Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has shared highlights from its 2016 Responsible Business Action Month activities around the world. For past 13 years, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s hotels, corporate and regional offices, and other business units around the world have organized responsible business awareness activities during the month of September and raise funds for the local communities. This year, the group hosted over 1,000 activities, devoted more than 50,000 volunteer hours, and raised a total of USD 460,000 and in-kind donations of USD 700,000 for World Childhood Foundation and other local charities.
“Each September, our corporate offices and hotels aim to make a positive impact on local communities where we operate,” said Inge Huijbrechts, vice president, Responsible Business, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. “Our employees deliver genuine hospitality to our guests around the world, around the clock, throughout the year. In the month of September, we focus on showing that same passion for the more than 1,000 communities and neighborhoods where our hotels are located. Each of our brands roll out programs that create unique moments that matter to their communities, not only during Responsible Business Action Month, but throughout the year.”
2016 Responsible Business activities organized by Carlson Rezidor included:
- Radisson Blu® hotels supported its Blu Planet program by volunteering to clean-up rivers and beaches, and other initiatives related to water scarcity. Radisson Blu also partnered with Diversey Sealed Air to create the Soap for Hope™ program, which recycles used hotel soaps into fresh bars for distribution in local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. As part of the launch, 44 hotels across Africa, the Middle-East and Asia Pacific collected, reprocessed and distributed used soap bars. These hotels and their local partners will distribute an estimated 66 tons of soap per year to provide soap for 45,000 people.
- For Radisson®, caring is part of the brand’s DNA. Radisson hotels care for and give back to communities by supporting the fight against hunger. Hotels served meals to people in need, and held food drives and fundraisers for their local foodbanks.
- Radisson RED, the group’s new lifestyle select brand centred around art, music and fashion, connected fashion with responsible consumption. Radisson RED Brussels held a fashionable Swishing (or fashion swapping) event, bringing the sharing economy to life.
- Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts across Europe have been busy preparing land where 40 trees will be planted for its “Save Tomorrow’s Trees Today” campaign, designed to support the sustainability and growth of trees. The trees will restore an area of native woodland in Nottingham’s Idle Valley Nature Reserve and represent the 40 Park Plaza hotels across the globe. Other initiatives raised funds for World Childhood Foundation.
- Park Inn® by Radisson built on its successful “Adding Color to Lives” campaign with activities dedicated to helping at-risk youth. The brand partnered for a second time with world famous street artist Joel Bergner (www.joelartista.com) who worked together with young people in difficult life situations, allowing them to express themselves through art. Guided by Joel, Park Inn by Radisson employees and local youth designed and painted murals in Tallinn, Estonia; Oslo, Norway; Krakow, Poland and Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM hotels in the U.S. organized 62book drives and collected 5,000 books for children in need in partnership with Read Indeed, a Minnesota-based literacy organization founded in 2008 by then 8-year-old, Maria Keller. In India, Country Inns & Suites hotels worked with their local communities on literacy activities -like collecting books and reading to children or the elderly.
Responsible Business Action Month is a core pillar of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s overarching Responsible Business program which guides how the company interacts with its stakeholders, including employees, customers, partners, suppliers, the environment, governments, and the communities in which it operates. Employees are encouraged to promote Responsible Business every day – in their homes, in our hotels and in their local communities. All these personal and community actions combine to create a ripple effect of positive impact on the planet. For more details about the company’s Responsible Business strategy, please visit http://carlsonrezidor.com/responsible-business and www.responsiblebusiness.rezidor.com
