SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPALS EARN PARK HYATT NOMINATION FOR MALDIVES' LEADING RESORT IN THE 2021 WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa today announced the resort’s nomination for the Maldives’ Leading Resort category in the 2021 World Travel Awards. The nomination is rich reward for the sustainability principals that have guided throughout the design, construction and operational stages of the resort, which was the first luxury resort in the Maldives to commit to the EarthCheck principles. This commitment allowed the resort to achieve the prestigious EarthCheck “Building, Planning and Design Standard” certified status in August 2008 and by continuously striving to improve its sustainability efforts over the years it was subsequently awarded Silver then Gold Certification by EarthCheck.

In 2017, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa was audited by Green Globe and was also certified Gold for sustainability practices. To ensure the continuous monitoring of sustainability practices within the resort, Ruben Fernandes Penha Fortuna, the Resident Marine Biologist at Park Hyatt Maldives was appointed as the Green Globe Coordinator, who is responsible for identifying environmental risks, recording and monitoring the resort’s performance through benchmarking, such as house reef cleaning and predator controlling, exercise single-use plastic auditing whilst driving the environmental and sustainable development undertaken by the resort.

Environmental challenges cannot be solved alone, so the resort has established an in-house Hyatt Thrive Team to work together towards contributing meaningful solutions. The Hyatt Thrive Team actively educate and exercise best practices to promote green campaigns to their colleagues, so that sustainability becomes an integral part of daily life for all colleagues as well as guests on the island. Plastic Audit and Waste Management are the top priority for the team this year, with the goal to reduce at least 90% of single-used plastic and decrease the waste going to the landfill. To maximize the green effort, the resort is planning to equip each room at the staff accommodation with recycling bags to adapt the recycling exercise and waste separation.

Park Hyatt Maldives commitment to sustainability shines bright in the resort’s array of curated guest experiences, which are some of the very best things to do in the Maldives for exploring the remote natural environment. All excursions are conducted without any plastic bottles or disposals and bento boxes are used to transport the food and glass bottles for the water. Local fishing excursions practice traditional Maldivian hand line, hook, sinker and bait fishing techniques and those fish that do not meet the minimum length or are a protected species are released. Guests are only permitted to keep one catch per villa and the rest will be released.

To be actively involved in conserving the natural environment of Hadahaa private island, coral reef monitoring following the Australian program ‘Coral Watch’ is conducted on a monthly basis at the resort’s pristine house reef, encircling the island’s powder-white sand shores. The program evaluates the reef’s condition and recovery, especially after bleaching events, in addition to monitoring the water temperature, which is obtained from four permanent loggers provided by IUCN located around the island at different depths. The removal of threatening species from the coral reef, such as the Crown of Thorns sea star and the Drupella sea snail, is conducted on a weekly basis.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa is also involved in the ‘Reef & Me’ project, which provides awareness and education to the local school children about the coral reef ecosystems. The resort’s knowledgeable staff organize talks on reef sustainability with schools at two neighboring islands and ‘Go Deeper’ talks for guests at the resort are conducted by the Marine Biologist twice a week to impart knowledge about the environment and fauna of the resort. Conscientious guests can rest assured that their holiday to the island has a low impact to the surrounding environment.

Located in Huvadhoo Atoll, one of the largest and most natural atolls in the world, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa may be challenging to reach, however, guests reap the rewards of the resort’s remote location. Within close proximity to the equator, guests can experience a simpler way of life, before mass tourism overtook the northern atolls of the Maldives. There is no hustle and bustle here. Instead, guests are treated to endless ocean views, breathtaking landscapes, unmatched sunsets and the soft sounds of the tropical breeze for a complete escape from the complexities and tensions of the modern world.

To Vote for Park Hyatt Maldives as the Maldives’ Leading Resort 2021: go to: https://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote. Voting ends August 9, 2021.

To explore more about Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa experiences, visit www.experienceparkhyattmaldives.com and learn about house reef exploration, uninhabited island visits or journeys to the Equator.