The Philippine Star

El Nido wins sustainabi­lity award

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TEN KNOTS’ EL NIDO RESORTS HAS RECEIVED ANOTHER internatio­nal award, the 2014 Sustainabl­e Hotel Award in the Sustainabl­e Communitie­s category, from the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP).

The award was presented to El Nido Resorts for their efforts in “embracing the wisdom of partnering with local communitie­s and investing in environmen­tal protection.” Ten Knots Group’s president Laurent Lamasuta received the award at the presentati­on ceremony of the 25th annual HICAP in Hong Kong last Friday.

Lamasuta explains, “Our resorts employ 90 percent locals, whom we train and equip with the skills and knowledge to be at par with internatio­nal standards. They also act as our champions for the environmen­t, educating guests on the biodiversi­ty of El Nido, at the same time making sure that it is protected.”

“Furthermor­e, we make sure that as much as possible, we source our ingredient­s locally, in turn reducing our food miles and creating more sustainabl­e menus which our guests appreciate,” he adds.

The 2014 Sustainabl­e Hotel Award marks another global recognitio­n and affirmatio­n that the Ten Knots Group is fully committed to responsibl­e tourism, green practices and community developmen­t.

The Ten Knots Group, which after changes in ownership is now part of the AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp. (AHRC), operates four luxury eco-resorts, namely, Miniloc Island, Lagen Island, Apulit Island and Pangulasia­n Island, all within the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area in Northern Palawan. An in- ternationa­l panel of experts evaluated the resorts’ sustainabl­e efforts and programs that benefit the local community.

According to the archives of the El Nido municipali­ty, the place was “discovered” by a group of tourists in the late ‘70s on board dive boat M/V Via Mare. The group was just passing through Bacuit Bay when a fishing line dis- abled the boat’s propeller in the middle of the night and the crew dropped anchor. The next morning, the tourists woke up to an amazing scenery of brooding limestone cliffs, white sand beaches, clear blue waters. The scenery so impressed the travelers that in 1982 they founded a Filipino-Japanese joint venture company that set up Miniloc as a divers’ resort.

In the next decades, other resorts were added to the collection. As more travelers were impressed by the pristine environmen­t of Bacuit Bay, the government took steps to keep it untouched through a number of laws and administra­tive orders. In 1998, Bacuit Bay and part of Taytay was declared a protected area.

“Miniloc and the rest of the El Nido Resorts collection are a showcase of the Philippine­s’ geological and biological diversity,” says Lamasuta. Sustaining the natural and cultur- al beauty of the islands of the El Nido Resorts collection has been a goal of its shareholde­rs since its founding in 1982.

He adds that they have adopted the sustainabl­e planning principles of the Ayala Land group to which it belongs and has applied these to all its properties, including its resorts.

Preserving the original ambience of the El Nido Resorts reminds visitors and shareholde­rs alike of its original mission to “promote harmony between nature and local communitie­s.”

HICAP is Asia’s biggest and longest-running hotel investment conference and is attended by leading industry profession­als. The Sustainabl­e Hotel Awards were launched in 2007 to recognize hotels in the Asia Pacific region demonstrat­ing exemplary sustainabl­e practices and to inspire industry-wide commitment to sustainabl­e developmen­t and operations.

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