Chairman, The Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts, Capt C.P. Krishnan Nair is a visionary and an environmentalist at heart. His own personal passion has led him to beautify acres and acres of land in and around every Leela hotel. Since the last two decades he has been leading by example to inspire the hospitality industry to take forward environment responsibility.
He has been awarded many accolades for his environment initiatives.
The Leela Palace Kempinski Bangalore has been recognized by the Government of India as the Best Eco Friendly Five Star Deluxe Hotel in the country for the year 2009, and the gardens that it has nurtured in the Garden City have garnered awards year on year. Earlier in 2009, Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair was honoured by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS) for his contribution to environment beautification and corporate social responsibility. The American Academy for the first time has instituted an award honouring corporate czars who have championed the cause of environment and Capt. Nair is the first recipient of this prestigious award.
In 2005, Pacific Asia Travel Association awarded him the PATA Gold Award for environment excellence.
1999 saw Capt. Nair being conferred the prestigious UNEP's Global 500 Laureate Roll of Honour, by His Majesty Emperor Akhito of Japan, which is the highest award given to supporters of the environment movement.
Capt. Nair comments, "Environmental protection is no longer about being green, reusing towels and recycling paper. Today, the main focus is on corporate responsibility by practicing environment protection and sustainability"
This year Capt. Nair will flag off a special program to celebrate the World Environment Day at The Leela Kempinski Mumbai which will roll out simultaneously all across the group. The day dawns with an environment awareness walkathon by the hotel guests, employees and their families around the international airport and back. Colourful floats decorated to the theme "The Leela Unites to Combat Climate Change" accompany the environmental enthusiasts as they march and plant saplings en route to create awareness and re-iterate the message of sensitivity towards the environment.
This will be followed by an address by Capt. Nair where he will share his environment philosophy, passion and drive and his concern along with an action plan on the way forward. It is a "must hear" as it comes from an octogenarian environmentalist, and the only Global Laureate in the industry who has done more than he has spoken to fulfill his dream of creating silent valleys of lush green wherever he has built his hotel.
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