Spain’s Riu Hotels & Reorts has shown its leadership in the environmental space, by having all of its operating hotels certified under the ECOSTARS programme.
Riu says it is the first hotel chain in the world to achieve this feat, which has required 98 hotels in 21 countries to be checked over. Originally, Riu executives intended to achieve the milestone during 2026, as part of their four year sustainability strategy, started in 2023 and named Proudly Committed. To achieve the target a year early is a major boost to the group’s ESG plans.
An Ongoing Process of Improvement
The group will now go on to have its newest properties accredited under the programme, which evaluates operational physical assets – once they have been running for some time, and consumption in use can be measured and set against sector benchmarks. These include the Riu Plaza hotel in Toronto, Canada, and the Riu Ventura in Mexico.
The ECOSTARS accreditation programme is recognised internationally, by bodies including UN Tourism and the Spanish Tourism Council. More than simply a certification, it also provides Riu with key tools for environmental management, both within the hotels it operates, but also throughout the supply chain. Many businesses find it hard to calculate scope 3 emissions, which cover wide-ranging impacts such as indirect carbon generation via the food served in hotel restaurants; laundry provision; and transport of everything that is delivered to a property.
“This is the perfect tool as it is specifically designed for the hotel industry,” said RIU’s operational sustainability manager, Xisca Sitjar. “Unlike general certification systems, the simplified process is specifically focused on key metrics with a positive impact such as energy and water consumption and waste management. What’s more, it includes third-party verification to ensure robust validation”.
Environmental measurement and accreditation is becoming more than a nice to have addition to a company’s approvals. It is increasingly important to a growing band of travellers. And for larger corporations, many are now making buying decisions around meetings and events, and company travel, based on using suppliers who can demonstrate a clear knowledge of their carbon footprint, as well as showing that they are working actively to reduce it.
Building a Globally Present Brand
Riu continues to expand its hotel inventory around the world. It has recently opened Hotel Riu Palace Calypso, a repositioning and renaming of its 250 room resort property in Morro Jable, in the Canary Islands. Also now welcoming its first guests is the Hotel Riu Plaza Toronto, a 352 room hotel in a newly built tower in the Canadian city.
In New York, the company is working on a third hotel for the brand in the US city. A new build, 50 storey tower will include a 670 room hotel. And in Cancun, the group’s presence will be augmented with the planned launch of Riu Ventura, a 720 room resort property.
