King Pacific Lodge, A Rosewood Resort Breaks New Ground with Plan to Reduce Carbon Footprint by 50%, Including Industry First of Offsetting Carbon Emissions of Guest Air Travel
GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST, British Columbia, Canada - King Pacific Lodge, A Rosewood Resort is breaking new ground in ecologically responsible tourism by announcing a plan to reduce its carbon footprint by half, including a first in the hospitality industry: in addition to offsetting the carbon emissions of all lodge operations and employee travel, also offsetting guests' air travel to and from the lodge - creating a truly carbon-neutral vacation.
"We are the first hotel in Canada, and perhaps anywhere, to offset the carbon emissions of guests' round-trip air travel," said Michael Uehara, president of King Pacific Lodge. "We believe this is a very important step, but it is only the first step in a multi-faceted plan to reduce the lodge's carbon footprint by 50 percent over the next five years."
The air travel being offset by the lodge is from the guest's point of origin anywhere in the world to Vancouver on any airline, and from Vancouver to the lodge via the lodge's private air and seaplane charters. Among the other key elements of the lodge's carbon-footprint-reduction plan are installing a river-hydro plant and solar panels for the lodge's power needs and using suppliers who conduct their own program of carbon reduction.
"At King Pacific Lodge, it has always been our mission to do everything we can to minimize our imprint on the land," said Mr. Uehara. "With the additional steps we are now taking, however, notably the offsetting of guests' air travel, we are raising the bar on ecological responsibility and hope to stimulate more efforts in the hospitality world to protect the environment."
Mr. Uehara and owner Hideo (Joe) Morita, international businessperson and son of Sony co-founder Akio Morita, founded the lodge with a commitment to creating a viable and sustainable model of eco-friendly tourism, including leaving the lightest imprint possible on the local land and sea, strong support of conservancy efforts, and developing a supportive relationship with the indigenous people. Mr. Uehara has been a tireless activist for protecting the regional environment, including playing an important role in bringing the long-sought dream of establishing the Great Bear Rainforest to fruition. In 2006, British Columbia gave protected status to 4.4-million acres of pristine wilderness, an ecological treasure that incorporates the largest remaining tract of temperate rainforest in the world. King Pacific Lodge is located in the heart of this Great Bear Rainforest.
King Pacific Lodge is a one-of-a-kind luxury floating wilderness lodge anchored in a sheltered harbor along the shores of Princess Royal Island in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. Guests enjoy interpretative hikes, sea kayaking, beach combing, heli-hiking, whale watching, wildlife viewing, star gazing, floatplane tours, fly-tying instruction, cultural tours with the indigenous Gitga'at, searches to view the rare cream-colored 'Spirit Bear,' saltwater trolling, fly-fishing and remote freshwater heli fly-fishing. Guests return from the activities to their beautifully appointed, comfortable accommodations and gourmet meals paired with appropriate wines.
King Pacific Lodge has 17 rooms and suites and is open from May through October. For more information and to reserve for 2006, contact King Pacific Lodge at 888.592.5464, or visit the web site at kingpacificlodge.com.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts manages properties worldwide including Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and Rosewood Crescent Hotel in Dallas, The Carlyle in New York, CordeValle in San Martin, California, Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico, Hotel Seiyo Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, and a triumvirate of world-class Caribbean properties – Rosewood Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda, Caneel Bay on St. John and Jumby Bay on Antigua. For more information on Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, please call 888.ROSEWOOD or visit rosewoodhotels.com.
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