It’s Gold for Alila Manggis in the 2007 Tri Hita Karana Tourism Awards
20 December 2007 – Bali – After achieving Bronze in 2004 and Silver in 2005, Alila Manggis has been rewarded for its ongoing commitment to responsible tourism with the Gold medal in Bali’s Tri Hita Karana Tourism Awards this year.
The awards were created to give recognition to tourism enterprises that accomplish excellence in being environmentally friendly, socially acceptable and most importantly, supporting practices based on the spiritual life of the locals. This prestigious award recognises Alila Manggis’ consistent efforts to maintain the balance prescribed by Bali’s ancient concept of Tri Hita Karana – a balanced relationship between man and God, man and fellow man, and between man and the environment. Today, the Tri Hita Karana Tourism Awards are internationally recognised by the World Tourism Organisation as a leader in environmentally friendly tourism standards.
Responsible tourism at Alila is all-encompassing, and Alila Manggis’ gold achievement reflects best practice results in a number of areas. One of the most notable efforts is the hotel’s organic garden, which represents environmental as well as social sustainability. The organic garden is not only a relaxing setting for the guests to enjoy but also serves as a learning centre for the community. Together with a local NGO, International Development of Education and Permaculture (www.idepfoundation.org), Alila Manggis shares knowledge of organic farming with its local East Bali communities and farmers. Furthermore, the garden allows the resort to actively participate in and contribute to the local traditional irrigation organisation known as subak.
Earlier this year, in order to preserve Bali’s rare plantations, the team at Alila Manggis also started planting a number of ceremonial trees around the hotel grounds. This programme aims to educate and introduce the staff and guests to the plantations that are native to the island. Besides maintaining the natural landscape, the trees will some day generate an economic value from their use.
Over the years, Alila Manggis has been consistent in its reduction of water and electricity consumption as well as community contribution by employing 85% of its staff from within 20km of the resort and in its extensive training of all employees. Other environmental goals include reducing its paper consumption by 50% in 2007 and gradually changing all of its paper usage to 100% recycled paper. The hotel also encourages its travel partners to switch from fax to electronic mail to reduce paper consumption.
General Manager Jork Bosselaar said, “We are very thrilled to receive this special award because it conveys Bali’s own approach to sustainable tourism. This achievement is a wonderful reward for the effort and dedication of the Green Team at Alila Manggis who have strived for spiritual harmony with the community, the staff and the village. “
For Alila Manggis, this gold award is its third ‘green’ achievement during 2007. In April, together with its sister hotel, Alila Ubud, it accomplished the prestigious Green Globe Certified status under the global certification programme (www.greenglobe.org). And in August, Alila Manggis was named among the top ten eco-friendly hotels in Asia in a list compiled by Agoda.com, an independent online travel company that serves a worldwide audience.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/
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