More properties under the Kempinski Hotels group have joined the Clean the World programme, which donates soap to vulnerable communities around the world while protecting the environment from harmful waste.
This is said to be an expansion of Kempinski’s existing work with Clean the World, as it seeks to reinforce its commitment to improve environmental impacts and support social initiatives.
Clean the World’s hospitality programme takes discarded soap bars and bottled amenities, and recycles them in order to protect the environment, preserve natural resources, help communities in need, and to reduce costs.
The seamless process starts with a housekeeping service collecting the used soap and amenities, and sorting them into Clean the World-provided bins. Once full, the bins are shipped to one of six Clean the World warehouses, where the soap is then run through a special filtration process, whereby all debris is removed and filtered into ‘grind’.
The grind is then processed into new soap bars and packed for distribution by partners around the world, including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Children International and the Red Cross.
“We are incredibly excited to be working with Clean the World, whose commitment to sustainability and continued support for impoverished communities around the world amplify our corporate social responsibility,” said Benedikt Jaschke, chief quality officer and member of the Kempinski Management Board.
Jaschke added that Kempinski’s work with Clean the World to “fight the global spread of preventable diseases” was “even more vital as we face the current global pandemic”.
Commenting on the partnership, Shawn Seipler, founder and CEO of Clean the World, said: “(Kempinski Hotels’) forward-thinking and corporate sense of responsibility to enhance their sustainability efforts to now include soap recycling speaks volumes about who they are as a brand. They are prioritising putting life-saving soap into the hands of people who need it, while also protecting the environment from harmful waste.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Clean the World has continued to work tirelessly to distribute over three million bars of soap to homeless shelters, food pantries, refugee camps and emergency healthcare facilities around the world. It is calling on all hotels to recycle their soap rather than dispose of it, so they can help stop the spread of Covid-19 and prevent a future resurgence of the virus within vulnerable populations.
Skyscanner has launched a new service allowing airlines to showcase their fare options and extra ancillaries at the start of the user journey so travellers can make informed and value-based booking decisions.
The Fare Families functionality, which is within Skyscanner’s direct booking platform, has been designed to maximise fare revenue.
Accessible pricing (51 per cent) and clear airline policies (49 per cent) were named as the top types of information that travellers would look for once restrictions were lifted in a recent Skyscanner survey.
Airlines including Aeroflot and Westjet are among the first to go live with the new service, showing travellers their wide range of fare options and ancillaries content such as checked bags, seat selection and priority boarding. The content is displayed within a seamless and mobile optimised branded flow, without the need for re-directs to complete the final purchase.
Singapore Airlines, Norwegian, S7 and Virgin Atlantic have also been on-boarded and will soon be able to display their own fare options and ancillaries to travellers.
Skyscanner commercial director Cat King said in a statement: “The travel industry is at the beginning of a recovery journey, and as part of that journey, we want to set our airline partners up for success. As the shift to mobile accelerates, travellers will demand more choice and information upfront, as well as simpler and faster ways to book using their phones.”