Impacts
Six Senses 2023 Sustainability Impacts
Sustainability is a defining characteristic of what luxury means to us. It’s also an area where we want to be a story-doer rather than a storyteller. Our commitment to be considerate custodians of the places where we reside was a founding principle when we became a sustainable hospitality brand in 1995, and why we continue our focus on making a net positive impact on our local wildlife, ecosystems, culture, and communities today. Our 2023 impacts are meaningful and measurable, tracking everything from the things we reduce (energy, water, plastic) to the things we regenerate (habitats, endangered and critically endangered species, local economies and prosperity).
Initiated in 2012, and led by the group’s Vice President of Sustainability Jeff Smith, individual properties monitor and measure their environmental efforts. All of the group’s hotels and resorts contribute to Cornell University’s Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking program, which compares their performance against a global dataset of their peers.
In 2023, Six Senses sustainability data reveals that as a group:
Since 2003, Six Senses has been bottling its own still and sparkling drinking water. By establishing on-site filtration and bottling facilities, each resort eliminates the transportation impacts and use of plastic water bottles. Six Senses drinking water has proved a taste-test winner with guests also.
Each Six Senses resort and hotel features an Earth Lab, which promotes sustainable living in inspirational and innovative ways. The space is used to host workshops that empower guests and community members to learn about and connect more closely with the natural world.
Sustainability Funds
Sustainability Funds are managed at each Six Senses property comprising 0.5 percent of total hotel revenue, in addition to sales from house-bottled water and popular soft toy mascots that represents a project at each location.
Thanks to the commitment of our hosts, their families, local community partners, and guests, here are our impacts reported for 2023:
- 28,960 people gained access to clean drinking water and sanitation
- 16,645,347 square meters of protected or restored habitat
- 14,663 kilograms of trash were collected voluntarily by our hosts, community members, and guests
- 31,220 people joined awareness raising events to help the environment and support communities
- 4,336 hours of teaching or hosting was provided surrounding our Sustainability Fund project topics
- 15,002 individual animals were researched, protected, or monitored within our wildlife projects, including Endangered and Critically endangered species
- 12,259 endangered sea turtles hatched on our beaches, including 4,364 hawksbill and 8,165 green turtles
- We provided improved access to education and skill training to 3,989 students and 778 hours of teaching
- 10,967 stray and livestock animals gained improved standard of living
- 25,412 people gained improved access to healthcare
- 9,254 people gained improved public waste management in their community
- 730 people have improved livelihood as a result of our Sustainability Fund projects
“We are incredibly proud of the achievements being made by our NGO and community partners on the ground. Each resort has taken on unique projects based on the local need and is aiming for the greatest measurable impact at that destination – and there are too many to list here. Guests at any Six Senses property can find out more by dropping into the Earth Lab or joining a sustainability tour. And I welcome all our guests to join us in celebrating these projects and partnerships, which are only made possible by guest visits and ongoing support”