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How A Hotel Group Is Saving Elephants With A Polo Tournament [Season 2, Episode 6]
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Hotel CSR programmes can range from bland and ‘something you just have to do’, to spectacular events that really make a difference and gets everybody talking.
Anantara Hotel Group’s ‘Elephant Polo’ falls into that ‘spectacular’ category. In their own words’:
“What started out as a whimsical conversation between two quirky sport lovers and philanthropists in the late 1990’s has evolved into one of the biggest annual charity events in Thailand.”
The event raises money from big name sponsors for research programmes and other projects that are run in villages where elephant raising is prominent throughout Thailand, to help educate in not only methods of elephant raising that are more humane and don’t require punishment for the animals, to also educating in a way that provokes questions such as “Why do we actually need to domesticate elephants?” and providing new pathways so that traditional Mahouts (people who raise elephants) can start looking at new career options for themselves and their children.
The whole idea of Elephant Polo is not without controversy, and many have criticised the hotel group and sponsors for supporting an event that takes advantage of the elephants and puts them in an unnatural situation just for the public’s ‘enjoyment’.
In this podcast episode, Wimintra and Stuart Jay Raj discuss the pros and cons of hotels supporting such a CSR programme and we also speak with Director of Elephants and Conservation Activities at Anantara’s Conservation Arm (GTAEF Helping Elephants), John Roberts.
John clearly lays out all the arguments and provides a solid case for such a CSR programme.
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