The ‘Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy’ offers a meaningful travel experience to guests, taking them closer to nature and facilitating an interaction with local communities to better understand the destination.

Marriott International recently unveiled the pilot programme titled, ‘Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy’ at a virtual conference. The programme provides guests with an opportunity to indulge in meaningful travel in the Asia Pacific by interacting with the environment and local communities to understand the culture better. The interaction also helps one become a facilitator of a positive change.

“One of the growing trends we’re observing is how conscious guests are of their impact on the destinations they visit. The launch of Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy aspires to shift the way vacations are perceived – from pure leisure to value-adding opportunities to learn more about the natural environment and forge new connections with the local community,” said Bart Buiring, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Marriott International Asia Pacific. “Our ambition is to expand the program to most of our Asia Pacific leisure destinations over time and be ready to welcome guests with meaningful travel experiences once travel returns,”  he added.

Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy applies to 15 Marriott International hotels around the Asia Pacific. The programme offers an eventful stay to guests with a focused determination to work on environmental protection, community engagement, and marine conservation. Marriott intends to save the natural environment and reduce environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change with a focus on Environmental Protection. During the event, Sachin Mylavarapu, General Manager, JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa spoke about the inittiative called Implant Nature at JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa. The initiative allows the guests to participate in the hotel's afforestation drive by planting saplings in the premises of the hotel. Through this initiave, the hotel intends to reduce the topsoil erosion from the Garhwal Range. The guests can also name their saplings and track its growth on a yearly basis using the data shared by the hotel.

Another feature of the programme is Community Engagement. This feature intends to positively impact the communities by enabling the guests to understand the destination's culture where Marriott International properties are situated by imparting education about the culture or encouraging volunteerism.  Commenting on community engagement, Charlie Zha, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton Nanjing, China elaborated the hotel's provision. Guests can learn the art of making Yunjin brocade at the Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum  dedicated to educating them about their culture. 

Its third feature, Marine Conservation intends to refurbish and conserve marine ecosystems and species. Speaking about the initiatives taken in their hotel, George Varughese, General Manager JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, Thailand talked about keeping the beaches clean by engaging the guests in beach cleanup and reducing plastic usage. Apart form that, the turtle shelter in the premises of the hotel gives an insight into the lives of turtles. Besides, the guests get a chance to participate in the turtle release event organised once every year to release about 40 turtles during the Songkran holidays.

Similarly, in the launch event, Amelie Carraut, Marine Biologist, Reefscapers, Maldives, talked about the Marriott Biology programme that Reefscapers is conducting in collaboration with Marriott International. The programme is being undertaken at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa and is dedicated to developing coral gardens by harvesting them on a frame. The hotel also offers the guest an opportunity to adopt corals and track its growth. Marriott also has a sustainability and social impact platform, Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction, which in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), intends to create a positive, sustainable impact on business, environment, and communities worldwide. 

To facilitate building deeper connections with the local communities, ‘Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy,’ provides the guests a chance to engage with mangrove conservation in Fiji, coral transplanting and restoration Okinawa Maldives, beach cleanups in Sanya and Busan, food redistribution in Bali.

The 15 hotels where guests can access ’ Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy’ include:

* The Ritz-Carlton, Nanjing 

* JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Shanghai Pudong

* W Guangzhou

* The Sanya EDITION 

* Sheraton Grand Zhengzhou Hotel 

* Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel

* JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa 

* W Bali – Seminyak 

* Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway

* The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa 

* Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa

* JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa

* Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay

* The Westin Denarau Island Resort Fiji 

* Fairfield by Marriott Busan Songdo Beach