HYATT Regency Saipan’s efforts to care for the people extend beyond the four corners of the hotel.
For Hyatt, the hotel is established not just for the sole purpose of doing business on the island but also to be one of the cornerstones of the community’s most trying times. For 42 years now, the Hyatt team has been actively contributing to various community outreach programs they believe that will change someone’s life for the better.
“It is important for us to connect to the community, it is part of Hyatt’s purpose,” its General Manager Guillame Delemarle said.
The hotel’s support and service to the community was evident when supertyphoon Yutu devastated the whole island in 2018. The typhoon left many people in the islands displaced.
Hyatt served as a temporary sanctuary to many community members opening their lobby as a place to rest, charge and even cook food.
Bea O’ Malley, Hyatt’s Marketing and Communications Manager, said that the hotel made sure to keep the hotel open for people in need because it was the right thing to do.
“Many people who lost their homes and do not have electricity went to Hyatt to charge their phones and gadgets, plug in their rice cookers and even take a nap and bath.
“We just need to help the community. We are with them in challenging times,” she added.
Not only is Hyatt part of the community’s low seasons but the hotel has been supportive of their business partners, non-government organizations, private individuals and even government agencies.
“We help out various sports clubs and also sponsor events of businesses in the community,” Delemarle said. According to him, the resort has its doors open for sports organizations and businesses who are conducting events. In fact, recently Hyatt Regency Saipan was a bronze sponsor to Marianas Health’s Golf Tournament, a superior sponsor to the recently held golf tournament of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and was an in-kind contributor to Saipan’s Marathon 2022 held in April.
To support football enthusiasts in the island, the hotel also hosted the Super Bowl LVI watch party in its vicinity last February 2022.
Before the pandemic shut down hotel operations across the globe, Hyatt donated cash amounting to $10,000 to selected organizations in the community.
The beneficiaries include the Northern Marianas Sports Association, which received $2,824.18; the Salvation Army, which received $2,000; the Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance, which got $2,000; the Autism Society of the CNMI, which received $2,000; and the CHC Volunteers Association, which received $2,000.
Investing in Future Leaders
As a business that has survived the changing seasons of the Marianas’ economy for the past 42 years, Hyatt believes that investing in the education of the youth is crucial in supporting the community.
“We support students because we believe that they are the future leaders and the future workforce,” Delemarle said.
Last year, the hotel pledged $1.5 million public benefit to the Commonwealth as part of its land lease agreement with the Department of Public Land.
Of that amount, $200,000 was guaranteed to students of Northern Marianas descent to be paid $5,000 annually in the next 40 years.
Despite the uncertainty of the renewal of its land lease in 2018, Hyatt donated $10,000 to empower the STEM Program of Dandan Middle School.
Hyatt Regency Saipan is the latest company to sign as a Northern Marianas College ProaPerks Partner, joining many other businesses and organizations. As an NMC ProaPerks partner, the hotel gives discounts to NMC students who will check-in at the resort or dine in at the hotel’s various café and restaurants.
Hyatt also partnered with the Northern Marianas Technological Institute in its efforts to help hone the skills of community members who are interested in joining the hospitality industry. During the previous years, together they have facilitated food and beverage related trainings such as the culinary arts program held at the hotel last 2018. 17 students graduated from that program.
Apart from facilitating trainings, the hotel is also constantly providing cash donations to NMTI students amounting to $500 and more.
“We believe that is it important to invest in education because it is important in the future of the young generation,” Delemarle said.
The hotel also opened job opportunities by participating in the local job fair held in August 2022.
Sustainable Environmental Initiatives
Situated on a 40 acre sand, the hotel brags not only of white sandy beaches but also of clean clear blue water.
Hyatt recognizes that they owe their success to the natural beauty of the island which attract many tourists. It is essential to always be part of the community’s efforts in taking care of its environment.
For years, the hotel has actively participated in various beach cleanup activities facilitated by the government.
Hyatt Regency’s staff and management team participated in collecting about 5,538 lbs. of trash during the Ocean Conservancy’s 33rd International Coastal Cleanup, the world’s largest single-day volunteer effort to remove trash from local waterways, beaches, lakes, and rivers in 2018.
The hotel also joined the beach cleanup initiated by Japan Saipan Travel Association in 2020 despite the pandemic.
For Hyatt, the past 42 years is not enough to continue serving the community. They are grateful that the government has renewed its land lease for another 40 years.
“We want the community to know that Hyatt is here to stay, and we are here to stay not just as a business but a constant support to the community,” Delemarle said.
