How Six Senses has become synonymous with eco-luxury hospitality for Asian travelers

The Bangkok-headquartered Six Senses is an award-winning hotel, well-known for its uniquely sustainable hospitality.

The brand is synonymous with an eco-chic design that is authentic and timeless. Their properties are in harmony with the surrounding natural and cultural landscapes.

Since founder Sonu Shivdasani sold Six Senses in 2012, now under IHG ownership, the brand has expanded to 22 properties across 17 countries. It has become one of the most desirable hotel brands with discerning Asian travelers.

Why it matters

It pays off for a hotel brand like Six Senses to operate at the highest level of sustainability.

Six Senses has set the standard for what it means to be a sustainable hotel brand.

Its properties gain some of the world’s best prestigious sustainability recognitions including HICAP, and also contribute to Cornell University’s Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking program that compares their performances against a global dataset of their peers.

The brand has more properties in the Asia-Pacific region than in any other parts of the world.

In 2022, Six Senses gained 14 awards from Condé Nast Traveler Readers including the Top 2 Resorts in Asia.

Also in 2022, Six Senses topped LTI – Luxury Travel Intelligence ranking for the third year in a row.

This ranking measures 128 touch points relevant to a brand’s performance and ability to deliver its passion, commitment, ethos and values, quality of its management and staff, and continuing investment in new properties and refurbishing existing ones.

Six Senses enjoys today’s successes thanks to its founder’s out-of-ordinary vision that has been executed with precision over the years.

What caught our eyes

When it comes to sustainability, people, planet, and prosperity are the 3 major areas of measuring and evaluating impact.

PEOPLE

A wellness and education advocate

Launched in 2019, Mission Wellness aimed to create a sustainable and supportive workplace culture, emphasizing on the wellness of every host (e.g. team member). All activities are centered on the eight dimensions of wellness.

The mission is host-run (e.g. employee-run) and comprises activities to support team members in achieving optimal well-being.

Every property of Six Senses has a Director of Sustainability, a key executive leadership role, to ensure seamless integration of sustainability practices into every aspect of a hotel.

Beyond internal teams, Six Senses also invests in apprenticeship programs to develop the next generation of hospitality leaders in communities where the properties operate.

A wellness-centered guest experience provider

Six Senses signature spa offers a layered approach to wellness with treatments that go beyond the ordinary for adult guests.

The Climate Warriors program provides the children with fun and tangible eco-activities such as soap making, turtle rehabilitation, tree planting, and fashion program shows using recycled materials.

For example, Six Senses Zighy Bay’s Sense of Oman is the sultanate’s first guest experience program that centers on connecting well-heeled and well-meaning guests with Omani female entrepreneurs for a hands-on experience of traditional pottery making.

PLANET

An environmental champion in and out of the properties

Since 2017, Earth Lab has served as the sustainability hub at every Six Senses property to carry out its concerted efforts to:

• Reduce consumption via Energy Conservation Committee, waste diversion rate tracking, and monthly reviews of Scope 1 & 2 Emissions.
• Produce and source food locally to minimize food miles.
• Support communities and ecosystems by committing to going plastic-free by the end of 2022, and by initiatives to protect land and sea environmental assets from Vietnam to Maldives.

Six Senses’ Sustainability Fund stipulates 0.5% of the total revenue of every property to be invested in sustainability initiatives externally within its geographic jurisdiction.

PROSPERITY

An inclusive and transparent communicator

Centered on the “sustainability stories based on facts not fiction” approach of communications, Six Senses makes it easy for holiday-makers to learn about both the brand’s and each property’s sustainability initiatives on its major social media platforms.

The brand’s properties across Asia unreservedly share their sustainability initiatives with specific examples and highlighting benefits.

Using culturally appropriate language aside, what gives their audience a pause from mindless scrolling on social media are stunning images that showcase a good mix of guest experiences and the hosts working behind the scenes to deliver the brand’s sustainability commitment.

A visionary hotelier

Six Senses are introducing at least 7 new hotels from 2022 to 2024.

Many experts suggest that this expansion is possible thanks to Six Senses’ bold move of joining IHG to leverage the UK-headquartered hospitality group’s financial firepower.

With these properties located in some of the world’s unique destinations, the brand commits to build them with a very high level of care for the planet and community.

This is a clear sign that nature-led and sustainability-driven hospitality brands like Six Senses continue to see higher demand from travelers.

As Six Senses does not share its financial performance, Asia Sustainable Travel Briefing does not have further analysis of the prosperity aspect.

Let’s zoom out for key takeaways

Six Senses’ commitment to going above and beyond to achieve its vision is a key to success in its sustainability journey.

[For] sustainable well-being to work…it has to be honest and championed with care. Perhaps this authenticity is what guests appreciate the most.

Neil Jacon, Six Senses CEO

Good sustainability practices make good business sense.

Images: credit to Six Senses Ninh Van Bay

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