RIU Hotels’ Sustainability Report has identified 1.2 million euros (US$1.4 million) in social and environmental investments in 2019, up 41.2 per cent on 2018.
The projects abided by a social innovation model, focusing on child protection, and the well-being of the local community. The hotel group has also taken a pathway towards a more environmentally responsible hospitality model.
Some of the outcomes of RIU’s work include the establishment of two playrooms in Quintana Roos, Mexico where children can acquire cognitive skills; reforestation of 450 trees and plants with Plant-for-the-Planet on the Canary Islands; and significant reduction in single-use plastics, consumption per guest per night and CO2 emissions across its properties.
CEO Carmen Riu noted that the company “has left behind charity to achieve a mature identity that is bound up with corporate social responsibility”.
The company expressed that “this experience has been vital in tackling the new social situation caused by Covid-19 in relation to CSR, because many projects running this year have been affected by the crisis, and the actions they involve have had to adapt to a new social reality”.
Some of the changes that had to be made this year included conversion of RIU’s face-to-face therapy for minors at risk of social exclusion and their families in Madrid to virtual retreats.
As a result of pandemic disruptions, RIU Hotels expects social and environmental investments to be lower this year compared with previous years. For 2020, it intends to focus on actions aimed at relieving the impact of Covid-19 on the destinations where its hotels are located.
A group of 41 tourists from Shanghai will be the first foreign visitors to set foot in Thailand this evening since travel and border restrictions were imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bearing a special tourist visa issued by the Thai government to individuals from countries deemed to be of low Covid-19 risks, these tourists will arrive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport at about 17.00 today, according to Yutthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Their visa will grant them entry to Thailand for up to 90 days.
Thai PBS World also reported that a second group of 100 visitors are due to arrive from China’s Guangdong province on Oct 26.
This evening’s arrival has been delayed for a month due to concerns by public health officials over a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The Chinese tourists will undergo a Covid-19 screening upon arrival and remain in quarantine for 14 days, before they are allowed to proceed on their travel itinerary. They will be tracked by a tracing app on their smartphones.
While in quarantine, they will be given their first swab test on the third to fifth day after arrival, while the second test will be conducted on the 11th to 14th day.