The medical students mantra 'do no harm' is increasingly becoming decisive for tourists' choices.
If you're looking for an eco-friendly alternative to a luxury vacation, check out the adults-only El Dorado Maroma resort in Mexico's Riviera Maya, which has one of the world's longest artificial reefs at 1.9km-long to future-proof the coast against erosion and provide a habitat for thousands of species. The five-star property, which has Green Globe Certification, also grows its own vegetables and herbs in a hydroponic greenhouse, the rooms have energy-saving air conditioners, there are systems for solar-powered heating and water recycling and it runs a sea turtle conservation programme.
Meanwhile, Mauritius-based Lux* Resorts & Hotels has recently announced several sustainable initiatives for its Maldives properties, including utilising the latest technology for solar energy; a week-long festival celebrating marine conservation, underwater photography and scuba diving in September; the introduction of electric bikes; the establishment of an orchid nursery and wellbeing workshops and, our favourite, the creation of fish houses made out of recycled bathtubs to attract fish to the reefs.
Getting hands on
New Zealand's Scenic Hotel Group is saving the partially used or unopened hotel soap from its many properties around the country and donating it to global communities in need. Each hotel in the nationwide group works with transport partners to send the soaps to Melbourne's non-profit Soap Aid organisation, which repurposes them into new 100g bars as part of its "hotels to hands" programme. With the aim of eliminating or at least reducing infectious diseases through improved hygiene, Soap Aid has sent more than 830,000 bars of soap to communities all over the world, from Western Australia and Fiji to Somalia and Zambia. Soap sent on from the Scenic Hotel Group's Dunedin hotels recently found its way into the hands, literally, of those in need in Ghana.
