Four Seasons demonstrates social responsibility with guest volunteer program

Hotel chain Four Seasons is marking its 50th anniversary with multiple volunteering options that allow guests to give back to local communities while travelling luxuriously.

The Living Values program looks to demonstrate the brand’s core values and its history through the introduction of a new social corporate responsibility platform. The new program allows guests at Four Seasons properties to make donations and volunteer at local fundraisers.

“Giving back to one’s community, using sustainable business practices and helping the planet are initiatives that have greatly resonated with the luxury consumer in the past few years,” said Karen Weiner Escalera, president of KWE Partners, a luxury travel marketing and public relations firm, Miami.

“In fact, we have seen a new form of tourism called voluntourism, which is about doing charitable deeds on holiday,” she said. “This holds true not only for individuals, but also for companies.”

Four Seasons was unable to respond by press deadline.

For reasons

The Four Seasons’ Living Values program is centered on three areas of action that include “supporting sustainability, building communities and advancing cancer research,” according to the brand.

Each category was chosen from the company’s historical impact around the world.

Four Seasons has always focused on creating sustainable tourism that enhances and protects the areas surrounding the company’s properties.

Through the new program, hotel employees have recently embarked on a mission to plant 10 million trees around the world.

For example, guests at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo are invited to shop locally with a Four Seasons employee to buy household items for a local family in need.

Another component, building communities, is focused on the Four Seasons’ commitment to being a responsible community partner.

For this area, Four Seasons hotels worldwide are collecting new and gently-used school supplies for local students.

Guests staying at the Four Seasons in Budapest can also take part in a weekly trip by hotel employees to a local food kitchen.

The last focus area, advancing cancer research, has been a cause that the hotel has corporately and locally raised funds for the past 30 years.

Most notably, the hotel has supported and organized the Terry Fox Run in 50 different countries.

The Terry Fox Organization is dedicated to finding a cure for cancer through research fundraising.

Voluntourism

The Living Values programs are being promoted on a Four Seasons microsite that can be found at http://www.livingvalues.fourseasons.com.

The Web site contains a section for each focus area, as well as a tab that contains a letter from Kathleen Taylor, the CEO of the Four Seasons.

When consumers click on that tab, they can find the historical importance of the social cause to the brand, as well as ongoing and future initiatives.

Web site visitors can also view photos and link through to particular hotel sites to gain more information and contact numbers.

Four Seasons has promoted the microsite on its branded Facebook page and Twitter account, as well as on http://www.fourseasons.com.

The hotel group is not the only company to mark an anniversary with a social cause initiative.

For example, Kiehl’s is currently celebrating its 160-year anniversary with an online voting effort that will benefit charities near and dear to its fans' hearts (see story).

In addition, the Ritz-Carlton is inviting adolescents onto its properties to mentor and highlight the benefits of education as part of the hotel’s Community Footprints social responsibility program (see story).

Also, Mercedes-Benz is highlighting the company’s 125-year anniversary by partnering with local charities and organizations to accomplish an ultimate goal of 125 social actions (see story).

However, the Four Seasons campaign is unique in its global reach and its desire to bring in luxury travellers in a hands-on approach.

“[Four Seasons is] reinforcing the importance of these values to Four Seasons and merchandising the good deeds they have done over the years,” Ms. Weiner said.

“Other companies have done aspects of this, but this program is impressive for its comprehensiveness and geographic scope,” she said.

Final Take

Kayla Hutzler, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York