Doing More for a Sustainable Future
Over the past 50 years, from the opening of our first hotel in Hong Kong in 1963, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has grown to become a leader in luxury hospitality, representing over 11,000 rooms in 27 countries, across four continents today. As we deliver our unique brand of legendary service to more guests around the world, it remains vital that we do so in a way that is consistent with our mission and values.
Responsibility has long been a core value of Mandarin Oriental; it is one of the Guiding Principles that supports our mission and vision to be recognised as the best luxury hotel group in the world. At Mandarin Oriental, we understand that our long-term success depends on the health and prosperity of the communities in which we do business.
Under the guidance of the Group’s Corporate Responsibility Committee, together with the dedication of hotel colleagues worldwide, we have made meaningful progress on our sustainability priorities. The following notable accomplishments are highlighted in this, our second Sustainability Report:
• We achieved our goal to increase energy efficiency by 10% and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10% over our commitment period (2007–2012). These conservation gains were attained even as the Group expanded operations worldwide.
• We realised US$19.6 million in cost savings from 2007 to 2012 by implementing strategic energy efficiency initiatives.
• We enhanced our proprietary health and safety programme in 2012 with the addition of an environmental section, including waste management guidelines, in order to help our hotels measure and continuously improve performance.
• We continued to support many worthy causes in our communities, including cultural heritage preservation and charitable programmes.
As we progress toward our goals, we are committed to addressing our sustainability challenges. Water consumption remains an area that requires additional focus and underscores the importance of setting and attaining short-term targets in order to achieve our long-term objectives. Therefore, in 2013, the Group has established new short-term environmental goals, with each hotel receiving individual goals to help maintain our progress.
A sustainability awareness training programme, developed in 2012, will also be deployed at our hotels in 2013 in order to encourage even greater engagement amongst our colleagues, who remain our most valuable resource.
Whilst more work lies ahead, I am pleased to see that we are embracing our responsibilities with the same dedication and enthusiastic service that has distinguished Mandarin Oriental for the past five decades. Thank you for following our progress as we continue on our journey towards a more sustainable future.