Hotel company Accor is stepping up its sustainability efforts by improving water “stewardship” initiatives across its properties and operations.
France-based Accor, which owns brands such as Ibis, Mercure, Raffles, Fairmont, Novotel and Sofitel, is focusing on reducing water consumption and improving water quality at its hotels.
This includes initiatives such as replacing bathtubs with showers in rooms, reducing the “significant water footprint” within its food and beverage operations, and encouraging guests to “Skip the Clean” by earning loyalty points when they opt out of daily cleaning of their room.
Accor estimates that if all multi-night guests choose to only have their room cleaned on every third day, rather than daily, it would save up to 4 per cent of the group’s direct water consumption.
In a further move Sébastien Bazin, Accor’s chairman and CEO, has just signed the United Nations’ CEO Water Mandate, which is a forum for major companies to share best practices and create partnerships to tackle water challenges.
Accor said in a statement that it was “committed to continual progress along six areas of water stewardship”. These areas include its direct operations, supply chain, public policy and community engagement.
Brune Poirson, chief sustainability officer at Accor, added: “Water is a vital resource that underpins our operations, our value chain and the wellbeing of the communities we serve.
“Accor is dedicated to pioneering sustainable solutions and experiences that make every stay a contribution to the society and the environment. To do so, we foster collaboration over competition to set new standards and drive water stewardship actions in all territories where we operate.”