Mundo Azul

The DoubleTree Pardo Hotel in Lima launches the construction of a new ecological hotel in the Bay of Paracas and cooperates with Mundo Azul in the conservation of the environment.

On the 28th of November 2006 the DoubleTree Pardo Hotel in Lima announced the construction of a new ecological hotel in the Bay of Paracas. In the launching event the hotel management announced its long term cooperation with Mundo Azul in order to implement its programs of corporate responsibility. The hotel also announced its support for the dolphin conservation and investigation program of Mundo Azul.

The new hotel to be built in Paracas offers its future clients 124 suites. A part of these units of 55 m2 are to be sold to small investors, which will receive a monthly rent. The hotel will be managed by the company Inversiones Brade S.A, a Peruvian hotel operator with more than 30 years of experience, and be under the franchise of Doubletree from the Hilton Hotels Corporation.

The hotel will offer:

2 Restaurants
2 Bares
1 Swimming pool sized 740 m2
1 heated swimming pool annexed to the bar
A small pier for nautical sports
Conference room for up to 200 people
SPA of international quality with Gym, Sauna, Jacuzzi, relax and beauty treatment
Lobby - reception
Administration offices
Boat house
Parking lot

Ricardo Bracale Silva, Project Manager of Double Tree Guest Suites

One of the goals of the company is to construct a truly ecological hotel. Ricardo Bracale Silva, Project Manager of Double Tree Guest Suites, said: “the business we are going to do, must have a positive impact in the local community, in such a way that our shareholders see the added value of the business, which must be sustainable in the long term.”

The southern limit of the Bay of Paracas forms part of the Paracas National Reserve. Any commercial activity in the near surroundings of the protected area must be implemented with special care. As Ricaro Bracale Silva said: “Tourism companies live from a healthy environment and do their business with its natural and cultural attractions. Therefore these companies can’t have a negative impact on the environment, which would destroy the tourism attraction, being the very reason for their existence.”In 2005 the company asked for the support of Mundo Azul in order to achieve a truly ecological hotel concept. The company made a detailed environmental impact study (something very uncommon in the Peruvian tourism industry) and developed with support of Mundo Azul measures to minimize environmental impacts in the phase of construction and operation.

Hace más de un año la empresa solicitó el asesoramiento de la Asociación Mundo Azul para lograr el concepto de un hotel realmente ecológico. La empresa realizó un amplio estudio de impacto ambiental (hecho poco común en el sector turístico) y con apoyo de Mundo Azul desarrolló medidas para minimizar los impactos ambientales en la fase de construcción y operación.

Ricardo Bracale Silva, Project Manager of the Double Tree Guest Suites; George J.Massa, Director for Franchise Development Latin America, Hilton; Stefan Austermühle, Executive Director of Mundo Azul; Nelson Diaz, Vice-President for Franchise Development Latin America, Hilton

Once constructed, the hotel will be entirely independent of the cities deficient sewage system by counting with its own wastewater treatment plant. Sewage will be cleaned to a quality that can be used for watering the hotels gardens and plants. This way the hotel at the same time drastically reduces its water consumption, being an important measure given the desert surrounding. Only detergents will be used that do biodegrade rapidly and chemicals will be replaced when ever possible by ecological alternatives.

Stefan Austermühle, Director Ejecutivo Mundo Azul

An energy saving program will be implemented using energy saving bulbs and solar energy, a resource that is abundant in the area.

A program for the reduction of waste and waste recycling will be implemented. In the offices paper will be saved and recycled.

Paper, glas, plastic (PET), metal and petroleum-based products will be collected separately and will be recycled. Organic waste will be collected and treated in rain worm-systems in order to produce fertilizer which then can be used for the hotels gardens, as a donation to public school gardens or for local farmers.

Luis Ricardo Bracale Delgado, Presidente del Directorio Double Tree Guest Suites

The programs for the treatment of waste and sewage are going to be permanently monitored and improved.

The staff of the hotel will be permanently trained about the hotels environmental measures and environmental conservation in general. The hotel will develop its own environmental education program for the guests children.

There will also be environmental education measures for clients and shareholders in order to avoid negative impacts within the National Reserve of Paracas. The hotel will employ a beach patrol that shall guarantee that no illegal trespassing into the protected area occurs.

“With these measures,” said Stefan Austermühle, Executive Director of Mundo Azul, “the hotel management shows its high level of corporate responsibility and its great interest in the conservation of the environment and of the tourism attractions.”

But the hotel does not only comply with the national laws and only reduces its operations environmental impacts. It also actively supports environmental conservation and local economic development. The hotel announced the implementation of free tourism training courses for 1000 local people in the area of Pisco-Paracas. This way it aims to improve the quality of tourism services in general provided in the area.

The hotel announced to implement environmental education courses in the area. And it finally announced the active support of Mundo Azuls dolphin conservation program.

En el evento de lanzamiento del nuevo hotel se anuncio también la cooperación estrecha y a largo plazo entre el hotel y Mundo Azul para la implementación de todos los programas y actividades ambientales mencionadas anteriormente.

Ricardo Bracale Silva, Gerente de Proyectos Double Tree Guest Suites

Ricardo Bracale Silva explained the interest of the hotel in cooperating with NGOs: ”These kind of alliances are very important and become more and more powerfull as NGOs do help tourism companies to exploit their resources in a sustainable way, without the tourism activity itself becoming a threat to the environment.”

This kind of cooperation is especially important in cases like Paracas. As Bracale Silva said: “the Bay of Paracas is a unique environmental tourism attraction in Peru and responsible tourism can provide the necessary resources in order to protect this resource without generating negative impacts. Because of its nearness to Lima and its climate, the bay will become in future one of the most important tourism destinations. Therefore clear signals must be given that tourism companies that wish to operate here must contribute to the protection of the bay.”

Therefore the hotel management started cooperating intensively with Mundo Azul: “Mundo Azul is an entity that has a lot of experience in the area of the National reserve of Paracas, as its professionals have been participating in many successful projects here in the past”, said Bracale Silva: “The organizations experience gives us confidence that our tourism operation can work with them as an external entity providing us with environmental advice.”

The hotel supports with a donation the dolphin investigation of Mundo Azul, by financing regular field trips for a period of one year.

For Ricardo Bracale Silva dolphins are a key species within the area: “Dolphins are special and very intelligent animals. In Peru there is little effort to protect them. Additionally they are very sociable and it is possible to interact with them, which makes it great for children and also for many adults to encounter them in the wild. Within the Bay of Paracas there are permanently dolphins, which are already affected by the tourism development. It is important to turn around this development, protecting them and at the same time permitting that visitors interact with them in a controlled way that may not affect them.”

George J. Massa, Director para Desarrollo de Franchise en América Latina, Hilton; Stefan Austermühle, Director Ejecutivo Mundo Azul; Luis Ricardo Bracale Delgado, Presidente del Directorio Double Tree Guest Suites; Nelson Diaz, Vicepresidente para Desarrollo de Franchise en América Latina, Hilton

UIT respect to the cooperation with the hotel Stefan Austermühle, Executive Director of Mundo Azul said: “The conservation oriented attitude of the hotel management and the measures to be taken by the new hotel are exceptional. This hotel will create new environmental quality standards as well as new standards of social responsibility within the region and the entire country. This hotel is going to be a an example for other hotel infrastructure to come and for existing ones to upgrade their environmental practices. It is of great interest for Mundo Azul to support the hotel management in the implementation of these measures and the new business approach. This way we best can promote environmental business responsibility and motivate other companies to follow. The attitude of the hotel makes the business itself becoming a conservation tool, which is exactly what we need in Peru. We are very much welcoming the effort undertaken by the hotel and are keen to continue the cooperation with the hotel management in order to support this initiative. ”