Six Senses has received the highest level of certification by Control Union—a certification body accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Six Senses properties underwent an extensive audit by Control Union to verify their efforts in sustainability planning, reducing negative environmental impacts, enhancing cultural heritage, and maximizing social and economic benefits for surrounding communities.
The GSTC Certification is a respected seal of sustainable travel and tourism, offering an antidote to “greenwashing” in the hospitality industry. The extensive certification criteria aim to give credibility to sustainability claims, ensuring they are both measurable and can be upheld through meaningful action. Certification is based on third-party audits of hotels and corporate processes by accredited auditors, and is granted for a period of three years, providing a continuous commitment to improvement and accountability. The GSTC Criteria verify sustainable practices across four key areas: effective sustainability planning, reducing negative environmental impacts, enhancing cultural heritage, and maximizing social and economic benefits for surrounding communities.
Dedicated sustainability directors at each Six Senses hotel lead each property’s net-positive impact. Earth Labs serve as a place dedicated to engagement and innovation, communicating the work happening on and off site at each property, for example, marine conservation, forestry or farming initiatives, harnessing renewable energy from solar or biomass, and bottling drinking water. To further support local projects on the ground, each resort allocates a Sustainability Fund comprising 0.5 percent of total hotel revenue coming directly from guest bookings that goes towards meaningful and measurable initiatives outside the walls of the hotel.
In addition, Six Senses aims for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification as a minimum for all new hotels. It has achieved LEED Platinum at Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea—the first hotel in Saudi Arabia to be awarded the highest available accreditation—and at Six Senses Vana, India’s first retreat to have attained this environmental design standard, plus LEED Gold at Six Senses Rome, within the UNESCO-listed Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini. Issued by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), LEED puts properties through a rigorous third-party review.
Six Senses has also been making strides towards a future of plastic-free hospitality through the launch of the "Journey to Plastic Freedom" Playbook. A journey that began in the 1990s with guest amenities and drinking water, this initiative saw Six Senses spearhead a campaign to research and aim to remove plastic within hospitality. This resulted in 82 tried-and-tested solutions across four main operating areas that have been recorded and shared with the wider hospitality industry.
Six Senses also focuses on local experiences—whether joining monks to light butter lamps, playing archery or celebrating annual tshechu
festivals in Bhutan, learning the art and craft of Sadu weaving (which holds historical and economic significance in Saudi Arabia) or dancing with warriors while passing around the yaqona in Fiji.
Six Senses additionally targets social responsibility and local socioeconomic development, starting with a local hiring policy and local sourcing of products. Resorts incorporate local food and influences, building menus around them. They purchase local art and artifacts and invite artisans to share local culture. To increase the financial impact, the brand also partners with local NGOs, schools, or hospitals to ensure local services are developed and access to life’s essentials such as clean water or education is improved. Local skills training achieves lasting benefits as part of a ripple effect.
Six Senses joins other IHG Hotels & Resorts in the mission to drive positive change for people, planet and communities, as part of IHG’s Journey to Tomorrow plan.
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