Sonu Shivdasani

This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (February 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sonu and Eva Shivdasani by Antonina Gern

Sonu Shivdasani (born 1965) is an Indian–British hotelier, and the founder and CEO of Soneva, which owns luxury resorts Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani, and Soneva in Aqua (a luxury yacht) in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Thailand. He is also the founder and former CEO of the Six Senses Resorts & Spas that had locations throughout South East Asia and Europe, which was sold in 2012.

Early life and education[]

Sonu was born in England, the youngest son of Lakshmi and Indoo Shivdasani (1918–1979), an Indian businessman who made his fortune trading in Nigeria, with his offices based in London and Geneva.^[1] His parents were originally from Sindh in British India (now Pakistan), though his father had immigrated to England long before the Partition of India.^[2] He studied at Eton College in England, followed by Le Rosey in Switzerland, and later graduated from the Oxford University with an MA in English Literature in 1988.^[1][3][4]

His grandfather was an Indian Civil Services officer, while his father, who studied at Clare College, Cambridge built his business in finance, trade and agro-allied industries in West Africa, India and Europe. Later he founded the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation in 1976, which funds education for students in India.^[5] His father died in 1979, when he was 13, leaving his older brother Azad to look after the family business. His elder sister, Bina Shivdasani, Countess Sella di Monteluce (1949–2006), worked in the field of women's education and was the first Asian High Sheriff of Greater London in 2002.

Career[]

After graduating from Oxford, Sonu started working with his older brother Azad Shivdasani managing the family businesses.^[1] After having worked together for two years he founded Six Senses BVI. In 1995, Sonu and his wife Eva, who took on the role of Creative Director, opened Soneva Fushi on the island of Kunfunadhoo in the Maldives. Together they started the Evason group of hotels and the Six Senses Resorts & Spas, with properties opening across South East Asia and Europe. In 2009 they opened Soneva Kiri on the island of Koh Kood in Thailand. By 2011, Six Senses was an international luxury spa and resort chain with 26 resorts and 41 spas.^[6] Sonu sold Six Senses to in mid-2012, to focus on Soneva's resorts and Private Residences as part of the "One Owner, One Operator, One Philosophy, One Brand" strategy under Soneva.^[7][8]

Sonu is one of the founders of the Soneva Foundation (previously known as the SLOWLIFE Foundation). For the past 25 years Sonu and his wife, Eva, have created the blueprint for sustainable tourism, coining the concept of Slow Life, which recognizes the ability for luxury tourism and environmental and social responsibility to co-exist in harmony.^[9] The Soneva Foundation is a UK registered charity (#1138811) which supports the development of innovative and imaginative projects, whose impacts directly address social and environmental challenges around the world.

The Soneva Foundation has so far raised almost US$6 million from Soneva's 2% environmental levy. The money has been used to fund a forest restoration programme in northern Thailand in association with the PATT Foundation, where around half a million trees have been planted to mitigate 255,000 tonnes of CO2 over 40 years. The money has also funded a windmill in South India. The Soneva Foundation also provides heavily subsidised fuel-efficient cook stoves in Myanmar and Darfur, benefiting around 300,000 people to date. These stoves are extremely efficient and thus prevent the need for trees to be felled, reduce indoor air pollution, and save the families huge expenses from buying firewood. In Darfur, it also means that women do not need to spend as much back-breaking time carrying firewood and away from the protection of their IDP camps.

Soneva has also supported the global water crisis through being completely self-sufficient by filtering and bottling their own water in reusable glass bottles. Most of the proceeds from the sale of water at Soneva's resorts are donated to clean water projects around the world. So far, the Soneva Foundation has helped over 750,000 people gain access to clean drinking water or basic sanitation services.

This concept was expanded by Karena Albers and Richard Branson, who while taking part in The SLOW LIFE Symposium held by the Soneva Foundation. The Symposium convenes business leaders, scientists, NGOs, renowned thinkers and policy makers to help accelerate progress towards environmental sustainability. They are intimate events that bring together people with purpose: each and every participant is there because they are committed to positive change that is also good for business. In 2013, Karena Albers had the idea of expanding what they were doing at Soneva's resorts to other hotels and restaurants around the world. This was the conception of Whole World Water that to date has raised more than 1 million dollars to provide clean water.

When it comes to local initiatives in the Maldives, the Soneva Foundation launched the Soneva Namoona programme in early 2019. As part of the initiative, the islands of Maalhos, Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo in the Baa Atoll pledged to end the open burning of island waste, in a radical shift towards eco-friendly waste management. The pledge was made by the Presidents of Maalhos, Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo island councils during a workshop on waste held at Soneva Fushi on January 5-8, 2019. February 5, 2020, saw the official launch of the pioneering initiative with the unveiling of the new ‘eco-centro’ complex on the island of Maalhos, Maldives.

The eco-centro model was pioneered at Soneva Fushi, which is located close to Maalhos. At the resort, food and organic waste, metals and bottles are chipped, ground down or composted, and turned into things of economic value, such as concrete building blocks and fertilizer. Plastic waste is either recycled or used to create useful new objects. Each island has pledged to create an ‘eco-centro’ waste-to-wealth center that will sort, recycle and reuse island waste, essentially ending the open burning of waste, which poses a health and environmental hazard and damages tourism.

Soneva has earmarked funds from the Soneva Save our Seas programme to support the creation of the eco-centros on Maalhos, Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo. The new partnership includes the islands, Soneva Fushi and Common Seas, an international NGO dedicated to reducing marine plastic pollution. Part of the international Clean Blue Alliance (which supports islands in preventing plastic waste leaking into the ocean), it sets a sustainable course for Baa Atoll, and eventually the entire Maldives archipelago, to become a global leader in halting ocean plastic pollution.

Personal life[]

He first met Eva Malmstrom, a Swedish model, through his sister, the late Countess Bina Sella di Monteluce, at the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. They later married^[1] and spent their honeymoon travelling around some of the world’s most exclusive hotels and resorts, inspiring them to open their own. They leased a resort in the Maldives and set about creating their dream and a few years later opened Soneva Fushi.^[10] Eva became a designer, and went on to become Soneva's Creative Director and Conscience, designing interiors at their resorts in the Maldives and Thailand.^[11]

References[]

External links[]

• Soneva website
• "Cover Story: Sonu Shivdasani: Creating Ownership". Business Today. November 2011.