Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas Receives Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award for Refusing to Keep Quiet or Sit Still About Sustainability
Travel + Leisure’s Global Vision Awards spotlight 30 individuals, companies and organizations making meaningful strides in responsible travel and sustainable living. In addition to thought leadership, these changemakers are also proactively protecting communities and environments and inspiring their industry colleagues and travelers to do their part.
To arrive at this year’s list of honorees, an esteemed panel of experts across the travel, hospitality, and sustainability industries submitted nominations, which were then narrowed to a select list of finalists vetted by Travel + Leisure editors.
Six Senses has been honored as a group for its dedication to sustainability, conservation, and ethical environmental practices.
“We’re excited to be included in this distinguished group of changemakers,” said Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses. “I’m one of those people who believe the events of the past year have made us more thoughtful about what we are doing and why, and how we impact our physical world and those around us. I am fortunate to have found a professional path that is meaningful personally, and a company that is proactive and engaged in sustainability as an integral part of its DNA. I work with an extraordinary leadership team of experts who are passionate about what they do and who feel exactly the same way.”
Celebrating the community and environmental ethos that shines through each location
Joining Neil in the leadership team is Vice President of Sustainability Jeff Smith, who oversees each property’s sustainability, environmental and social impacts.
“We want to go beyond protection and act as a regenerative business, adding value to local stakeholders and giving back more than we take,” says Jeff. “I’m happy to report that despite the pandemic, our sustainability initiatives are all on track, including Zero Waste, Plastic Free 2022, Earth Lab, Supplier Engagement, and localized projects supporting healthy ecosystems and communities.”
The brand’s small-scale developments also involve investing funds outside the hotel that support local communities and employing and sourcing locally.
“Funding the training and development for local farmers on regenerative agriculture, incubating those small businesses and buying back their produce, cooking that food in a plastic-free kitchen, and then any food waste going back to livestock or compost – this is the perfect circle,” adds Six Senses Corporate Food & Beverage Director Jonathan Heath. “As a group and through the Eat With Six Senses platform, we will keep tightening this circle.”
Guests’ perspectives are shifting
The brand’s Wellness Pioneer Anna Bjurstam views sustainability and wellness as two sides of the same coin: “Even though our experiences are individual, what we all know is that wellness, connection, nature, sustainability, quality of life, love and collective consciousness have suddenly become more and more important. Now is the time for us to stay honest and engaged.”
Earth Lab Live
At Six Senses, the passion for sustainability is group wide, and the work happening on and off site at each property is communicated at the Earth Lab, from marine conservation to forestry or farming initiatives, harnessing renewable energy from solar or biomass, and bottling drinking water. Guests are offered free workshops to learn about this work and small tips to live more sustainably. The Earth Lab also communicates consumption data including water, energy and waste, and what the hotel is doing to manage those.
To celebrate these initiatives and educate audiences about the impacts in the lead up to Earth Day on April 22, Earth Lab Live will launch on April 1 and run daily until the big day. Everyone is invited to catch up with daily news direct from properties on langurs, soil conservation, marine initiatives and more via the Six Senses corporate Facebook and Instagram channels.
About the Travel + Leisure Global Vision Awards 2021
The Travel + Leisure Global Vision Awards 2021 are featured in the April issue of Travel + Leisure and at www.travelandleisure.com/global-vision-awards/.
