RIU hotels increase community outreach

The Riu hotels chain has increased its investments in local communities where the hotel operates, with Jamaica being one of 21 countries in which the brand operates a total of 97 hotels.

In its just-released annual report for 2023, RIU reported that programmes investing in ‘Local Community’ increased to 30 in 2023, an increase of 30.4 per cent over the previous year.

RIU has seven hotels in Jamaica that are spread along the island’s leading tourist resorts on the northern coastline and into the western region, incorporating Ocho Rios, Falmouth, Montego Bay and Negril.

RIU’s investment as it affects Jamaica, sees several biodiversity conservation projects being implemented.

“The objective is for these (projects) to continue to grow in coming years.

Projects have included the protection of humpback whales, coral reefs, jaguars and Parrot fish, as the company acts to protect species and conserve

natural areas,” the report outlined.

One such project is the conservation of the parrot fish in the Montego Bay region, through the Montego Bay Marine Park Trust. The focus is to monitor the parrot fish population and surveillance programme to reduce fishing activities within the protected areas of the park.

The parrot fish is said to play a crucial role in the growth of the coral reef as it feeds on algae that would otherwise stifle the growth of the coral.

In 2023, three surveillance sites were established as areas marked out in the protected areas. Patrolling in those protected areas also increased by 50 per cent.

ALL-INCLUSIVE SCHOOL

RIU also listed the Children’s Orthopaedic Clinic in Negril as a major project for the resort chain. The clinic offers corrective orthopaedic care and material for children with skeletal anomalies in the lower limbs and how they walk.

During the period in focus, there was a 46 per cent increase in children being treated, the figure moving from 82 to 120. Four of these children were referred for surgery. Since the start of the project, 550 children have been treated.

Also in Negril, a health, well-being and physical fitness programme for children in an all-inclusive school “to help them develop motor skills and improve their cognitive health” has been implemented.

This programme started at the end of the year so the first results will appear in the 2024 annual report, the company pointed out.

In Ocho Rios, RIU has partnered with the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) to implement activities and awareness-raising sessions to improve the management of waste in several communities, and to avoid coastal pollution.

Under this project, 47 community representatives attended solid waste management workshops for training, after which over 2,400 pounds of rubbish were collected, in 131 bins, during a cleanup of three communities in the parish.

RIU’s 97 hotels make the brand the 36th largest chain in the world. The company ended 2023 on an upward trajectory, noting a 24 per cent increase in its turnover, to 3,607 billion Euros and an overall average occupancy rate of 89 per cent, an increase of almost five per cent over the previous year.