As part of this week, the InterContinental Bangkok, provided support to UNESCO’s World Heritage and sustainable tourism initiative ‘People Protecting Places’, by helping with restoration work at the Historic City of Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In late 2011, as a result of the floods around Bangkok, many of the temples in Ayutthaya were damaged, and restoration efforts have been underway since.
More than 100 staff members from the InterContinental Bangkok travelled to Ayutthaya to build a 1,000 metre long tree-fence around the Wat Prasrisanpetch and Wat Rachaburana temples, and the Royal Palace.
The fence, constructed using 30,000 of the tough and durable “Cha” trees, will help prevent flooding, while at the same time beautifying the area and benefitting the environment.
Markus Platzer, General Manager of the InterContinental Bangkok says: “With a global presence in more than 60 countries, we have a responsibility to preserve the communities that we operate in. We have the tremendous opportunity to make travel and tourism more responsible and successful".
“We developed the idea for our staff to assist in restoring Ayutthaya for Responsible Business Week 2012, and we received a tremendous response. Working towards building the future sustainability of one of Thailand’s most historic areas truly excites the InterContinental Bangkok team.”
For more information on InterContinental Hotels & Resorts activities for Responsible Business Week 2012, please see www.facebook.com/intercontinental.