Kandooma emphasizes partnerships that are essential to sustainable tourism development in Maldives
Within a tourism sector that is increasingly called upon to demonstrate its accountability to the planet and its people, Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives is stepping forward again as a reminder that true sustainability progress is unlikely to happen as an individual initiative.
Reshaping its focus in the year 2025 meant the resort placed sustainability and regeneration at the very heart of its operations, taking the bold step to be audited as part of the journey towards obtaining its Green Globe certification. According to the General Manager of the resort, Mark Eletr, the journey served “to highlight the value of our relationship with like-minded partners in assisting us in overcoming some of the key sustainability challenges the Maldives faces today, particularly in the sphere of waste management.”
“Of all the hard sustainability battles for a resort of this type to face, waste is certainly one of them for a destination of this type, the island resort. It is a difficult one to address certainly, as the Maldives and the challenges we face as an archipelago, we are certainly not going to overcome as an individual resort in our own right; it requires collaboration and that collective sense of responsibility”
Eletr accentuates that teaching guests in the first place regarding waste management as a crucial measure, in line with working in close collaboration with procurement partners to minimize packaging materials, especially polystyrene-based materials, in favor of a greener option such as plastic materials.
"It's an uncomfortable reality we face, but education is fundamental to these challenges," he was saying.“For many visitors, it is difficult to grasp the fact that the Maldives is an island nation, with every single resort operating as a self-containable village, responsible for everything from wastewater treatment, the production of drinking water, to the management of every type of waste. There is no shortcuts, only action, collaboration, and a shared desire to think differently!”He provides a good indication of the way to do this when he mentions one obvious but effective case as follows:
"In many of our guests’ home countries, waste systems are highly advanced, with compulsory recycling, careful sorting, and specialised collection for hazardous materials such as batteries. Here in the Maldives, we do not yet have safe, large-scale facilities to process certain materials. That is why we ask guests to take used batteries home with them, where they can be disposed of in a responsible way through existing recycling schemes."
Instead of these challenges being seen as barriers to move ahead, collaboration for growth was seen as the way to proceed at Kandooma. Although the resort sees itself as early in the game, Eletr believes that both successes and lessons learned have to be shared. “For us at Kandooma, building partnerships has been a transforming exercise. For us, every small success is important if it helps others take their first step, use the ideas we developed, or find their own solution which works for them. Making ourselves more vulnerable to the glare of public scrutiny and criticism is also an essential part of the exercise.
For instance, the resort works in partnership with Parley for the Oceans and supports the Maldives tourism industry's pledge to Parley's AIR strategy of Avoid, Intercept, and Redesign. This long-term relationship enables Kandooma to intercept plastics in its surrounding environment and engage in clean-up activities to uninhabited islands; an exercise that IHG Hotels & Resorts clearly accepts and works towards as part of their long-term strategy of “Journey to Tomorrow."For the year 2025, the resort formed an association with the company called “Secure Bag.” They are dedicated to acquiring waste resources to convert them into new, usable items to promote the circular economy approach. The resort is operated under the notion of every resource being to have to have a second life.
As a four-star resort itself, Kandooma understands that they can't compete on equal levels in terms of resource capability as an ultra-luxury resort might enjoy. Instead, they've opted to utilize creativity and collaboration in terms of partnering causes that suit their values and belief system:
Manta Trust
Manta rays are a species of rays that fall directly under the category of endangered species because of habitat loss and other unecological practices aimed at protecting these beautiful creatures.
Not able to afford the costs of keeping someone on site who was a full-time, qualified marine biologist, the resort devised an alternative strategy involving the guests. The Kandooma resort developed the idea of selling silver or gold manta ray pendants, with 5 US Dollars from each one going to the Manta Trust.
"It’s a modest contribution, but it’s realistic, sustainable for our business, and it sparks conversations with our guests," Eletr explained. "It brings people into the story of what we’re trying to protect and why it matters."
Apart from this donation-based system, the resort also stages the annual "Manta Month," which takes place in September to encourage more exposure and awareness for these gentle creatures that swim freely in the water near the islands of Kandooma. In line with its transparency initiative, Kandooma has launched an online version of its Sustainability Guide, where they identify specific sustainability initiatives and actions in areas of environment, social, and governance. The sustainability guide, known as the Green Book, is available online.
