EarthCheck Partners with IHG for Sustainability in Bora Bora

March 16, 2010 - PRLog -- 16 March 2010, French Polynesia – When it comes to vacations in paradise, guests have increasingly high expectations of resorts. InterContinental’s Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa knows the planet deserves more than half measures, and has chosen to use the Earthcheck Program to guide its sustainability initiatives.

Located on the islet of Bora Bora, in a lagoon named “Piti Aau” (meaning “two hearts” in the Tahitian language), you’d be hard-pressed to find a more romantic retreat than the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa.

The property has 80 villas that fan out over the lagoon and boast an “ethnic-chic” design. But it’s the workings behind the design that are the most impressive when it comes to conservation of resources and guest comfort.

Keeping cool in a tropical climate with high humidity is usually an expensive operation. But InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa approached the task in an innovative manner.
Surrounded by water, they ran a pipe 1.5 miles along the sea bed, half a mile below the surface. By chilling the air using the Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) system, they reduced electricity consumption by an astonishing 90 per cent!

The InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa has also implemented programs to care for the reef environment. They created two little lagoon areas; setting aside one as a nursery, and the other one as a “coral garden” and “stingray feeding zone”. This helps to educate guests about the fragile nature of the marine ecosystem in an interactive and engaging manner.

“We have been using EC3 Global’s science-based system for 3 years now,” explained Guillaume Epinette, General Manager of the hotel. “Certification has confirmed to market that our sustainable business orientation is credible, at a time when this is becoming increasingly important. Our business improves daily, increasing efficiencies in the areas of water, energy and waste. The Program helps to reinforce our commitment to sustainability practices and validate our claims to market.”

Having already certified and benchmarked more than 1000 organisations in over 60 countries, EC3 Global has arguably the most rigorously tested certification program. The company recently upgraded clients to the EarthCheck Program, which raised of the bar in environmental certification and sustainable operations to an even higher level.

“One of the many benefits of the EarthCheck Program, is that it lets tourism operators independently calculate their Scopes 1 and 2 emissions,” explained Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global. “In an increasingly legislated market where carbon comes at a cost, it’s imperative for businesses to measure and manage their environmental footprints.”



EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, EC3 Global provides Benchmarking, Certification and performance improvement systems to help businesses improve operational efficiencies. EC3 Global has exclusive rights in the Asia pacific region to certify using the Green Globe scheme, exclusively using Earthcheck to provide a certification system that responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. Go to www.earthcheck.org  or   www.ec3global.com


InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON-IHG, NYSE-IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, nearly 4,400 hotels and over 640,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world.  The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 47 million members worldwide. For more information, visit www.intercontinental.com and www.intercontinentalvideo.com.

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EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel & tourism operators. With more than 1000 clients in over 60 countries, the company’s EarthCheck Program responds to the environmental problems facing the planet.