Sustainability with an impact: how to measure change

As many of you know, the Barcelo Hotel Group has spent years working hard to make its establishments more responsible for local destinations and communities. Our commitment to people and the planet has inspired us to redefine our business and bolster our lines of action focused on more sustainable travel alternatives.

This has resulted in Barceló ReGen, our sustainability strategy that guides our efforts towards maximising the positive impact of our hotels on the destinations where we operate.

We face several challenges as one of the top travel industry companies and, therefore, consider this leadership role when creating a business model that is fair, inclusive and regenerative for people and the planet. We stand behind a form of tourism that is more just, solidary, environmentally aware and respectful of the people who live in our travel destinations.

Our goal is for the industry to make progress in the energy transition with transparency and to address matters such as decarbonisation and the social gap through an ethical perspective based on care. In summary, the aim is to travel better and kinder.

With these objectives in sight and through a firm ethical resolve, our Sustainability with an Impact project was launched in 2022. This innovative tool with a scientific basis allows us to accurately track and measure the economic, social and environmental impact of our hotel operations in an effort to offer solutions and improvements for business phases and processes. Thanks to this technological solution, we can identify and measure transversal impacts (local job creation, economic impact, customer satisfaction, etc.) and analyse specific indicators (investment attraction, regional revaluation for tourism, support for local businesses, etc.).

This is all done to optimise the added value for society and use the resulting impact as a lever for decision-making.

One such indicator is that in 2023, we generated €3.341 billion in direct and indirect revenue thanks to 852,989 domestic tourists and 1,206,947 international travellers who stayed at Barceló Hotel Group establishments in Spain, and we identified improvements in terms of supplier outsourcing, job creation and the use of natural resources.

As a result, 94.7% of hotel contracts involved domestic suppliers, for a total value of €458.1 million, and 72.4% were zero km (within a 100 km radius from the hotel), for a total value of €334 million.

With zero-km sourcing, we improve the local economy and reduce the environmental impact by eliminating shipping emissions in the production and distribution of products.

Additionally, the Barceló Hotel Group’s operations in Spain have created 29,772 jobs calculated in FTEs (direct and indirect), of which 9,924 are direct jobs and approximately 33% are local. The Barceló Hotel Group has invested 23% more in employee training than Spanish companies on average, and the energy consumption per occupied room at our Spanish hotels is 57.5% lower than the industry average.

The goal of creating a business model that is fair, inclusive and regenerative for everyone requires a firm commitment on behalf of the tourism industry.

The Barceló Hotel Group views travel as much more than a change of scenery, which is why we continuously work towards tourism that is more connected to destinations and communities, and also supports their economic development and protects their natural and cultural heritage. We owe this to people and the planet.

Belén Juárez, Head of Sustainability at the Barceló Hotel Group