Cinnamon Resorts in the Maldives bag ‘Travelife Gold; award

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is celebrating the win of ‘Travelife Gold’ by all three of its resort properties in the Maldives, namely Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo, Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa and, Chaaya Island Dhonveli. The ‘Travelife Gold’ award is the most prestigious among the Travelife awards and this achievement is indeed a key milestone for the

entire Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts chain. The audits were conducted on 22 and 31 October and 1 November at the resorts as part of the 15 resort audits carried out in the Maldives. Sustainable tourism Winning this certification puts the resorts on a higher platform, as those that practice sustainable tourism to deliver more sustainable outcomes, including preserving the natural environment and contributing to local economies. Upon an independent audit of sustainability performance, Travelife awards hotels with either a bronze, silver or gold certification. The three Cinnamon properties in the Maldives were assessed on waste and energy management, employee engagement, local procurement and other criteria together with other Hotels subscribed to Travelife – enabling them to check their performance and gain advice on areas for improvement. Good corporate citizen “Contributing to the environment and being a good corporate citizen are just some of the traits that our properties in the Maldives have exhibited, apart from their superior hospitality and excellent accommodation. We are delighted that we have won this award as it is proof that all our sustainable practices and activities have been successful and it clearly depicts our involvement in sustainable

tourism as per the ever demanding expectations of our customers,” said Jayantissa Kehelpannala, Sector Head Maldives Resorts and Executive Vice President of John Keells Group. Winning a gold as a result of best practice in these areas was an absolute pride for the three hotels as they portrayed themselves as being in line with one of the five pledges of the Leisure sector of the John Keells Group: “I will be green”. Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo also became the first resort in the Maldives to receive a Gold Award from Travelife for its efforts in sustainability, in February 2012. Industry-led sustainability scheme Travelife is an industry-led sustainability scheme, which works in partnership with European trade associations and tour operators to create real awareness within the travel industry. It is a subsidiary of ABTA, the leading UK travel trade association, which represents 950 travel agents and 750 tour operators throughout the British Isles. Travelife is recognised in line with the robust requirements of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, assuring that Travelife-awarded hotels are working to deliver more sustainable outcomes. Travelife now has more than 1000 subscribed resorts, and it will become a mandatory certification by many leading travel agents in time to come.