All 108 hotels, resorts and palaces of the Taj Group, a global hospitality chain and leading major in India, will switch off electricity across their properties from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on March 26 to promote sustainable tourism and in support of the Earth Hour 2011, the company said today.
Raymond Bickson, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Indian Hotels Company Ltd, said the company had incorporated many environment-friendly efforts, including initiatives such as EARTH (Environment Awareness and Renewal at Taj Hotels).
Vasant Ayyappan, Director, Corporate Sustainability, said the company would turn off all lights for the designated hour in all its 108 properties across the world.
As per the theme for Earth Hour this year, ‘Let's go beyond the hour', the company's properties will switch off all lights in the hotel façade, in the lobby and restaurants and staff areas. Candles will be used instead in the front office area and in the restaurants. The hotels will also encourage guests to participate in this initiative.
In an endeavour to go beyond the hour, the Taj will encourage its staff as well to put out the lights in their homes too.
LPG project
Another environment-friendly initiative started by the company is the LPG project at the Taj Safari lodges in the tiger belt of Madhya Pradesh that aims at providing LPG gas connections at subsidised rates to benefit the villagers, the forests and its inhabitants.
India joined the Earth Hour initiated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2009 with five million Indians across 56 cities supporting the initiative by switching off all non-essential lights and saving nearly 1,000 MW in that one hour.
Established in 1903, the Taj Group comprises 92 hotelsin 53 locations across India and 16 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, the UK, the US, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and West Asia.