Hilton Sri Lanka is committed to driving responsible travel and tourism by incorporating sustainable practices to reduce the environmental footprint. Joining hands with Big Spark by Gateway, SOS Children’s Villages, A+Plus Kids, YES101 and FunDayTimes, the three months campaign is set to begin this August 2020.

“The objective of this campaign is to increase global awareness on the damage being done to the oceans and sea creatures by engaging children to think creatively on how to make the world we live in a better place. This will also create global awareness for Sri Lanka as a unique and sustainable tourist destination”, commented Christopher Zappia – Cluster Commercial Director, Hilton Hotels Sri Lanka. 

The “Save the Ocean” campaign is a virtual event where children from across the globe, between the ages of 3 and 16, will be encouraged to send in short video submissions with their creative ideas on how they can help.  They can enter under one of five “Save the Ocean” categories; Poster Competition / Essay, Creative Writing and Poetry / build a creative aquarium at home / design Robots for ocean exploration and conservation / design a game using any coding platform with the theme being “Save the Ocean”.

Big Spark by Gateway the technology partner for this event, who will manage the page created exclusively for this competition on Flipgrid.  All competitors can submit their entries by visiting the link https://flipgrid.com/savetheocean2020.  Entries close on 15th November 2020.

Big Spark, by Gateway offers a diverse range of programmes in Computing, Language and Performing Arts; that enable children to become future-ready, with the promise of illuminating little minds to become trail blazers.
“At the end of the 3 months campaign, for every 10 submissions we will collect 1 kg of plastic waste through a beach cleanup and release one baby turtle to the ocean. So the more submissions we receive, the more we collect and release” Zappia explains.

Furthermore, attractive prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges for the most creative and relevant submission.

This campaign will target schools across  Sri Lanka and will also reach up to 50,000 children from the SOS Children’s Villages in  12 countries in Asia Pacific, namely Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Laos, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, South Korea and Japan.  

SOS Children’s Villages is a global federation working to protect and care for children who have lost parental care, or who stand at risk of losing it.  Founded in 1949, in Imst, Austria, they have a presence in 136 countries and territories.  They work with communities, partners and states to ensure that the rights of all children, in every society, are fulfilled.  In Asia, they work in 14 countries reaching 131,166 children and young people through this programme. 

The beach cleanup and the releasing of turtles from the turtle hatcheries in Sri Lanka will take place after the prize winners are chosen with all stakeholders participating: Hilton Colombo, Hilton Colombo Residences, Double Tree by Hilton Weerawilla Rajawarna Resort, Hilton Yala,  Big Spark by Gateway, SOS Children’s Villages, A+Plus Kids (television partner) and FunDayTimes (print media partner), powered by YES101.

For more information, visit www.hiltoncolombo1.com/promotions/save-the-ocean