[dropcap]S[/dropcap]andals Resorts in Saint Lucia have been recognised as leaders in environmental performance, achieving Master and Platinum Certification levels. They are part of a powerful showing by all Sandals Resorts throughout the region, which continue to make their mark as leaders in environmental sustainability, with Sandals Resorts International (SRI) earning its place as the only hotel chain in the world to have six resorts currently holding Master Certification from EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism.
In addition to its six resorts holding Master Certification, the hotel chain boasts six resorts with Platinum Certification, three certified Gold and three holding Silver Certification.
Achieving EarthCheck Master Certification is confirmation that the resorts have consistently measured and benchmarked their annual environmental performance against their peers over a 15-year period and have had their systems and data independently examined and verified by a third party auditor. To achieve Platinum Certification, properties would have maintained this standard for 10 years.
Certified Resorts Sandals La Toc, Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Royal Plantation, Sandals Ochi Beach Resort, Sandals Negril and Beaches Negril currently hold Master Certification, with Sandals Negril in its eighteenth year of successful audits and Sandals Ochi Beach Resort in its sixteenth.
The resorts currently holding Platinum Certification are Sandals Halcyon, Sandals Grande St. Lucian, Sandals Royal Bahamian, Sandals Royal Caribbean, Beaches Ocho Rios, and Beaches Turks and Caicos. Sandals Halcyon and Sandals Royal Caribbean are both in their fourteenth year of audits.
Sandals Carlyle, Sandals Grande Antigua and Sandals South Coast currently boast Gold Certification.
Sandals Barbados and Sandals LaSource Grenada join Sandals Emerald Bay as the resorts currently holding Silver Certification.
Committed to Environmental Sustainability Sandals Resorts International has long held environmental sustainability as part of its core vision and mission, and has implemented numerous environmental programmes to better streamline and manage its operations. These include energy conservation initiatives and waste and water management programmes, all of which fall under the remit of the company’s Environment, Health and Safety Division. Each resort has a dedicated Environment, Health and Safety Manager charged with implementing and managing sustainable programmes and ensuring that the resort adheres to internationally-accepted operating standards.
EarthCheck’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Stewart Moore, lauded Sandals’ efforts and achievements, hailing the company as a standout sustainability hero in the Caribbean and Americas.
“Sandals has confirmed its position as a true worldwide leader in responsible tourism, and a genuine source of inspiration to the international tourism community,” Moore said. “The group and its passionate staff play an integral role in motivating their guests and community to make a difference, from embedding programmes into local schools to celebrating novel ways to reuse trash.”
Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Sandals Resorts International, Adam Stewart, expressed pride at the company’s latest achievements. “We take environmental preservation very seriously at Sandals and these certifications are testament to this. To be consistently audited and examined by an independent body and continuously
maintain and exceed standards is no easy feat but we are driven by our commitment to the environment and we
leave no stone unturned when it comes to implementing and maintaining sustainable programmes and practices.”
The company also invests millions in training programmes to ensure all team members are aware of the importance of environmental preservation and are fully versed in the role they play in achieving this.
—Sandals Resorts International
