Azora, on behalf of its flagship European Hotel & Leisure Fund, has invested €2.5 million in a pilot program aimed at decarbonising the 7-hotel portfolio bought by its European Hotel & Leisure fund from Med Playa in 2019.
The portfolio comprises : the Hotel Pez Espada in Torremolinos and the Hotel Riviera in Benalmádena, both located on the Costa del Sol; and the Flamingo Oasis, Río Park, Riudor, Regente and Agir hotels, located in Benidorm.
The project includes initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency and minimising dependency on fossil fuels such as replacing hot water production equipment with air/water heat pumps, installing a photovoltaic solar energy production plant and installing thermal production control systems, as well as equipment to optimize electricity supply.
The programme follows an initial €30 million repositioning of the hotels to bring them to a four-star rating, with the portfolio continuing to be managed by Med Playa Group. Following the pilot programme, Azora plans to extend these decarbonisation initiatives across the rest of the Fund’s portfolio.
Why it matters
With growing global pressure to address climate change and governments worldwide increasingly implementing regulations to reduce carbon emissions, Azora's decarbonization project represents a shift towards more concrete sustainable investments in the hospitality sector. In April, EasyHotel said it would invest £4.5 million to reduce carbon emissions by 25 per cent across 12 UK locations.
What they said
Concha Osácar, co-founding partner of Azora said: “This decarbonization plan highlights the commitment we have to sustainability, and represents the next stage of our efforts to improve the energy efficiency of our portfolio. At Azora, we are convinced that the creation of value also involves applying the latest trends in energy efficiency and sustainability into the repositioning we carry out to improve the user experience and the environmental impact of our facilities.”
Gonzalo García-Lago, partner at Azora Hotels & Leisure added: “The initiatives we have rolled out across the Med Playa portfolio will be analysed as we look to replicate the success of this pilot project across the rest of our portfolio. Our objective is to continue taking measures to modernize our assets and reduce the carbon footprint of our activity as much as possible.”
Daniel Colomer, project director at Med Playa added: "This decarbonization project is a sign of Med Playa's commitment to sustainability and the environment, and we are proud to collaborate with Azora on this initiative that will improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in our hotels.”