For its outstanding level of commitment to sustainable practices at the luxury level, City of Dreams Manila emerged as one of the three finalists among hundreds of global entries for the Forbes Travel Guide’s (“FTG”) inaugural 2023 Responsible Hospitality Award. Forbes Travel Guide is the only global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas, and cruises, and the world-renowned authority in genuine Five-Star service.
To be considered for this inaugural award, City of Dreams Manila demonstrated a commitment to responsible tourism with innovative sustainability initiatives. It proved to be a leader in both heart-of-house and guest-facing practices, such as housekeeping policies, recycling programs, eliminating single-use items, and contributions to community-based conservation efforts.
“We thank Forbes Travel Guide for recognizing our eco-friendly practices at a luxury level and seamlessly integrating these into our guests’ experience. Through the vision of our parent company, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, led by our Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho, we remain committed to delivering Sustainable Luxury,” City of Dreams Manila Property President Geoff Andres shared.
The announcement was made at the fourth annual Best of the Year awards during the FTG Summit in Las Vegas in early March. For City of Dreams, the recognition comes a month after FTG awarded the integrated resort’s three hotels for the sixth time with: Five-Star (Nüwa Manila and Nüwa Spa) and Four-Star (Hyatt Regency Manila and Nobu Hotel Manila).
Alongside the yearly list of Five-Star, Four-Star, and Recommended properties, FTG unveiled several special awards to celebrate the exemplary properties and staff members who stand out in their service to guests and co-workers. Properties in Forbes Travel Guide’s worldwide collection were asked to submit nominations for the industry awards. An executive panel then chose the winners among hundreds of entries and named City of Dreams Manila one of three finalists for the Responsible Hospitality accolade. In last year’s Best of the Year Awards, City of Dreams was named winner of Work Here, Work Happy Award.
“Serving the world’s most elite hotels, restaurants, and spas in 81 countries, Forbes Travel Guide understands that sustainability and exceptional guest experiences must go hand in hand,” wrote Hermann Elger, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide, on the guide’s website.
City of Dreams Manila’s Sustainable Initiatives
The three hotels at City of Dreams also received the 2022-2024 ASEAN Green Hotel Award from the region’s tourism organizations, which recognized the resort’s eco-luxury projects on renewable energy, energy efficiency, reduction in water consumption, recycling, digitalization of processes, sustainable sourcing, and supporting local small and medium enterprises.
In 2022, the property significantly reduced the use of single-use plastics including water bottles, disposable amenity bottles, and other plastic consumables with the installation onsite of a US$370,000 NORDAQ water filtration plant and a bottling system, and using reusable, refillable pump bottles and other eco-friendly amenities in rooms.
With the 3,120 PV solar panels installed at the topmost floor of its parking building, it is the first integrated resort in the country to utilize solar solutions. The solar panels have been fully operational since the beginning of 2020 and can generate 1.2MW at full capacity. On an annual basis, the panels can generate over 1,600 MWh, which is equivalent to charging over 139 million smartphones in a year.
The property reuses treated greywater for its cooling towers to reduce water consumption, an initiative that is estimated to save about 88 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water or about 219,000 m3 annually, from the city’s supply. Laundry wastewater is also being reused for cooling towers, the gardens, and clean latrines. It has considerably reduced food waste at the employee dining room and kitchens. through the Winnow AI technology.
The resort also practices sustainable sourcing in support of Filipino Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with 86% procured from local vendors It sources local coffee beans from farmers, roasts, blends and brews them onsite. It procures local rice that are 100% chemical-free and 100% traceable, from grain sourcing to planting and processing; sources fresh vegetable produce, many of which are hydroponically grown; and purchases responsibly-sourced seafood from local fisheries through sustainable companies whose business practices align with the property’s vision to contribute in the preservation of marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of communities. City of Dreams Manila uses 100% cage-free eggs – known to be more food safe and more humane to animals — the first among the integrated resorts in the country to fully adopt the initiative.
Digitizing the supply chain was also prioritized with the implementation of a new P2P (purchase to pay) procurement system, allowing the property to achieve supply chain sustainability targets, such as going paperless in receiving and warehouse processes, among others.
A Sustainability Committee composed of colleagues from different departments works together to initiate and oversee sustainability projects. Trainings and employee surveys are regularly implemented to engage them in Melco’s sustainability programs, goals, and initiatives to promote awareness and drive employee responsibility.