Hotelbeds shifts Corporate Volunteering Program to virtual activities to respond to COVID-19 epidemic
- Online version of the program temporarily replaces the volunteering activities that have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
- Over 30 volunteering opportunities that respond to COVID-19 impact available to Hotelbeds staff throughout the globe during this global pandemic.
- Since launching the Corporate Volunteering Program two years ago, around two thirds of Hotelbeds’ staff have participated in 350 activities, dedicating over 7,500 hours.
Palma, Spain, 6th May 2020 – Hotelbeds , the world’s leading bedbank, has today confirmed the launch of a virtual version of its existing Corporate Volunteering program to assist those most vulnerable during COVID-19.
The new online program started last week and temporarily replaces the in-person Hotelbeds volunteering activities that unfortunately have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19.
This remote program encourages the company’s global workforce to actively participate in volunteering opportunities throughout the globe – including in Spain, the United States, Mexico, and more countries – during this global pandemic, making meaningful contributions to those most affected by COVID-19.
The activities are all carried out remotely to ensure the safety of Hotelbeds’ employees and include over 30 volunteering opportunities such as aiding the elderly, entertaining children, and sharing crucial skills with NGOs.
Examples of some activities already undertaken include: telephone calls and letters to COVID victims in hospitals, supporting Mallorca sense Fam to translate its annual report from Spanish to English; and guiding blind or low-vision users from ‘Be my eyes’, a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers through a live video call.
Teresa Laso, Head of Corporate Sustainability, said: “Giving back to our community has always been at the core of Hotelbeds’ culture and we are needed now more than ever before. With so many inspiring examples of remote working and communities embracing digital methods to bring people together as a result of COVID-19, we were determined to find a way to shift our existing Corporate Volunteer Program into the virtual sphere during this period.
“The current activities have been chosen because they are very well suited to the technological requirements needed, but also because they are focused on the new needs of many out there due to COVID-19 – for example helping to entertain children whose school is closed but their parents are still working, or elderly people who are unable to receive visitors in person currently.”
The Hotelbeds Corporate Volunteering program was launched two years ago across the main company offices worldwide, including its headquarters in Palma, Mallorca, plus offices in Orlando, Singapore, Bangkok, Cancun, Dubai, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, New Delhi and Zurich. Since then, two thirds of employees worldwide have participated in around 350 volunteering activities dedicating over 7,500 hours to support the following areas: the environment, health, people at risk of social exclusion, poverty and childhood.
Around 100 NGOs around the globe have been able to benefit from Hotelbeds’ Corporate Volunteering program, including NGOs such as Give Kids the World in Orlando, Beyond Social Services in Singapore, The Thai Red Cross in Bangkok, Mallorca Sense Fam and El Grec in Mallorca, and Food for Life in Tel Aviv, among many others.
About Hotelbeds
Hotelbeds is the world’s leading Bedbank.
In a fragmented and complex travel landscape, Hotelbeds provides over 180,000 hotels across the globe with access to high-value, complementary distribution channels that significantly increase occupancy rates and optimise RevPAR – while not competing with the hotelier’s direct distribution strategy.
Hotelbeds does this by offering hoteliers access to a network of over 60,000 hard-to-access B2B travel buyers such as tour operators, retail travel agents, airline websites, and loyalty partners in over 140 source markets worldwide. These channels provide hotel partners with returning guests that book further in advance, cancel less, spend more in-destination and stay longer.
In addition to accommodation, Hotelbeds is also the world’s largest B2B seller of travel ancillaries, offering 24,000 transfer routes and 18,000 activities, as well as attractions, tickets and car hire. Operating under the ‘Beyond the
Bed’ product line, it provides both hoteliers and travel distribution partners with an efficient platform and powerful tools to easily integrate and commercialise its leading portfolio of high-margin products.
The company is headquartered in Palma, Spain and employs around 4,500 employees across over 60 offices globally.
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