The hotel industry in Spain is conscious of its responsibilities toward the environment and is working hard both to save energy and minimize the waste of other resources connected with its activities. The hotels in Spain that have taken steps to protect the environment have also discovered that they are getting pay-back from their green credentials as they have been able to attract customers concerned about the impact of their travel activities on the environment. According to a study published in July in Travel Weekly, one in six U.S. tourists would pay more to stay in a hotel that takes concrete measures to protect the environment.

The hotel industry in Spain is aware that investing in the environment is beneficial for its image and for revenues. Sara Ramis, marketing director for the hotel chain Barceló, considers it an obligation that their hotels should become increasingly green and to achieve this they have their own team of specialist engineers and architects. When a hotel building project starts in Spain, Barceló ensures their teams take into account aspects such as obtaining energy from renewable sources, water reuse and the use of recycled materials in its construction. Barceló works towards maximizing energy efficiency by studying each of its hotels in Spain individually. In the Canary Islands they use solar panels as a source of energy, whilst in the Barceló La Bobadilla in Granada, they have installed a device that converts olive stones from the trees that surround the hotel into energy. It is estimated that in a year and a half the hotel has reduced its CO2 emissions by some 80 percent. This has also brought and added value aspect to a stay at the hotel since, according to its director, Enrique Castellanos, many guests request to see the innovative energy-generating process in action.

According to Luis Ortega, director of environment and energy at NH Hotels: “Being sustainable does not cost money, it is profitable and produces significant energy efficiencies”. Convinced of the importance of implementing resource-saving initiatives the chain has installed many energy efficient devices across its nearly 400 hotels in Spain and abroad. They have introduced water saving devices, energy-saving light bulbs controlled by motion detectors, charging points for electric cars and recycling of corks from bottles into furniture, flooring and insulating material.The hotels also ask their guests to contribute to the effort through small gestures such as the forgoing of washing sheets and towels on a daily basis.

The goal of NH hotels is to reduce water consumption, energy, emissions and waste by 20% by 2012 from 2007 levels. The chain recently presented the first results to the NH Sustainable Club which show that, half way through the project, they have already managed to reduce energy consumption by 12%, water by 25% and emissions by 16%. NH Hotels, in conjunction with a company called Carbon Clear, has also developed an online carbon footprint calculator to inform guests of the exact environmental impact of their stay and travel. The device can calculate the carbon footprint of a stay at any of the company’s 394 hotels in Spain or abroad and the trip to the hotel taking into account the transport method used. Then the cost of the carbon footprint can be converted into a Euro amount and a voluntary donation can be made towards a project that supports the environment. For example, a night at the NH Master in Barcelona after a flight from Madrid to Barcelona has a footprint of 195.83 kilos of CO2. To offset the environmental impact of the trip guests could use the online calculator and find that a donation 1.50€ would be sufficient.