SANTO DOMINGO. – The hotel chain Hodelpa Hotels, through Hodelpa Nicolás de Ovando, will begin implementing the Biodiversity Check Tourism tool, which involves the voluntary application of measures aimed at integrating biodiversity into business management, as part of its commitment to sustainability.
This tool will be used for the first time in the Dominican Republic, in the city of Santo Domingo, following the signing of an agreement between Hodelpa and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ). In addition, the hotel company has begun applying this mechanism at its Hodelpa Garden Suites hotel in Juan Dolio and at Emotions Puerto Plata.
The Biodiversity Check Tourism tool is a mechanism developed by GIZ and the Global Nature Fund (GNF) to initiate a dialogue process that leads to the voluntary implementation of measures aimed at integrating biodiversity into business operations. Since 2022, thanks to this tool, the Nicolás de Ovando Hotel has been implementing actions to reduce its impact on biological diversity.
Hodelpa reports that the tool responds to emerging trends in international markets, which are increasingly demanding biodiversity-friendly products and services and responsible ecosystem management.
"The tool can be applied by a professional with experience in the tourism sector, biodiversity, and/or environmental management, as it is essential to ensure that the recommendations proposed at the conclusion of the Biodiversity Check Tourism application are both technically and economically feasible, aligned with the company’s needs and realities, and focused on biodiversity," said GIZ representatives.
They stated that through the application of the tool, companies can analyze their impacts and risks related to biodiversity, and also receive objective recommendations and measures to implement in the short and medium term, integrating them into a biodiversity action plan within an environmental and/or quality management system.
Present at the signing of the agreement on behalf of Hodelpa were Yeine Durán, Corporate Manager of Sustainability and Quality; Ángel Hernández, Vice President of Operations; and José Hernández, Manager of the Nicolás de Ovando Hotel.
Representing GIZ were Svenja Paulino, Director of the Biodiversity Program and Director of Business for Central America and the Dominican Republic, and Jaír Urriola, Executive Secretary of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development.
Benefits of the Biodiversity Check Tool
Among the benefits for companies using this tool are: it helps secure the company’s natural capital in the long term, contributes to better-informed customers, enhances the company’s corporate image within the community and among clients, and serves as a foundation for compliance with environmental standards and legislation.
It is also an opportunity to position the company as a sustainable business in the market and serves as a basis for meeting environmental regulations and standards.