Green Planet
With over two decades implementing wide-ranging green initiatives, Viva Resorts by Wyndham, announces it has achieved Wyndham Green program certification as part of its comprehensive plan to have its hotels operating at maximum efficiency while minimizing their environmental footprints. This achievement that reaffirms the company’s core values, is the latest development highlighting the hotel brand’s foundational and continued commitment to protecting the environment and the communities it operates in.
“Sustainability and giving back to the community has always been part of Viva’s DNA,” said Viva Resorts by Wyndham Corporate Director, Marketing and Public Relations, Erika Sordo. “We strongly believe in protecting the environment and especially our oceans. This latest achievement is one more step in underscoring our decades-long commitment to green and clean energy initiatives.”
The Wyndham Green Certification encompasses the implementation of a recycling program, towel and linen reuse, interior energy-efficient lighting, environmental guest communication, property education and utility tracking. Responsible tourism remains one of its guiding pillars including a focus on protecting the environment, as well as a commitment to fostering education and sports, promoting health and supporting local communities. These core areas express the brand’s continued efforts to protect the environment, remain responsive to social issues and improve the quality of life in its nearby communities and the world.
In 2003, Viva Resorts by Wyndham’s environmental and sustainability efforts were officially recognized by achieving Blue Flag Beach status at both Viva Dominicus Beach and Viva Dominicus Palace by Wyndham. However, green initiatives have been part of Viva’s core values since its inception. The Foundation for Environmental Education provides Blue Flag certification to beaches that have met the organization’s significant environmental management standards for water quality, safety and public environmental education. The pristine, crystal clear waters and beaches and vibrant communities at Viva Dominicus Beach and Viva Dominicus Palace are testaments to that distinction.
Another example of this longstanding commitment is the Travelife Sustainability in Tourism certification achieved by six of its hotels, including Viva Maya and Azteca by Wyndham in Playacar, Riviera Maya, Mexico. Achieved by independent audit, this status is attained by demonstrating actions minimizing environmental impacts; improving the economic and social impacts for people in their community; respecting and protecting human rights and fair labor practices; and for safeguarding animal welfare and biodiversity.
“When it comes to our promise of protecting the environment and the communities we engage with, we count on the tremendous efforts of our staff, who tirelessly encourage, educate and motivate the Viva team to do their part,” said Sordo. “We also remain wholeheartedly grateful to our guests who have for years participated in the initiatives, expressing their satisfaction with them, and whose hopes for the environment and our communities are in perfect alignment with our own.”
Viva Resorts by Wyndham also pioneered many green hospitality sector efforts in the Dominican Republic. They include installing photovoltaic plants at Viva V Samaná by Wyndham, thereby generating over 68% of its property’s energy, reaching record production of clean energy and notably reducing the emission of carbon dioxide. These efforts have extended to other resorts within the company’s portfolio in the Dominican Republic, which is now surpassing two million kilowatts of solar energy production.
Related: From Empties to Art: Sustainability in Action At Pueblo Bonito Resorts
Indiana University has collaborated with Viva Dominicus Beach and Palace by Wyndham in Bayahibe, La Romana, Dominican Republic, for over twenty years in efforts to protect the 1724 Guadalupe Underwater Archaeological Preserve (GUAP) and the associated marine environment. Established in 2004 as a marine protected area and inaugurated as a Living Museum in the Sea in 2011, the GUAP is the most frequently visited and popular dive site in the entire Dominican Republic. Snorkelers and scuba divers can visit the preserve and see the diverse marine life surrounding the cannons and anchor, a truly unique experience.
Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham, Viva Resorts Diving and the Reef Rescue Network Institute based in Nassau, have launched Viva Coral Nursery, a coral reef protection project, located on Grand Bahama Island. To help counteract the degradation that many reefs around the globe undergo due to climate change and human actions, Viva Resorts Diving has created a “coral forest” at Arrow Point, 10 minutes by boat from the resort.
In addition to wide-ranging green initiatives, Viva Resorts by Wyndham’s responsibility platform includes social and educational efforts. For example, Viva Resorts by Wyndham was the first hotel chain in the Dominican Republic to partner with UNICEF launching in July 2011 the “Huésped de Corazón” program to improve the quality of life of children in the country and expanding the all-inclusive resort company’s Social Responsibility Platform.
“UNICEF is an incredible organization with a powerful mission and we are honored to partner with this nonprofit,” said Rafael Blanco Canto, executive vice president for Viva Resorts by Wyndham. “This alliance further exemplifies our commitment to social issues.”
Viva Resorts by Wyndham also fosters the Fundación Viva de Colores, a school for boys and girls between the ages of four and 10, founded in 2014 in the Villa Hermosa municipality, in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Since its inception, the Foundation has received more than 500 students, facilitating primary education up to the fourth grade.
“By educating our staff and guests through all of these actions, Viva Resorts by Wyndham contributes to empowering both groups to become advocates and disseminators of green and social messaging,” added Sordo.
Martin Diaz is the public relations manager with Roar Media. He can be reached at (305) 239-8970, mdiaz@roarmedia.com, www.roarmedia.com
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