InterContinental Asiana Saigon Continues to Support the Local Community Through Sustainable Development.

Online, July 12, 2013 (Newswire.com) - In collaboration with the General Science Library, the management team and associates of InterContinental Asiana Saigon distributed stationery and over 1,000 books of various topics, including children's books, literature and natural sciences, to the library at the Tan Phu Trung primary school in Cu Chi. The Library Project first started in March 2012 as part of the hotel's Responsible Business activities to support underprivileged students in less developed areas of the city. And since its inception, the project has raised more than 2,500 books mostly through the donation of all their associates. This visit was the fifth time the hotel team carried out the project.

For all of its activities, the hotel has been awarded an EarthCheck Bronze Certification by EarthCheck - the world's leading certifier of travel and tourism organisations for their significant commitment towards achieving environmental and social sustainable development. In order to gain the EarthCheck Bronze Certification, InterContinental Asiana Saigon had to report their environmental footprint to independent auditors and adhere to an internationally-recognised standard of Best Practice. During the process, the hotel was also required to submit a year's worth of operational data that were benchmarked against industry Best Practice. The data was then measured against a number of key indicators such as energy and water consumption, total waste production, and community commitment.

EarthCheck is the world's leading sustainability programme used by the travel and tourism industry. EarthCheck is a science-based approach to sustainability that establishes a system to track and measure resource use and waste output, and encourages design and operational effectiveness. The programme is trusted and used by more than 1,200 organisations in over 65 countries.

"By taking a scientific approach to measuring the effectiveness of our sustainability practices, InterContinental Asiana Saigon was able to identify where we were outperforming others and where room for improvement remains. Achieving the EarthCheck Bronze Certification has proven our strong commitment across all levels of our organisation and the embedding of sustainability principles into all policies, procedures and activities. We are going in the right direction of being a responsible business that supports the local community. We believe our customers will trust and stay with brands that are responsible," said Mr. Pascal Caubo - Hotel Manager, InterContinental Asiana Saigon.