• Iberostar Hotels & Resorts publishes its "2023 Year in Review" report, detailing the company's progress towards its sustainability objectives.
• The hotel group highlights its efforts and results in terms of circular economy, blue foods, nature-based solutions, climate action and destination stewardship.

  Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, dedicated to developing a model of responsible tourism, publishes its "2023 Year in Review'' outlining its latest sustainability progress achieved through the innovative work within Wave of Change. The Mallorcan hotel group reports across five key pillars including; circular economy, blue foods, nature-based solutions, climate action and destination stewardship.   Gloria Fluxà, Vice-Chairman and Chief Sustainability Officer, Iberostar Group outlines: "Our commitment to responsible tourism leads our business on a transformative journey. The successful implementation of our vision requires a 360-degree approach, embedding sustainability within every process, aligning with nature, and mitigating risks. For instance, implementing Nature-Based Solutions like restoring coral reefs or mangroves to mitigate hurricane impact. Collaborations such as these, can aid in developing proactive solutions, partnering with local governments can address major infrastructure challenges, and involving local communities can further holistic tourism. Through collective collaboration, our aim is to inspire positive change, so that we create a future where people and the environment flourish."   Emissions reduction and commitment to green hydrogen   Iberostar is moving towards carbon neutrality by 2030, a milestone it aims to reach twenty years ahead of the global target set by the industry. In 2023, compared to 2019, it has managed to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12% globally: 6% in the AME region and 32% in EMEA.   Similarly, the hotel chain has also reduced its energy consumption (kWh) by 6.5% compared to 2019, a particularly positive percentage in the EMEA region, where it amounts to 6.64%. Hotels in Montenegro (12.72%), Morocco (10.97%) and the Canary Islands (Spain) (8.18%) have achieved some of the largest reductions through the implementation of best practices in hotels and key investments.   Electrification is another cornerstone of Iberostar's decarbonization strategy, as it contributes to both decarbonization within its operations, and energy efficiency, due to the higher efficiency of heat pumps compared with boilers. As of 2023, all our hotels in Montenegro (three) and one hotel in Spain are fully electric. In 2024, one hotel in AME and another in EMEA will also be 100% electrified. In addition, as an intermediate step towards full electrification, this year will see the partial electrification of another eight hotels globally.   Less waste to landfill at Iberostar hotels   In 2023, the hotel chain worked to reduce the overall percentage of waste in its hotels, waste sent to landfill and waste derived from food. Specifically, through its 3R’s team and different initiatives, the company worked hard to reduce waste sent to landfill by 56% relative to its 2021 baseline.   83% of the seafood consumed at Iberostar hotels comes from responsible sources   The data in the report published by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts shows progress towards the goal of ensuring that 100% of fish and seafood served in Iberostar hotels is responsible, having achieved that 83%, five percentage points above last year's data.   This achievement also contributes to the broader goal of promoting environmental stewardship in the seafood industry where the company is working with fishing communities in specific destinations to achieve a sustainable local approach. For example, the Aliança Kirimurȇ in Brazil.   Eight coral nurseries for the conservation of the environment   In 2023 Iberostar incorporated two new coral nurseries in the Dominican Republic. As a result, the company now has eight nurseries - four in the country, three in Mexico and one in Jamaica: to continue studying the behavior and adaptation of these species against climate change, in order to establish a genetic bank of coral species.   Simultaneously, since restarting Iberostar's mangrove restoration program in 2021, the company has planted more than 16,100 mangroves of different varieties in the Dominican Republic. In addition, the chain has continued to implement local initiatives and collaborations to promote dune restoration in Mexico.   Challenges for the future   Iberostar also identifies some of challenges it faces in the near future as it works towards the goals of its 2030 Agenda:  

• Offset remaining emissions that are not easily achievable through decarbonization through innovative carbon capture projects, with a focus on blue carbon initiatives. Projects aim to  prioritize biodiversity conservation, sustainable ecosystem management and community inclusion for their economic benefit.
• Continue with the electrification of its hotels to amplify the innovation projects it is carrying out.
• Create quality partnerships throughout the value chain to continue to reduce Scope 3 emissions, including aligning with its suppliers on carbon measurement standards, building relationships that foster collaboration with key suppliers, with the aim of generating tangible leaps of progress rather than attempting to dilute smaller actions across its value chain.
• Encourage collaboration and innovation with other companies to jointly address environmental challenges in order to build strong connections that allow us to maximize our impact at the destination.

 

• New roadmap outlines Iberostar's strategic progress in achieving circularity, moving closer to the sector's ambitions to become net positive.
• It details progress to date, including diverting 56% of waste from landfill, and reducing Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 12.4% in line with the SBTi commitment to decarbonize by 85% by 2030.
• Future initiatives center on cultivating partnerships across public and private value chains, fostering product innovation, and transitioning towards regenerative practices in food and services.

  Iberostar Group, a leader in responsible tourism, unveils its new roadmap showcasing its commitment to circular economy principles at the 28th edition of the United Nations Conference (COP28) in Dubai, at the UNWTO event: Tourism United for Climate Action – Delivering on the Commitments of the Glasgow Declaration.   Its latest report serves as a bold statement of intent, signaling a commitment to drive value and continuous improvement at its destinations. It also outlines Iberostar's progress on decarbonization, waste management, and reduction of single-use plastics, including learnings from its first approaches.   Innovation and collaboration stand as paramount pillars in shaping the value chain, with the report emphasizing their pivotal roles. The collaborative efforts required for circular systems development are of utmost significance. Notably, despite effective waste management practices, a 1/4 of the waste projected for landfill disposal by Iberostar requires innovative solutions upstream in the value chain. This mirrors a parallel challenge with carbon emissions, where Scope 3 Carbon alone represents 77% of its total footprint. Acknowledging this, Iberostar is actively engaging the value chain, and in public-private partnerships to drive sector development, particularly in waste and energy.   Gloria Fluxà, Vice-Chairman and Chief Sustainability Officer of Iberostar Group, states, "Our roadmap explores the transformative power of circular thinking. Circularity requires us to redesign current processes, stimulate innovation, and foster collaborations - vital across industries. For our own sector the potential is clear - it yields multifaceted benefits critical to achieving our mission of a responsible tourism model - one that is net and nature positive.   She continues: The shift away from linear thinking will certainly deliver profound and enduring impacts. This transition will ultimately lead us to substantial reductions in carbon emissions, minimizing resource extraction, promoting biodiversity restoration, whilst maintaining economic viability so that we can safeguard both natural ecosystems and communities."   Through this strategy we broaden our approach to include developments across People, Carbon, Water, Goods & Services, Built Environments, Ecosystems Services, Destination Development, Innovation and Partnerships. The roadmap has three main approaches, including specific targets to activate effective change:  

1. Evolving Operations towards Circularity - Demonstrating a commitment to complete circular thinking, redefining operations at a hotel level.
2. Contributing to Regenerative Destinations - Adding value by developing infrastructure and ecosystem services that support regenerative tourism, aligning and evolving with the destination.
3. Driving Partnership Through the Value Chain - Focusing on partnerships across the value chain focusing on driving accountability, and pre-competitive collaboration.

  Some of the commitments and approaches include:  

• Food waste will be reduced by 60% in all-inclusive hotels over the next five years.
• Hotels will have a minimum of 65% plant-based offer by 2030.
• Each hotel will personalize its strategic plans in-line with a data-driven approach according to materiality assessments.
• Hotels will reduce their total residuals by 30% over five years.
• Building on its work to source 100% sustainable seafood by 2025, Iberostar will expand sustainable procurement to ruminant meats, tea, coffee, cocoa and sugar.
• Hotels will work with suppliers to foster the assessment of biodiversity impacts and towards regenerative and sustainable services.
• 60% of waste currently sent to landfill could be reassessed with enhanced destination infrastructure (As a result, a Destinations Stewardship team has been created to drive greater collaboration and public-private initiatives).

  The report also highlights some of the organization's key achievements so far:   Plastics  

• The chain achieved single-use plastic-free status in 2020.
• Eliminating 692 tons of single-use plastics since 2018, through changes including the installation of more than 1,300 water fountains in hotels.
• Over 1,000 evaluated, eliminated, altered, and redesigned items in order to achieve the target.

  Waste  

• Employing more than 230 full-time 3R departments staff across 60 hotels, managing around 23,000 tons of waste annually.
• Recognizing the success of the 3Rs waste teams, which has diverted 56% of waste from landfill over three years.

  Decarbonization  

• Achieving a 12.4% reduction in scope 1 & 2 emissions in 2022.
• Reducing energy consumption by 5.7%, aided by internal and customer behavioral changes.

  The roadmap supplements previous strategies on responsible consumption of seafood, coastal health, and decarbonization, emphasizing Iberostar's commitment to reduce its impact. Through its transparency, the company hopes that this roadmap and its initiatives can stimulate discussion, innovation and collaboration as to how the sector can advance its sustainability strategies whilst maintaining growth.

 

As part of its ambitious Agenda 2030, Iberostar is working to be waste-free by 2025 and carbon neutral by 2030. 

  Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and Winnow are celebrating a successful partnership in the first half of 2023 by reducing food waste and achieving significant progress in their journey towards a waste-free future by 2025. With Winnow AI technology now installed in 48 of the 100+ Iberostar hotels globally, this progress includes:  

• Cutting food waste by 28 percent in hotels with AI technology installed and onboarded.
• Globally hotels using AI technology are saving 1.5 million meals per year which is well on our way to reaching our target of 5.3 million meals.
• Globally and from January - June 2023: 735K total meals saved - 11 percent reduction in waste weight - 1,264 tons of CO2 saved
• From a climate perspective, this translates to 2,500 tons of CO2e reduced per year - the equivalent of 6.4m miles driven by a passenger car (source: EPA calculator)

  As part of its ambitious and pioneering sustainability movement called Wave of Change, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts partnered with Winnow in September 2022, with the aim of saving 1,600 tons of food waste per year, equivalent to 5.3 million meals.   Megan Morikawa, Iberostar’s Global Sustainability Director, says, "Our partnership with Winnow is a testament to our commitment towards a waste-free future. It is truly inspiring to see our chefs embrace the program and create tangible change. This achievement reinforces Iberostar's position as a leader in creating a sustainable travel industry."   Marc Zornes, CEO of Winnow, adds, "Iberostar has shown incredible dedication to combating food waste, and their ambitious goals align perfectly with Winnow's mission. We are excited to see the positive impact our collaboration has already made, and we look forward to further supporting Iberostar in reaching their waste-free target by 2025."   These milestones demonstrate the vital role the hospitality industry can play in addressing climate change and creating a sustainable and positive tourism.  

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