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SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY

With respect to the vision of Social Responsibility that prevails in Gaia Hotel & Reserve, the administration and the owners have defined a strategy of commercial projection through a model of Local Economic Development for the District of Aguirre.

This strategy is based on the characteristics of the community: its culture, as well as the problems that affect it, taking into consideration that it is a coastal region where the tourism sector has grown rapidly thanks to the natural beauty of the surroundings.

It is worth mentioning that the Local Economic Development Model has been designed so that other organizations can be part of this dynamic, so its central focus is the integration of civil society in an organized and legitimate way.

An example of this is that Gaia Hotel & Reserve, facilitates and contributes considerably to the participation and integration of all business men and women, religious groups, environmentalists, with a goal that culminates in the founding and operation of “Asociación de Desarrollo Comunitario para la Prevención, Seguridad y Paz del Cantón de Aguirre”, COPAZA, which is a community development partnership at the local level.

In the concept of the Local Economic Development Model promoted by Gaia Hotel & Reserve, the goal is to develop and facilitate the economic and social participation of different social groups which happens through sustainability programs particularly at environmental, social and cultural level area.

The model covers the following aspects:

As a socio – economic aspect, Gaia Hotel & Reserve interacts with the surrounding communities, promoting the active participation of civil society and working on local values and culture, through the following programs:

  • Partnership programs with suppliers, through this program, local suppliers are contracted, particularly local artisans, whose products are sold in the hotel gift shop.
  • Human Resources Program, which prioritizes the hiring of personnel from the area, for vacancies.
  • Therapeutic care program for the treatment of people with alcohol and illegal drug problems, offering AA meetings, or referring to other groups (in Spanish or English).
  • Program to rescue local values and promote culture and art through dance, music or theater workshops promoted by youth leaders; this is done in collaboration with COPAZA.
  • Program for the development of labor competencies, through various courses, in collaboration with COPAZA and the INA (National Institute of Learning).
  • Program to promote the development of local micro-enterprises, with the aim of promoting productive linkages through entrepreneurship and self-employment.

As an aspect of institutional collaboration, Gaia Hotel & Reserve cooperates with a number of institutions through logistical and economic support in specific programs, among which we can mention:

  • Virtual education program, from the perspective of the Hotel, virtual education is considered as the key to a secure future. In October 2006, the hotel donated a Virtual Library, as well as a selection of educational books and school materials to the local Korea School in Quepos (elementary school).

Program for institutional strengthening, due to budgetary constraints, public institutions with a physical presence in the area, have many shortcomings, for this reason, several equipment has been provided:

  • Among those mentioned: a photocopier, a scanner, a fax and a printer, along with communication equipment and the installation of a complete computer system, have given a new life to our local office of the “Guardia de Asistencia Rural” (our local police), which brings benefits to the entire community. Gaia also offered the training and availability of our technical support team onsite.
  •  Maintenance of the vehicle fleet of the public force, which in many cases is obsolete, gasoline contributions have been made, as well as repairs of damaged vehicles of the public force.
  • Assistance and contributions for the pavement and building of bridges of the main route through the center of Quepos, highlighting the commitment of Gaia to improve the first impression made by international visitors to our small community.
  • Contribution to the local government administration, to optimize its management, Gaia Hotel & Reserve, supplied to the local municipality, audiovisual equipment, a laptop and a projection screen, all necessary tools to further strengthen the capacity of Communities to offer quality presentations in order to acquire significant government funding for our area.
  • Gaia Hotel recognizes that the problems of drug and alcohol addiction are destructive, not only for families, but also for the community as a whole. Therefore, Gaia provides a private conference room where evening meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and meetings for Al-Anon members are held. These groups have taken their message to drug addicts and homeless people in our community, bringing new hope to their lives.
  • Educational program for the personnel of the Max Terán Valls Hospital, for which GAIA provided reading and documents of interest on the concept of alcoholism and addiction as a “disease”, to help train medical staff to become more attentive to these problems and for to recognize and treat problems of alcohol and drug addiction.
  • Gaia Hotel & Reserve, is one of the sponsors of the Public Force Mobile Units, to house members of the Tourist Police and the Public Force sent to the Manuel Antonio area every year that help to protect and inform the tourists during the most crowded tourist seasons.
  • Gaia Hotel & Reserve has been instrumental in the creation of a Committee revolving around the idea of “Prevention, Security and Peace”, which has been promoting the goals of stability and security in our community, the program is initiated and coordinated by the owner of Gaia Hotel & Reserve, Don Boris Marchegiani.
  • Program of support of life guards on the beaches of Manuel Antonio – this has been done through donations from the owners of Gaia, who has offered them not only financial assistance, in addition to emergency equipment. The benefits are visible not only to the inhabitants of the community, but also to international tourists who visit us.
  • Gaia Hotel & Reserve supports youth soccer teams by donating transportation, uniforms, equipment, etc., as a positive example of alternatives to school absenteeism and crime.
  • Gaia Hotel employees donate their time and financial resources to generous organizations like the Roberta Felix Foundation, COPAZA and ASOMACAO, with a greater emphasis on helping the neediest, the disabled or with special needs of our community and the many peripheral regions.

Biological Physical Aspect, from which Gaia Hotel & Reserve, interacts with the environment, promoting the development of tourism, in a sustainable way, promoting the rescue of biodiversity, as well as the conservation and strengthening of our ecosystems, work carried out from two interrelated perspectives:

For the program of mitigation of the environmental impact with a perspective of sustainable business management, the following programs are available:

  • Intelligent power consumption program.
  • Intelligent water consumption program.
  • Reuse of waste.
  • Production of fertilizer from waste.
  • Biological treatment of waste water.
  • Dedication of the land of Gaia Hotel & Reserve to the conservation of ecosystems as a natural reserve, and preservation of it as a biological corridor, with a size equivalent to 12 acres, that is to say about 5 hectares.

Program of environmental conservation and projection to the community. From this perspective, Gaia Hotel & Reserve participates in programs such as:

  • Rescue of endemic species.
  • Regeneration of forest areas.
  • Protection of National Parks.
  • Conservation and protection of land-sea areas.

These programs are developed through an associative strategy with civil society, through alliances with different organizations, foundations and projects, such as:

  • ASCOMOTI (Titi Monkey Conservation Association).
  • National Park Manuel Antonio.
  • ASOMACAO (Friends of the Ara Macao Costa Rica – Reintroduction Program of the Scarlet Macaw).
  • COPAZA (For the development of cultural and educational programs in the community of Quepos).

Aspect service plant, from which Gaia Hotel & Reserve interacts with its guests, promoting a philosophy, operation and use of resources according to the concept of sustainable tourism. From this perspective, the work carried out by the GAIA family focuses on the employees and shareholders to have an ecological vision through the incorporation of the best technologies related to the consumption of energy resources.

That is why we developed the programs presented below:

  • A green statement that contains all the philosophical orientation that regulates the entire operation of the Hotel, incorporating concepts of conservation, environmental education, human development, health and social security as well as the rescue of values respectful of nature which is achieved through:
  • The treatment of waste water, through ecological solutions and the use of bacteria.
  • Control of water consumption in order to reduce its use.
  • Control of all types of energy uses in order to optimize sources and minimize use.
  • Use of mechanisms to measure water consumption in an ideal way.
  • Rainwater harvesting system for use in activities that do not involve its consumption by humans.
  • High-tech devices to control the efficient consumption of electricity.
  • Lighting system that does not generate heat, allowing the energy saving.
  • Use of alternative energy sources: solar panels and photocells, which save an average of 2000 KWh / h energy per year for each solar collector.
  • Use of “water-free urinals” units, which save about 40,000 gallons of water per year, per unit.
  • Use of a biodegradable product purchase program.

 Aspects of customer service, Gaia Hotel & Reserve promotes the active participation of its guests in internal programs of tourism sustainability and the support of communal, local and national initiatives. As an example – the hotel cleaners inform and motivate guests about environmental and sustainability policies, recycling programs, national parks, wildlife conservation laws, among other policies.

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