The announcement was made at the Travel + Social Good Summit held at the United Nations,  a conference focused on ushering in the travel industry of the future; an industry in which all travel will have a positive economic, environmental, cultural and social impact for travelers, destinations and residents; Impact Experiences offer signature social and environmental impact activities that make a meaningful contribution and enable participants to feel personally connected to the local community.

“We are proud to make Impact Experiences available at every one of our hotels around the world to provide our guests with an option to address local social and environmental issues,” said Herve Humler, President and Chief Operations Officer of The Ritz-Carlton. “Impact Experiences have the power through coordinated efforts and volume to be a significant force for good."

Examples of signature Impact Experiences organized by Ritz-Carlton hotels in local communities include a heritage farming project on an organic farm in Arizona; supporting critical coastal trail and rain forest restoration in Kapalua, Hawaii; protecting the natural wetland environment in Donau-Auen National Park near Vienna, Austria; planting the endangered native species of trees in Dubai; collaborating with The Battery Conservancy in New York to help beautify the 25-acre public park; and building bird nests for migrating rare bird species at the remarkable wetland that is the Futian Mangrove Natural Reserve Area in Shenzhen, China.

Impact Experiences also offer on-property activities that may be incorporated to a conference agenda during lunch breaks, receptions and coffee breaks. These include:

• Partnering with the hotel’s culinary team to prepare the ingredients for a regionally adapted dish for donation to a local hunger relief organization.
• Assembling school supplies and art materials in backpacks for donation to students whose academic success is threatened by poverty.
• Collaborating in teams to assemble emergency preparedness kits to be shipped to a disaster relief facility or community organization.

Groups also have the opportunity to participate in an Impact Hour event, a program that was designed through a participant hackathon at the 2014 Travel + Social Good Summit. The compelling and educational experience provides a platform for leaders from The Ritz-Carlton Community Footprints partners organizations to showcase how they are successfully addressing social and environmental issues.

About Community Footprints

With a commitment to “Expand Global Citizenship,” The Ritz-Carlton social and environmental responsibility program, Community Footprints, is embedded into the company’s service values, long range plan and business operations. This commitment is focused on child well-being, environmental responsibility and hunger and poverty relief. The Ritz-Carlton was the first Founding Partner of IMPACT 2030, a business-led collaboration with the United Nations that is mobilizing employee volunteers to help advance the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information visit www.communityfootprints.com, or follow The Ritz-Carlton Community Footprints on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RitzCarltonCSR.

About The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 87 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean.  More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around the globe. The Ritz-Carlton is the only service company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award which recognizes outstanding customer service. For more information or reservations, visit the company web site at www.ritzcarlton.com, and for the latest company updates, visit news.ritzcarlton.com. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR).