Caption:Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort marine manager Mereoni Mataika receives the Sustainability award. PHOTO: MARGARET NAQIRI
Coral Coast, Fiji, 25 February 2013 – Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa were announced winners of the Sustainability Award at the prestigious 17th annual AON Excellence in Tourism Awards in Fiji.
Following a rigorous pre-selection process the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa was shortlisted before the announcement over the weekend. The awards recognise industry members for their “outstanding performance” and who make “exceptional contributions” to the tourism industry in Fiji.
“We are very honoured to receive this prestigious award,” said resort General Manager, Michael Monks. “We are also proud to be recognised for our long term commitment to the environment and to our community and this is also a tribute to the work that has been carried out not only by the resort but our community partners at a local and global level. Most important of all is the sense of giving back to the community some of what we earn.
Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa Marine Manager, Ms Mereoni Mataika, on a mangrove rescue mission with Ethan Brown planting mangrove seedlings at the resorts nursery at Yanuca
Mr Monks said, “being advocates for the environment was raising awareness not only with guests, staff but also community partners. Our staff volunteer program has gone from strength to strength and last year our team fulfilled over 600 years of volunteer work in both our Embrace Care for People and our Sanctuary – Care for Reefs projects”.
“It is notable that, despite being allocated eight working hours a year to volunteer, our colleagues have gone beyond this and have even signed up on their days off from work. We have encouraged this community spirit through awareness to our staff on the importance of taking ownership of looking after their environment and creating a sustainable future for their children.”
The resort has been recognised over the years for its work in the area of conservation and in particular for its marine conservation work and the setting up of the Shangri-La Marine Education Centre and the launch of an Earth Day Thursday dedicated to marine conservation.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts remains committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. In striving to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, a corporate-level CSR Committee drives the company’s initiatives in the strategic areas of stakeholder relations, the environment, health and safety, the supply chain and employees. Under the umbrella of “sustainability,” Shangri-La’s social responsibility programme consists of the two elements of “embrace” and “sanctuary.” “Embrace” focuses on Shangri-La’s Caring People Project, which aims to promote the highest level of education and health support in underprivileged communities.
In “sanctuary,” the programme concentrates on Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project, which promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity.
For more information, please access the CSR section on www.shangri-la.com.
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