Shangri-La Rasa Sayang and Shangri-La Golden Sands had a wonderful start to 2022 after winning 3 ASEAN Tourism Awards at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2022 held at Preah Sihanoukville in Cambodia on 19 January 2022.
Rasa Sayang and Golden Sands both received the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard (2022-2024), while Rasa Sayang also notched the ASEAN MICE Venue Standard (2022-2024) accolade. They were the only properties from Penang to be honoured at the ceremony, and Shangri-La was the only hospitality group that swept 3 awards.
The ASEAN Tourism Awards recognises and honours outstanding tourism players around the region that comply with the ASEAN Tourism Standards – a benchmark that all industry players in member countries use to provide and ensure high-quality and excellent services to tourists, with the ultimate aim of making the ASEAN region a prime destination for global travellers.
This was Rasa Sayang’s second win in the ASEAN MICE Venue Standard category, following previous win in 2018. The recognition is testament to the resort’s excellent MICE venues, safety features, technological innovation and service delivery, which contributes to Penang’s appeal as one of the region’s most attractive MICE destinations. Another factor in the win was the resort’s involvement in environmental protection efforts with the local community.
For the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard, it was the seventh win for Rasa Sayang and first win for Golden Sands. The judging indicator for this segment were the resort’s continuous evolvement to more sustainable and greener business models. Located side-by-side, they have a combined total of 38 acres of gardens, making it the largest and lushest beachfront grounds along the Batu Feringgi tourist belt.
Both resorts have also taken numerous steps to engage the community in go-green efforts such as championing the reduction of single-use plastic, adopting energy conservation measures, implementing recycling programmes and streamline waste management – all of which are key criteria for ASEAN Green Hotel Standard.
Rasa Sayang and Golden Sands General Manager, Markus Christ, said the awards were not only a great recognition for the resorts, but also a good advert for Penang as a destination of choice in ASEAN region – which consist of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
“This standardisation initiative is essential in ensuring that tourism players like us not only offer a certain level of service and facilities, but are also actively involved in meaningful social and environmental initiatives – among them responsible tourism, which is vital in the current pandemic climate, as well as championing sustainability for the long-term benefit of the planet and community which we operate in.