Royal Resorts® is pleased to announce that The Royal Haciendas®, its Riviera Maya resort, The Royal Cancun® and The Royal Sands® have been awarded the Rainforest Alliance Verified™ mark in recognition of their compliance with the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainability standards and their commitment to a role of environmental stewardship.
Active in more than 70 countries around the globe, the Rainforest Alliance seeks to conserve biodiversity, prevent deforestation, curb climate change and alleviate poverty. For the past 25 years, it has championed the cause of sustainability by transforming land use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It collaborates with farmers, forestry businesses, large multinational companies, community-based cooperatives, and with the tourism industry. It envisages a world where people and the environment prosper together. The Rainforest Alliance’s green frog emblem is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of environmental, economic and social sustainability.
The Rainforest Alliance’s definition of “sustainable tourism” encompasses a wide range of issues, including economic viability, respect for cultures and environmental conservation. The organization works with businesses of all types and sizes to reduce the travel industry’s negative impacts on the environment and local communities.
The Rainforest Alliance provides tourism entrepreneurs and community-based businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean with the tools and training they need to become more environmentally and socially responsible, to compete in the marketplace and to contribute to the conservation of the local cultures and nature.
The Rainforest Alliance Verified™ mark is awarded to tourism businesses that comply with a minimum percentage of the Rainforest Alliance’s verification criteria, which is accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Businesses that earn the verification mark are deemed to support a healthy environment and the conservation of local communities and cultures.
The Royal Haciendas, The Royal Cancun and The Royal Sands, in keeping with parent company Royal Resorts, are constantly looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact by implementing green initiatives, making more efficient use of natural resources, recycling and raising awareness among employees and guests about the need for conservation and embracing sustainability in their lives.
All three resorts have implemented a variety of green measures including recycling, saving water, energy-efficient lighting, the substitution of chemical products and plastic and polystyrene packaging with environmentally friendly alternatives, beach cleaning, composting and
planting native species of trees and shrubs. The Royal Sands even has rooftop solar panels that supply 50 percent of the hot water needed by guests.
As part of the Royal Resorts group, The Royal Haciendas, The Royal Cancun and The Royal Sands are tireless supporters of conservation causes in the Mexican Caribbean, including campaigns to protect the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, the Mayan Jungle, the area’s underground rivers, the Mesoamerican Reef and endangered species such as the sea turtle and the jaguar.
The Rainforest Alliance Verified mark™ also takes into account good business practices that promote efficiency and quality, sustainability and a company’s commitment to social responsibility.
One example of Royal Resorts’ social responsibility is its support for adult education in the workplace. It provides employees who were unable to complete high school with the opportunity to continue their studies at the resorts. Its open learning program has received accolades at state and national level. All employees are also encouraged to sign up for classes to improve their English and computer skills and to participate in workshops on a range of social issues such as environmental protection, good citizenship and community work, health and addictions.
Royal Resorts, The Royal Haciendas,The Royal Cancun and The Royal Sands purchase locally whenever possible to boost the regional economy and provide employment. They also support sustainable development projects in Mayan communities in central Quintana Roo.
A Cancun pioneer, Royal Resorts has been helping those in need for over 35 years by supporting a range of causes such as the Cancun General Hospital, orphanages, shelters for the victims of domestic violence, charities for physically and mentally challenged children, cancer relief and conservation. Since its inception in 2006, the Royal Resorts Foundation (Fundación Royal Resorts A.C.) has given continuity to this philanthropic work with regular donations to the Red Cross, the Cancun-based conservation NGO Amigos de Sian Ka’an A.C., Grupo Desafio A.C. Cancer Relief and the Ciudad de la Alegría A.C. (City of Joy), a community center on the outskirts of Cancun comprising a hospice, old folks home, school, orphanage, a women’s refuge and food distribution center.
The Royal Resorts Foundation selected several key issues to be the beneficiaries of its fundraising initiatives in 2012; they include education for underprivileged children, the fight against cancer, conservation of the Mayan Jungle and an employee relief fund for employees in terms of grave illness.
Read more about the causes supported by Royal Resorts and the Royal Resorts Foundation on www.royalresortsfoundation.org
About the Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers. From large multinational corporations to small, community-based cooperatives, businesses and consumers worldwide are involved in the Rainforest Alliance’s efforts to bring responsibly produced goods and services to a global marketplace where the demand for sustainability is growing steadily. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org.
