Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau held its tree lighting ceremony last night at its hotel lobby in Zape, with their 5-metre Christmas Tree having a twist – it was constructed entirely out of repurposed frames.
Each frame, once displayed at hotel areas before renovation, features paintings from the operator’s recent Boa Vida Painting Competition held over the summer, which gathered 52 participants who painted on themes related to the Artyzen Grand Lapa Hotel and the spirit of Artyzen, as well as previously displayed in-room art.
In the past, the hotel had real trees imported from Canada, but considerations were made with the effects of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2). “We thought that it’s not the right thing to do”, with the hotel operator having already made the decision to stop doing it for a few years, Rutger Verschuren, Area Vice President, Macau and Hengqin of Artyzen Hospitality Group and General Manager of Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau, told the Post during an interview Macau’s English-language media yesterday.
With the hotel having been in Macau for over 40 years, Verschuren said that he had an idea to make use of materials kept in their many storerooms, asking: “Can we make a tree out of this?”. And among the variety of items kept are thousands of frames from the day the hotel was built to the years after. “We still have those. So, we said ‘let’s make use of them’”, he said, being proud of the resulting Christmas Art Tree.
Verschuren also told the Post about their collaboration with the Shanghai Make-A-Wish Charity Foundation, which fulfils wishes for children coping with serious illnesses. One of the first to start the collaboration, the hotel operator helps to sponsor children from the Chinese mainland who have a wish, according to Verschuren, who noted previous examples including a child wanting to see a certain celebrity who happened to visit the city and assisting during activities like when a child wanted to visit Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Hengqin.
“New Year period is always about making wishes, like Christmas, and you wish for the next year to go better. And so, this is a very good season to do something extra”. In line with this, the hotel operator launched the ‘Wish Upon A Star’ Festive Cake that all their hotels sell, with 30 percent of proceeds going towards making wishes come true, according to Verschuren. “It’s not about making money on the cake. This is just trying to do something nice for the society. That’s part of our mission”, he said.
Last night’s tree lighting ceremony, which marked the launch of the hotel’s festive campaign, was followed by a cutting of a Make-A-Wish cake and a performance of Christmas carols by a choir from The International School of Macao (TIS).
Prior to the ceremony, 30 seconds of silence were also observed for the Tai Po Wang Fuk Court inferno victims.
Yesterday’s Tree Lighting ceremony at Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
