Nsongwe Women’s Farm in sustainable agriculture techniques. 

To find out more about Anantara's green initiatives, watch the video below, or more information on Earth Day 2020, click here: www.earthday.org