The Latitude Hotels Group has launched the first corporate and social responsibility (CSR) report, reflecting the company’s priority to boost sustainable tourism in Africa
Skill development and employee welfare are major focus areas
Latitude has invested US$30.1mn in Africa (Zambia, Malawi and Uganda)– a not inconsiderable contribution to national FDI (between 1.24-4.43 per cent of 2018 FDI)
Through its three boutique hotels, Latitude has a direct impact on 1,397 people in some of the world poorest countries. Skills development and employee welfare are critical to the group and they take a progressive approach to recruitment, training, career opportunities and medical support.
A fundamental tenet of the brand is to embrace and capitalise on the talent and inspirational flair of the communities throughout their supply chain and they endeavour to source as much as possible locally. Latitude quantitatively measures ‘import leakage’ and seek out new approaches and initiatives to increase its local presence. This brand principle makes its hotel offering distinct.
Latitude is pursuing strategic support and partnerships within their local communities, in particular those linked to their employees, to challenge their operations and environmental footprint and to further develop, integrate and determine community support programmes.
The group is formalising procedures and responsibilities around impact collection and measurement which will lead to greater transparency and accelerated progress, which will be documented annually.
Furthermore, Latitude has started its membership of Fair Trade Tourism, the non-profit organisation promoting best-practice responsible tourism in Africa.
