Tierra Hotels

Earth Day

April 16, 2021

Millions of people across the globe join together on April 22nd each year to celebrate this important day for the environment. For Tierra Hotels, it’s a very special date – after all, our name “Tierra” literally means “Earth” in Spanish. This day represents the spirit of what we do and the type of tourism we promote, respecting nature with concrete actions, alongside local communities.

Earth Day has been celebrated around the world every April 22nd since 1970, aiming to bring awareness to environmental issues and how these affect our existence. The climate crisis, atmospheric contamination and deforestation are just a few of the threats that keep our planet in danger and that each of us can help to combat.

The goal of this day of observence represents the spirit of Tierra Hotels from its beginnings. Each of our hotels continually develops new initiatives and projects that aim to protect the environment that surrounds us and to reduce our impact on nature as much as possible.

Today, more than ever, we are aware of the value of our Earth, and careful to protect the resources which it provides for us and its ecosystems, which allow us to live in balance. We feel it is our responsibility to rethink how we relate to our environment to ensure its sustainability. How do we do this?

Habitat preservation at Tierra Patagonia.

Our Sustainability Strategy

Each of the regions where our hotels are located – the Atacama Desert, Chiloe, and Patagonia – has distinct needs and priorities. For this reason, our Sustainability Strategy is based on three principal pillars which are adapted to each geographic region through concrete projects.

Biodiversity: Through different projects we seek to protect the native flora and fauna, developing a harmony between ourselves and our surroundings and nurturing a natural balance.
Zero Footprint: We strive to minimize our impact on the environment. Some of these projects include elimination of single-use plastics, waste management and recycling, hydro and energy efficiency, as well as low-impact excursions.
Community: We want to be a motor of development for local communities. The people and their culture, traditions, cuisine and world view are elements that compose the identity of a place and that deserve to be protected.

The kitchen garden at Tierra Chiloé.

Why the name Tierra?

From the beginning, our hotels originated with the goal to honor nature. An accident during a climb up the Licancabur volcano, in the Atacama Desert, motivated Miguel Purcell, founder and director of Tierra Hotels, alongside the architects Roberto Searle and Matias Gonzalez, to express their gratitude to the Pachamama – or Mother Earth, as known by the Andean cultures – for keeping them alive. This is how Tierra Atacama was born, in San Pedro de Atacama, followed by the other two hotels: Tierra Chiloe and Tierra Patagonia.

“Travel is a tool of change; an opportunity to go deep into our conscious and connect with the natural beauty of Chile and even more, as just being immersed in nature makes it easier to want to protect it and to ensure that its legacy remains alive for future generations,” explains Miguel Purcell, Executive Director of Tierra Hotels.

Water management and revegetation at Tierra Atacama.

We can all contribute to the protection of our environment, by understanding the respect that our Pachamama deserves. We invite you to be a part of this commemoration and learn more about the sustainable tourism that we promote at Tierra Hotels.