NHA TRANG, Vietnam – For 16 years, UNICEF and Starwood Hotels and Resorts have been working together to raise funds for the world’s most vulnerable children – remarkably, almost US$8 million has been raised since the program began.
Starwood’s Robert Scott, former Senior Vice President, Europe, Africa, and Middle East Division, had a simple but great idea – to give Starwood guests the opportunity to make a small contribution to UNICEF’s work in helping children who need protection from poverty and disease. On arrival at participating Starwood Hotels, guests are given a Check Out for Children key card with their key wallet. At the end of their stay, a voluntary US$1 is added to their bill. This donation will go to UNICEF’s education programs.
The UNICEF Check Out for Children Challenge is a staff fund-raising competition between Starwood Hotels, which began in 2003, and continues to gather strong support throughout Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the Asia Pacific region. The Challenge has become an immensely popular way to increase hotel’s support of the Check out for Children program as it unites hotel staff and guests under a common goal – to help children in need.
In anticipation of the UNICEF Check Out for Children Challenge this year, Sheraton Nha Trang decided to take it up a notch with a flashmob on the beach on July 15. Relatively new in Vietnam, flashmobs are gaining momentum among the local youth as a fun group activity. To the tune of famous summer dance hits, more than 100 people danced on the beach in the exhilarating crowd.
“It was an exciting event; we had participation from our in-house guests, staff, and local residents. Everybody practiced the dance in advance, and it sure brought something new to our great destination,” exclaimed Catherine Racsko, the hotel’s General Manager.
A video clip from the event can be found here: http://youtu.be/nu0kuHTTJZQ .
Other activities of the hotel campaign include selling Check Out For Children t-shirts for 150,000 VND each and complimentary yoga classes on the beach.
Guests who wish to participate in this significant activity are encouraged to buy the t-shirt at the hotel or contact the hotel to make donations. The program will run until September 30.
“Through this program, we are taking an extra step in educating our staff and guests about the urgent needs of under privileged children around the world,” Racsko added.
For more information about the program, please call +84 58 388 0000 or visit www.sheraton.com/nhatrang or email [email protected] .
ABOUT SHERATON NHA TRANG HOTEL & SPA
The only international five-star hotel in Nha Trang, Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa is the latest and only Sheraton resort in Vietnam. With 280 ocean view rooms and suites, the hotel is home to seven signature restaurants and bars, including Altitude – the highest bar in Nha Trang. Boasting 1,600 square meters of flexible function and meeting space, Sheraton Nha Trang has two ballrooms on the same level and seven smaller meeting rooms with state-of-the-art meeting facilities. Other amenities include outdoor swimming pool with infinity edge and reflection pool area where sun beds sits on water, Shine Spa with 9 luxurious treatment rooms, Sheraton Fitness with 24-hour access, Sheraton Club Lounge, Link@Sheraton, Sheraton Adventure Club (kid’s club), and a purpose-built Cooking School.
ABOUT SHERATON HOTELS & RESORTS
Sheraton helps guests make connections at more than 400 hotels in 70 countries around the world and recently completed a US$6 billion global revitalization and is now in the midst of a US$5 billion global expansion over the next three years. Sheraton is owned by and is the largest and most global brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, with 1,112 properties in 100 countries and territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully-integrated owner, operator, and franchisor of hotels, resorts, and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element SM. The company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades, and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high-quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com .
