Accor Hotels Aims for Qualmark Sustainability Accreditation
The hotel industry comes with its own challenges as businesses in this sector navigate a high level of complexity within operations, logistics, and overall sustainability. Many of them in the high-end accommodation segment also factor in a significant level of quality assurance.
Combine all this, and you begin to realise the challenges faced by the French multinational hospitality company Accors SA, which strives to meet necessary targets in quality, efficiency, and sustainability.
In 2023, the group was put on the A List by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), joining 140 European countries that were also recognised as high achievers in this space. These companies are part of a wider group of businesses as the CDP has already scored 21,000 of them, placing them in various categories.
On the 7th February 2024, Sébastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of Accor, said: “Accor is paving the way to transform the hospitality industry into a sector that contributes to the environment and the society.
“As demonstrated in 2023, the climate change consequences are real, which requires exploring new ways of managing hotels. Thanks to the strong dedication of Accor teams across the world, the group proves that it has the adequate strategy, method, governance, and rigour to pursue its efforts, to support and provide solutions to our owners in their decarbonisation journey and accelerate the deployment of our strategy, in coalition with our stakeholders.”
Qualmark to recognise Accor’s sustainability efforts
In terms of quality assurance, Accor entered into a strategic partnership with New Zealand-based Qualmark—which recognises operational excellence in the country’s tourism sector. The ‘Qualmark’ is essentially a mark of quality for businesses in this space that have undergone rigorous assessment. The end goal of Qualmark collaboration, to work with businesses that drive forward sustainable practices in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) environments.
With Qualmark, travellers can instantly recognise the commitments of the business, which acts as a means of accreditation, but also a selling point for companies that emphasise sustainability globally.
Much like Accor, which has commitment immensely to various environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The company committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 as per the guidelines set out in the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
“We’re excited to partner with an industry-leading hotel operator like Accor,” says Steven Dixon, New Zealand General Manager at Qualmark.
“Compared to 10 years ago, travellers are now three times more likely to choose a business that has been sustainably accredited. Our vision is to see all New Zealand Tourism businesses join Qualmark, to make it easier for our visitors to make sustainable choices.”
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