Make Travel A Force For Good Just By Choosing Beyond Green Hotels
The Covid pandemic has opened many eyes to how travel and tourism can help or hurt local communities. As travel restarts, choosing a vacation at a Beyond Green luxury property will not only help the environment but provide social and economic benefits to the community you visit. Why not make your vacation a force for good?
Beyond Green, part of the Preferred Hotel Group network, is a new portfolio of more than two dozen luxurious hotels and resorts that aims to make sustainability, defined broadly, the new normal. It was launched on April 14, 2021 with a goal of encouraging travel with purpose and so that vacations can better contribute to making the word a better place for everyone. While ecological sustainability is certainly important, Beyond Green’s approach goes beyond environmentalism. All member properties are vetted on their commitment to protect natural and cultural heritage and to contribute to the economic and social well-being of local communities. They must adhere to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and are evaluated every two years on more than 50 sustainability indicators. Member properties must, for example, offer fair wages and benefits, have anti discrimination policies, and purchase from local sources as Beyond Green’s properties are on almost every continent.
In Central and South America, you’ll find them in Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama. In the U.S., you can visit Beyond Green members in California, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Europe has a Beyond Green hotel in Greece, one in Ireland, and one in Italy. Africa has the largest number of Beyond Green lodges-there’s one in each of Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, three in Botswana, two in Namibia, plus, brand new to Beyond Green, one in each of Madagascar and Zambia. There are also two Beyond Green properties in French Polynesia and one in Mongolia.
Unique Experiences and Locations
One of the most unique Beyond Green properties is Mongolia’s Three Camel Lodge. Every staff member-including top management-is Mongolian. The lodge is in the southern Gobi Desert near ancient petroglyphs and the buildings were designed and constructed according to Buddhist and Mongolian traditions. Your stay will be in a luxury-kitted classic ger (known as a yurt outside Mongolia). Inside the round dwelling it looks a little like you’re under a giant parasol and the structure allows you to star-gaze from bed.
Two of the newest members of the Beyond Green family are Miavana by Time + Tide in Madagascar’s Nosy Ankao archipelago and Time + Tide Chinzombo in Zambia. On a tropical Indian Ocean island is Miavana by Time + Tide where you’ll experience “castaway luxury” in one of 14 beachfront villas. The island is home to lemurs, chameleons, and an abundance of coral reef life. The Time + Tide Chinzombo lodge in Zambia overlooks the river in South Luangwa National Park. You can admire leopards, lions, hippos, and more wildlife by boat (seasonal) and walking safari, as well as on day and night game drives. Wildlife conservation is important at both properties, as is providing local education opportunities and economic empowerment.
Near Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, stay in one of six luxurious “forest villas” at Beyond Green property Wilderness Safaris Bisate Lodge. Your park fees help the country’s endangered mountain gorilla population and the lodge has a number of reforestation, conservation and education initiatives, in addition to showcasing the work of local artisans and working with a community cooperative for local fruit and vegetables. Bisate Lodge purchased the site from the local community and was a major employer during construction and continues to employ local residents.
In the U.S., there are six Beyond Green resorts. An example is Cavallo Point, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco. The 142-room resort was built using materials from the Fort Baker former military base aiming to both preserve the historic architecture and divert thousands of pounds of construction waste from local landfills. The resort supports local organizations like the Conscious Kitchen school dining program and the Bay Area Discovery Museum.
Special Offer for 2021
If you make a Beyond Green booking by September 20, 2021 for a two-night stay this year at any of the 15 participating properties in the Journeyer’s Pick Package, you’ll receive an exclusive thank you!
Examples of the special booking thank yous include a Polynesian outrigger experience at the spectacular Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa or a private 1.5-hour Shinrin Yoku Forest Therapy session at andBeyond Vira Vira in Chile’s Lake District.
Whichever you choose, you know you’ll help make the world a better place simply by choosing how you take your next vacation.
Written by: Johanna Read
May 18, 2021
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