After a two-year interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing & exhibitions) industry has begun to recover worldwide and now faces a new stage in its development. Meliá Hotels International is transforming its value proposition for the MICE segment with the goal of becoming a strategic partner and facilitator of more sustainable events.
At the IMEX Frankfurt trade fair, the hotel company announced a pioneering initiative to measure, reduce and offset the carbon footprint of events in its properties. This is a big step in working towards carbon neutrality, which is an increasing demand amongst professionals in the MICE industry.
"Our objective is to involve our clients in combatting climate change so that we can move forward together in the decarbonisation of events, so we're really proud to take our first steps towards promoting the sustainable transformation of the MICE industry," explained José Miguel Moreno, VP Corporate & MICE Sales Strategy at Meliá Hotels International.
In partnership with Creast, a technology company specialising in measuring, reducing and offsetting the environmental impact of events, Meliá will provide its guests with a tool that calculates the amount of carbon dioxide generated by each event. The measurements consider transportation, energy and water use, material usage, waste, and catering and accommodation services.
These calculations are essential for identifying opportunities to minimise the carbon footprint and define achievable goals. In addition, the calculation tool will help develop a critical knowledge base to help outline the future structure of more sustainable events and meetings across Meliá properties whilst supporting the company's global mission to reduce emissions and move towards carbon neutrality.
Select verified environmental projects will be supported by compensation certificates issued for each hotel event as part of the process. The project has been piloted at the Palma Convention Centre and its Meliá Palma Bay Hotel. A European pilot project will also begin soon at the Meliá Barcelona Sarriá and Meliá Berlin, in which the learning process will be used as the foundation for exporting the model to more MICE hotels throughout the year.
