Choosing a resort for a luxury escape is never a simple task. Within a beach destination, there are multiple options that tempt with well-appointed rooms, delicious food, and breathtaking vistas. At El Mangroove Resort, a Marriott Autograph property in Costa Rica, guests can plant a seed of change to ensure that the beautiful landscape will flourish long after they return home.
Eco-tourism is more than just a concept of using refillable water bottles or re-using a towel during a stay. In order to ensure that the locale thrives for years to come, both properties and guests need to be thoughtful with their choices. From avoiding food waste to implementing policies throughout the resort, minimally invasive changes can have a big impact.
At El Mangroove Resort in Costa Rica, the property offers a program called Leave Your Leaves. In a way, the resort special experience allows guests to be more rooted to both the Costa Rican environment and its culture.
The concept is simple. Guests join a special event where staff explains the program, the importance of the mangroves to the regions and the significance to the plant on the country’s culture.
Then, guests are invited to plant their own mangrove plant in a pot. The idea is more than just getting your hands dirty. It is an opportunity to understand a concept - what is taken away needs to return. Replanting areas that were cut to create the resort can thrive again.
Guests’ plants join a wall in the entrance center. Everyone receives a certificate and can follow the mangrove’s process.
Sometimes simple ideas resonate in the grandest ways. First, it forever connects a guest with the resort. It is more than a photo on a grid or the aroma of the most perfect dinner that can make a person remember that delicious bite of food. The guest is invested in the resort, the land, and the future.
Second, it is a tangible way for the Marriott property to capture the Costa Rican concept of Pura Vida in their own way. Giving back, restoring the earth, and connecting people makes for a meaningful eco-friendly story. Understanding and appreciating how the mangrove is essential to the Costa Rican ecology is as important as appreciating the stellar coffee that is grown in the mountains.
Given the location and size of this resort, this concept is quite successful. From the ceremony and beverage to the overall impact of the program, it makes a cultural connection which is vital to making travel meaningful. In today’s travel climate guests want a story served with their vacation escape. From food and flavor to culture and charity, people want to ensure that experience will be there when they book a return visit.
In a way, the Leave Your Leaves plants a seed of change both in the moment and in the future. People appreciate sustainable food and beverage concepts. They even can implement eco-friendly choices in fashion or within their home. When they bring that appreciation to the places they visit, the conversation has a lasting impact for a wider audience. Planting one mangrove might not instantly improve smog or reduce the carbon footprint in a dramatic fashion, but it creates change. One leaf, one plant, one person can add up to jungle full of growth to a more sustainable future.
The Leave Your Leaves Program is available at El Mangroove Resort in Costa Rica. The resort is a Marriott Autograph Collection property located in Guanacaste. The resort has various amenities, several restaurants, and a spa.