As the world prepares for Earth Hour, Travel Daily Asia looks at the activities hotels in the Asia Pacific region are planning for this year’s big switch-off…
The newly opened Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan Park is turning off its exterior lights and offering special incentives to encourage guest involvement. Additionally, the 21 on Rajah restaurant will be offering a special Earth Hour menu of food and drinks created with natural ingredients.
In Phuket, Banyan Tree will be mark the energy-saving event with a special dinner. The Angsana Laguna Phuket resort will be holding a special ‘Dinner in the Dark’ evening at its Xana with Attica beach club. In addition, all resort staff will be wearing Earth Hour t-shirts.
Meanwhile in Bangkok, the Banyan Tree Bangkok will also participate in the activities. Both in-house and outside guests will be invited to the 52nd floor Latitude Lounge & Bar to witness lights being switched off across the Bangkok skyline, at the same time as enjoying a drink.
The five Marriott hotels in Hong Kong will jointly participate in Earth Hour this year, turning off non-essential lighting, stopping some escalators and offering free Wi-Fi to guests making WWF donations. At bars and restaurants there will be special offers and music will be ‘unplugged’.
In the Philippine capital, Dusit Thani Manila will also be getting into the spirit of the occasion, as the choir of the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSN) serenades guests in the lobby. The first 150 in-house and dining guests will also receive seedlings as special tokens.
New World Hospitality will support Earth Hour by switching off exterior lights, while café guests will enjoy a candlelit dinner. Other hotel-specific functions will be arranged, including a special ‘green’ menu at New World Dalian and a special cocktail reception at New World Wuhan.
Guests at the Orchard Hotel Singapore are being challenged to turn off their lights and air-con this Earth Hour. In addition, the hotel will be offering SG$0.83 (US$0.67) food and beverage promotions from 8.30pm onwards.
“From a small hotel in the Cook Islands to the whole Vegas Strip, local businesses, governments, and the local community are part of Earth Hour. We challenge every participant of Earth Hour to go beyond the hour. We’ve shown our collective concern for the future of the planet through lights off, now it’s time to take it further. The need has never been greater,” said Andy Ridley, CEO & co-founder of Earth Hour.
Literally thousands of hotels and companies are participating in Earth Hour, so we apologise if we couldn’t include your activities. But every action taken to raise awareness and reduce our industry’s carbon footprint is worthwhile, so please keep up the good work!
This year’s Earth Hour starts at 8.30pm on Saturday 23 March
