Meliá Hotels International has reached a significant milestone in its sustainability efforts by achieving carbon neutrality for more than 4,000 events held across 40 strategic hotels in the meetings and events segment in 2024, with the offsetting of 5,387 tonnes (t) of CO₂.
This accomplishment is a key part of the company’s ‘Road to Net Zero Events’ programme, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of events and promote responsible tourism.
The programme is Meliá’s initiative to encourage clients to consider the environmental impact of their events.
The company measures the carbon footprint of events, including meeting room use, accommodation, and food and beverage services, at its flagship MICE hotels.
In partnership with Creast, Meliá developed a technology for calculating the carbon footprint of each event.
This approach is applied during the booking process and after the event, allowing clients to make responsible choices without incurring additional costs.
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By GlobalDataThe technology is claimed to have helped to avoid more than 1,300t of CO₂ emissions by using renewable energy in select hotels.
The remaining emissions have been offset by purchasing carbon credits from Climatetrade, supporting the Dominican Republic’s clean energy project.
This initiative complements Meliá’s broader decarbonisation strategy, which includes the offsetting of all operational emissions from the Palma Congress Center and the adjoining Meliá Palma Bay hotel last year, making it a carbon-neutral convention centre.
Meliá Hotels International chairman and CEO Gabriel Escarrer said: “At Meliá, we believe tourism should be a force for good in the communities and destinations where we operate.
“Through our ‘Travel for Good’ framework, we promote concrete initiatives such as ‘Road to Net Zero Events’, a tool to engage our clients in making more responsible choices and to collectively foster a more conscious and sustainable events industry.”
Last month, Meliá revealed the signing of Hotel Corte Rosada, Affiliated by Meliá, in Alghero, Sardinia, marking an expansion in its Mediterranean portfolio.
