In our society, practising Sustainable Tourism takes on greater importance every day, with many organizations demanding greater awareness when planning and developing a trip, with the aim of achieving a balance between tourism activity, respect for the environment and the economic development of the destination.
The UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) defines Sustainable Tourism as:
“Tourism that fully takes into account the current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, to meet the needs of visitors, industry, the environment and the host communities.”
The company, GF Hoteles, is a company committed to sustainability since 2007, always working towards a respectful and innovative tourism. A registered member of the United Nations Global Compact for Sustainability, it was the first Canarian hotel chain to join. GF Victoria*****GL, due to open shortly, was conceived with sustainability as a transversal axis of its accommodation proposal and, for this reason, at FITUR 2018 it was named as one of the 10 best projects for Sustainability and Rehabilitation of hotels in our country. It further received the CaixaBank Award for Innovation and Modernization of Tourism Companies in the Canary Islands. The jury for this award highlighted the “efficiency of the design of the building and the integral system of its facilities”, which, as a result, achieved 90% of all energy consumption coming from renewable energy sources. It should be noted that it is the first hotel in the Canary Islands to obtain the Type A Energy Certification, which represents the maximum range of energy efficiency.
For 2018, new objectives have been set to follow the path of sustainability and raise awareness among both guests and employees. The responsible use of resources is fundamental in creating tourism which will continue to be a powerful economic engine in the future without negative impacts on the environment. Aware of this, the following facilities and management systems have been implemented:
– Thermal solar collectors (high efficiency plates or panels).
– Biomass boiler.
– Chiller with energy recovery.
– LED systems in 100% of the installed lighting.
– Inmotic system, (KNX) the only open global standard for energy control. An intelligent method to control energy resources; biomass boiler, solar thermal collectors (solar panels), modulating chillers with 100% heat recovery and high efficiency heat pumps.
In addition to this, the architectural design of GF Victoria*****GL, also takes into account the environment. Standards have been imposed to focus on reducing the loads and thermal conditions to which the building is exposed; in this way, the consumption of energy will be lower. To this end, the complex has 100% of the roofs, and the facade with thermal and acoustic insulation that prevents temperature transmission from the building. And, if that were not enough, the orientation of the building will also facilitate renewal and ventilation in a natural way. Finally, and very importantly, the hotel will have selective segregation of waste, outsourced to professional and authorized companies. Both guests and workers will find waste separation modules to help with the subsequent collection and recycling.
