IHG South West Asia Hotels actively participate in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan across India

The hospitality industry has always been a beacon of light for tidiness, services and reception. Still, somewhere down the line, a basic moral has been neglected when it comes to the street, city roads and public areas near to the hotel properties located across India.

With an aim to fill this gap of keeping only the hotel properties clean and not the nearby streets and public areas, 22 hotels in South West Asia, which come under the aegis of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), have taken up the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) and are spreading cleanliness drive across India.

The initiative began on January 30, 2015 when all the IHG South West Asian Hotels took up the cleanliness drive to mark the beginning of a long term mission.

Commenting on the initiative, Shantha de Silva, Head of South West Asia Hotels said, “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a great initiative for our nation. As a leader in our industry, it is our responsibility to showcase the best of India to the world. Supporting the national campaign is also in line with our focus of being a responsible business, which is part of our DNA and at the heart of everything we do.  We have an exciting line up of activities for 2015, which will draw our colleagues from the corporate office and hotels together.”

Joining hands with local schools, the hotel staff of Crowne Plaza Greater Noida and Gurgaon began with cleaning of local markets and nearby areas along with educating the shop owners and local public on maintaining the cleaning and continue disposing garbage in the dustbin installed across the city.

“Being a part of the tourism sector, it is unpleasant to hear the reactions of our guests travelling from overseas about our country – I think each hotelier would have witnessed more than one guest complaining about cleanliness in India. As a family of IHG Hotels, following this through for our Country would not only make us better people but also help make India a better tourism destination,” noted Greesh Bindra, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida.

Likewise, Arindam Kunar, General Manager Crowne Plaza Gurgaon, said, “Our firm belief in operating our hotels with a high level for respect for the local community within which we function, coupled with a significant opportunity to portray our country as a clean tourist destination drew huge enthusiasm from my team for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiatives of our hotel.”

Contributing in the initiative, Holiday Inn Express Ahmedabad had begun their campaign from the renowned Salt Satyagraha march or Dandi March locality of the Indian Independence movement in Gujarat.

“The SBA Initiative will not only help us make the environment better but it also helps us to commit towards the upliftment of the society. Holiday Inn Express Ahmedabad Ashram Road formally adopted Gandhi Bridge and the area nearby along with Ashram Road pledging to clean and maintain it throughout the year,” explained Rohan Choudhury, General Manager, Holiday Inn Express, Ahmedabad.

In Southern India, Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City is also actively promoting the cleanliness campaign and has plans to donate bins to the local city administrators to install it across the city and successfully maintain tidiness.

"Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City supports the Clean India campaign wholeheartedly and the team here has committed to keeping the area clean. We plan to donate dust bins and run some cleaning campaigns to work with the locals on this endeavour,” confirmed Abhishek Verma, General Manager, Holiday Inn Express Chennai.

Moreover, the hotels are spreading educational video among the teams and families over building local toilet in the vicinity, kitchen waste disposal by composting, adoption of a local area and maintenance of the same to raise awareness and contribute in the ‘Clean India Mission’.

Even the hotel employees are uploading campaign group pictures, short films and video of SBA activities on You Tube IHG SWA SBA channel to spread the message at the max.

Reportedly, with the onset of the cleanliness drive, IHG has mapped out a complete annual calendar for all the South West Asian hotels.