Atlantis The Palm has announced that it has received the EarthCheck Silver certification for two applications: the hotel and waterpark.
As Atlantis is a property home to Aquaventure waterpark, as well as the Lost Chambers Aquarium, Dolphin Bay and Sea Lion Point, it is important to note that the destination – the size of 64 Wembley football pitches, submitted one for Atlantis, The Palm (under Accommodation- Vacation Hotel), and one for Aquaventure (under the Theme Park category). This allows them to be benchmarked against similar operations.
With EarthCheck recognised as a benchmarking, certification and business advisory group, it helps businesses, communities, and governments evaluate their environmental footprint, improve sustainability and ultimately enhance business performance.
The resort has a number of initiatives in place including the recycling of waste, reducing energy usage and managing freshwater consumption, which all work towards positioning it in the worldwide group of sustainable tourism operators that are certified to EarthCheck Company Standard. Significantly, Atlantis, The Palm is the third hotel in the United Arab Emirates to achieve EarthCheck Silver, while seven other hotels in the emirate have EarthCheck Bronze certifications.
“Sustainability is high on the agenda of Atlantis, The Palm and to be certified in this field is something that we take very seriously. We’re truly proud of this accomplishment that reflects our dedication to both environmental and social sustainability practices,” says Timothy Kelly, Executive Vice President and Managing Director Atlantis Resorts. “We’re excited to continue on this path to find new ways to increase our sustainable footprint across the resort,” he adds.
The process started a year ago when Atlantis, The Palm achieved Benchmark Bronze status from EarthCheck in October 2019. Since then, their dedicated Green Committee has been working to report high volumes of data and provide supporting evidence, together with preparing waste, energy and water management plans, creating reporting and auditing systems, and training and communicating their efforts to colleagues and guests.
Atlantis, The Palm were required to report data regarding their waste management, energy and water conservation strategies and CSR achievements, among others.
EarthCheck does not only assess a commitment to environmental sustainability, but a commitment to social sustainability too. Atlantis, The Palm has a host of past, present and ongoing Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes including their contribution to the “10 million meals project” and artist Sacha Jafri’s “Humanity Inspired” project which aims to raise AED 110 million to fund health and education, as well as raising funds to support natural disaster relief via the Emirates Red Crescent.
