Corporate Social Responsibility

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION

At Grand Hotel Portovenere we are passionate about caring for the local community and the environment. These are the main themes at the heart of our CSR:

Resource Management and Sustainability

We strive to alleviate pressure on natural resources by reducing energy, paper and water consumption in our hotel. We have also implemented actions to optimize waste management.
We are committed to offering a quality and authentic culinary experience to our guests while fighting against food waste and water waste. Among our selected suppliers are small farms or local businesses that adopt a sustainable model for their agriculture and packaging.
We strive to prevent the use of plastic or to use as little plastic as possible. When a sustainable alternative is not available, we choose recycling practices.
We choose and work with partners who share sustainability and ethical values without compromising on the quality of their products and services.

Local Community and Solidarity

We work with and support local associations like Associazione per il Mare, which carries out educational and social activities in the Gulf of Poets, and Associazione Orsa Minore, committed to improving the lives of children and young people with disabilities, autism and other types of developmental disorders. For example, the proceeds of excursions and any gadgets sold during our themed events are donated to Associazione per il Mare; and we organize cooking courses for children with disabilities under the guidance of our chefs, providing an enriching and entertaining experience at Grand Hotel Portovenere.
We support Caritas, donating food for its soup kitchen.

Carbon offset

Our intention is to contribute to the betterment of the environment with concrete actions. The Carbon Farming project aims to connect the environmental goal of combating global warming by capturing the main greenhouse gas (CO2); in order to achieve this, the most effective natural method is CO2 sequestration from wood masses. This allows for a stable and additional sequestration, taking into account any processing emissions.

Thanks to our participation, the renovated, managed and monitored area of 10,000 square metres of olive groves and 15,000 square metres of woodland is able to generate an estimated 15 tonnes of CO2 sequestration per year.

This process takes place by reclaiming abandoned areas, while at the same time making them suitable to noticeably benefit the entire community. The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint through an exchange with a third party that will create an opposite footprint, thanks to the company's contribution.

Our project focuses on a specific area around the hills of Florence and aims to enable the system to achieve a high sequestration capacity precisely because of the differential created.

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Communication & Events

Grand Hotel Portovenere hosts educational and informative events on issues related to sustainable innovation and conscious travel. We also support local or selected artists by hosting their book releases or exhibitions. And we organize wine and food tastings to endorse organic winemakers and farms, often with the partnership of great associations like Slow Food, Cooperativa Miticoltori Spezzini, AIS and ONAV.
Our staff plays a fundamental role: we regularly organize “green” activities and interdepartmental projects to better communicate the eco-sustainability and solidarity themes at the heart of our CSR.

More citrus for the Cinque Terre

Grand Hotel Portovenere participates in the redevelopment project of abandoned terraces to favor the restoration of biodiversity and prevent hydrogeological instability.

The project is also crucial for its social impact, raising awareness among local schools and the community on environmental and tree care issues.

In 2023, thanks to our participation in the project in collaboration with zeroCO2, 30 orange trees were planted at Wild Farm Curnigia. This farm in Corniglia was born to redevelop abandoned areas within the Cinque Terre Park by reintroducing sustainable agricultural practices.