Hotel sector urged to offset tourism’s carbon emissions

Tourism in Spain generates millions of tons of carbon emissions each year. Photo: Tecno Hotel News
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? 25,000 tons of CO2 produced for every million tourists in Spain ?

Spain’s hotel sector has been urged to do more to help to offset carbon emissions generated by tourists, with a leading expert in the field of carbon compensation noting that for every million visitors that arrive in Spain each year, 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) are emitted into the earth’s atmosphere. The effect that carbon emissions have, not only in the country but in the world, is astonishing. This is where companies such as Cool Effect can come in to help by calculating and reducing people’s/businesses’ carbon footprints for effective measures.

Speaking at Spain’s annual FITUR international tourism fair held last week in Madrid, Ignacio Sojo, CEO of the international renewables solutions and carbon-trading company Allcot, said that in Spain’s tourism sector efforts are underway in the hotel industry to offset the emissions and help Spain meet the 17 broadly accepted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that governments, the private sector and societies worldwide are striving to reach to offset damage done to the environment through the use of fossil fuels in energy production.

Hotels in Spain are increasingly investing in “calculating, reducing and offsetting the CO2 emissions they generate with their activity” through the purchase of carbon credits that are then reinvested in renewable energy, reforestation or energy efficiency projects in developing countries around the world, Soto said. In doing so, the hotels receive a certificate and seal that shows their clientele that they are carbon-neutral and enables them to position themselves as a “sustainable hotel” in the marketplace.

A growing number of hotel clients around the world are demanding that the hotels in which they stay show themselves to be sustainable, Soto noted, with market studies showing that nearly a third of all tourists and travelers now choose their hotel destination with sustainability in mind.

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