Over the last decade, the hotel chain has managed to save EUR 1.3 million in energy and 500 million litres of water.
Melia Hotels International, Spain’s leading hotel company, has widened its partnership with EarthCheck, one of the world’s chief sustainable tourism certification programmes, with the aim of increasing the implementation of sustainable principles in its business operations.
By the end of the year, four of the hotel chain’s properties will have obtained EarthCheck’s stamp of approval, thus joining the six properties that have already obtained it and which in the last decade have managed to save EUR 1.3 million in energy and 500 million litres of water.
In the words of Gabriel Escarrer, vice-president and chief executive of Melia Hotels International: "As one of the leaders in responsible tourism management systems, EarthCheck is a highly valuable platform for implementing our vision of sustainability in the hotel industry." For this reason, for Escarrer this partnership represents "a logical step forward after more than 10 years of collaboration, since the Melia Bali obtained EarthCheck’s stamp of approval in 2001, the results obtained to date having been very positive."
The Melia Bali Hotel is precisely one of EarthCheck’s yardstick properties thanks to its consumption and waste management systems, as well as its social commitment to the community (an example of which is that in 2011 the hotel staff were all locals and 90% of its consumer goods were locally sourced).
Stewart Moore, chief executive of EC3 Global, stressed: "Melia Hotels International is one of EarthCheck’s most representative companies in terms of sustainability in Asia, and we are proud to extend our partnership to a global level and increase the number of the chain’s certified properties." For the chief executive of this tourism and environmental management consultancy firm, responsible for EarthCheck, "our objective is to provide Melia Hotels International’s properties with quantifiable indicators that allow them to address their risks, maximize the experience of their guests, and minimize their carbon footprint."
EarthCheck is present in over 70 countries and every year measures 16 million kWh of energy, 34 million litres of drinking water, 1 million m3 of waste and 2.5 million tons of CO2. According to Moore: "we strive to reduce the levels of consumption of our members, having helped them save to date over $100 million."
The members of EarthCheck have access to the EarthCheck Research Institute (ERI), which has one of the largest tourism research databases in the world. "The researchers at ERI have demonstrated that sustainability is not now an option, but a global movement that all travel and tourism industries should take seriously," indicated Moore, "and the emerging Green Economy offers the industry very positive opportunities, above all for those proactive actors as is the case of Melia Hotels International."
