Hospitality Business Magazine

Wellington hotel signs sustainability partnership

A new sustainability partnership between ZEALANDIA eco-sanctuary and James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor aims to strengthen environmental goals and enrich the visitor experience to Wellington.

The agreement will see $2 of every Wellington room night booked via grandchancellorhotels.com donated to conservation efforts in the sanctuary.

“Our visitors will be supporting conservation even while they sleep”, says Steve Martin, Hotel General Manager. “Visitors to Wellington are eco-conscious and want to experience the natural world New Zealand is known for. We’ll also be encouraging them to visit ZEALANDIA, just 10 minutes from our hotel.”

Both organisations have a long history of sustainability initiatives.

Matt Valentine, ZEALANDIA Acting Chief Executive says, “We want to share our vision of a nature-rich city and encourage visitors to change the way they live with nature. This partnership shows our shared commitment to a more sustainable future.”

The James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor has a ‘Green Team’ of passionate staff, always looking for new initiatives to reduce the busy hotels environmental footprint, such as donating surplus food, eco room service incentives and sustainable packaging. ZEALANDIA has a fleet of electric passenger shuttles, composts all greenwaste from its cafe, collects rainwater and generates some of its own power through rooftop solar panels.

Both Valentine and Martin agree that the partnership is a great opportunity to introduce ZEALANDIA to guests of the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, and contribute to the sustainability goals of each of our organisations. “We’re looking forward to building a more sustainable future, together.”

ZEALANDIA is the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary, with an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore a Wellington valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to their pre-human state. The 225 hectare ecosanctuary is a groundbreaking conservation project that has reintroduced over 20 species of native wildlife back into the area, some of which were previously absent from mainland New Zealand for over 100 years