Casa Velas Certifies with EarthCheck

March 16, 2010 - PRLog -- 16 March 2010, Puerto Vallarta – Mexico’s hacienda-style Casa Velas Hotel Boutique is the latest resort to upgrade from the Green Globe scheme and achieve Silver Certification with the market-leading EarthCheck Program.

A member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World and recipient of the much-coveted AAA Four Diamond Award, the all-inclusive Casa Velas has been recognised for its commitment to sustainability practices.
Located five minutes from Puerto Vallarta Airport and 15 minutes from the popular downtown area and “El Malecon” (the Boardwalk), Casa Velas features 80 suites and is known as an ideal vacation spot for golfers.

“Achieving this level of EarthCheck certification means a great deal to us,” said Pierre Yves Bonin, General Manager of Casa Velas Hotel Boutique.  “We see it as recognition of our vast efforts to develop Casa Velas into a more sustainable resort. Each day, we continue to further improve our operations and decrease our carbon footprint through environmentally responsible practices."

In many parts of the world, golf courses are maintained using high concentrations of pesticides and chemicals. For resort operators bordering fragile ecosystems such as waterways, this can pose quite a significant a challenge.

In 2008, Casa Velas turned to EarthCheck for certification that had a basis on science. The company was committed to mitigating risk through operational practices and saw themselves as an environmental custodian.

Partnering with EC3 Global who manage the EarthCheck Program, Casa Velas was able to leverage a comprehensive sustainable management system that was designed specifically for the travel and tourism industry.

EarthCheck helps Casa Velas manage their footprint to the highest possible standard and undergo third-party audits to verify their claims. This ensures practices go well beyond mere tick-box action and helps guests recognise world’s best practice whenever they see the EarthCheck brand.

“Industry leaders have recognised that there is a need for standardised reporting and comparability across country and sector,” explained Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global. “By using a single, centralised platform to report against baselines that have a high level of environmental integrity, they’re able to withstand even the most invasive level of scrutiny provides.”

Today, EarthCheck science is used by more than 1000 organisations in over 60 countries. It rewards sustainable tourism operators with a tangible side-benefit of resource-related cost savings that average between 20 and 30 per cent.

As for Casa Velas and their Silver level achievement, it just goes to show that being environmentally conscious doesn’t compromise luxury and makes good business sense in today’s uncertain economic climate.


EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, the company’s EarthCheck Program responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. Go to www.earthcheck.org  or   www.ec3global.com

The hacienda-style Casa Velas Hotel Boutique is a member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World and a recipient of the AAA Four Diamond Award.  Located just five minutes from Puerto Vallarta Airport and only 15 minutes from the popular downtown area, art galleries, and “El Malecon” (the boardwalk), the all-inclusive hotel features 80 suites, some with private pools and Jacuzzis. The perfect vacation for golfers, the adults-only Casa Velas is nestled on the greens of Marina Vallarta’s 18-hole golf course and also offers golf privileges at two other top 18-hole golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf only 20 minutes away. Spa Casa Velas, a Leading Spa of the World, encompasses five treatment rooms, a hydrotherapy area, a fitness gym and a beauty salon. Emiliano a la carte fine dining restaurant is at the hands of one of the area’s leading chefs serving Mexican and international cuisine.  For reservations or more information, go to www.hotelcasavelas.com or call 1-866-529-8813 in the U.S. and Canada.

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EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, the company’s EarthCheck Program responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. Go to www.earthcheck.org or www.ec3global.com