Viva Resorts by Wyndham has achieved Wyndham Green program certification as part of its comprehensive plan to have its hotels operating at maximum efficiency while minimizing their environmental footprints.

“Sustainability and giving back to the community has always been part of Viva’s DNA,” said Viva Resorts by Wyndham corporate director, Marketing and Public Relations, Erika Sordo. “We strongly believe in protecting the environment and especially our oceans. This latest achievement is one more step in underscoring our decades-long commitment to green and clean energy initiatives.”

The Wyndham Green Certification encompasses the implementation of a recycling program, towel and linen reuse, interior energy-efficient lighting, environmental guest communication, property education and utility tracking. Responsible tourism remains one of its guiding pillars including a focus on protecting the environment, as well as a commitment to fostering education and sports, promoting health and supporting local communities.

Over the last two decades, Viva Resorts by Wyndham has implemented a wide range of green initiatives and received global certifications for its environmental and sustainability efforts.

In 2003, it received Blue Flag Beach status at both Viva Dominicus Beach and Viva Dominicus Palace by Wyndham.

Six of its hotels, including Viva Maya and Azteca by Wyndham in Playacar, Riviera Maya, Mexico, have achieved Travelife Sustainability in Tourism certification, a status attained via an independent audit of its actions minimizing environmental impacts; improving the economic and social impacts for people in their community; respecting and protecting human rights and fair labor practices; and for safeguarding animal welfare and biodiversity.

Viva Resorts by Wyndham also pioneered many green hospitality sector efforts in the Dominican Republic. These efforts include installing photovoltaic plants at Viva V Samaná by Wyndham, thereby generating over 68 percent of the property’s energy, reaching record production of clean energy and reducing the emission of carbon dioxide. These initiatives have extended to other resorts within the company’s portfolio in the Dominican Republic, which is now surpassing two million kilowatts of solar energy production.

Indiana University has collaborated with Viva Dominicus Beach and Palace by Wyndham in Bayahibe, La Romana, Dominican Republic, for over twenty years in efforts to protect the 1724 Guadalupe Underwater Archaeological Preserve (GUAP) and the associated marine environment. Established in 2004 as a marine protected area and inaugurated as a Living Museum in the Sea in 2011, the GUAP is the most frequently visited and popular dive site in the entire Dominican Republic.

Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham, Viva Resorts Diving and the Reef Rescue Network Institute based in Nassau, have launched Viva Coral Nursery, a coral reef protection project, located on Grand Bahama Island. To help counteract the degradation that many reefs around the globe undergo due to climate change and human actions, Viva Resorts Diving has created a “coral forest” at Arrow Point, 10 minutes by boat from the resort.

In addition to wide-ranging green initiatives, Viva Resorts by Wyndham’s responsibility platform includes social and educational efforts. For example, Viva Resorts by Wyndham was the first hotel chain in the Dominican Republic to partner with UNICEF launching in July 2011 the “Huésped de Corazón” program to improve the quality of life of children in the country and expanding the all-inclusive resort company’s Social Responsibility Platform.

Viva Resorts by Wyndham also fosters the Fundación Viva de Colores, a school for boys and girls between the ages of four and 10, founded in 2014 in the Villa Hermosa municipality, in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Since its inception, the Foundation has received more than 500 students, facilitating primary education up to the fourth grade.

“When it comes to our promise of protecting the environment and the communities we engage with, we count on the tremendous efforts of our staff, who tirelessly encourage, educate and motivate the Viva team to do their part,” said Sordo. “We also remain wholeheartedly grateful to our guests who have for years participated in the initiatives, expressing their satisfaction with them, and whose hopes for the environment and our communities are in perfect alignment with our own.”