Dalata has achieved Green Tourism Sustainability Certification in 2023 for all 50 of its hotels.
Dalata Hotel Group (“Dalata” or the “Group”), Ireland’s largest hotel operator with a growing presence in the UK and continental Europe, has announced that the Group has achieved Green Tourism sustainability certification for all of its Clayton, Maldron and partner hotels in 2023. The Group achieved the Green Tourism Certification “Gold” standard for all 48 previously assessed hotels, and also achieved Gold and Silver for two new hotels added to the portfolio during the period. In addition, all 45 applied hotels were also awarded “Gold” status for “Green Meetings” certification. Dalata has an action plan in place to achieve “Gold” status across its portfolio in the coming years.
These certifications recognise Dalata’s ongoing efforts to minimise its environmental impact, engage with the local community and foster an accessible environment for both guests and staff, while the recently created “Green Meetings” standard assesses the extent to which venues adhere to environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices for meetings and events. To achieve “Gold” certification, companies must demonstrate a strong environmental ethic, make significant changes to their working practices and continually review and maintain them.
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Continuing our commitment to sustainability
The Green Tourism certification is testament to Dalata’s wider sustainability efforts: Dalata has achieved the impressive feat of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions per room sold in 2023 by 27% compared to 2019, and is on track to achieve its ambitious goal of reducing energy-related emissions per room sold by 20% by 2026.
The group is also implementing energy management projects across its existing hotel portfolio, and its modern, efficient portfolio contributes significantly to its sustainability goals: for example, Maldron Hotel Merrion Road in Dublin and Maldron Hotel Finsbury Park in London are both built to an ‘A’ Building Energy Rating (BER) and utilise metering, LED lighting and new green technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
A new aspect this year is the addition of Green Meetings certification. All hotels with meetings and events facilities applied for certification and all hotels in Ireland and the UK have now achieved Gold Standard certification. Dalata is the first hotel group to achieve Green Meetings Gold certification, the highest standard among all hotels in Ireland and the UK.
Additionally, Dalata is actively participating in the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which focuses on the building sector. The Group is also ambitious about the sustainability of its new hotel developments. The building renovation of Edinburgh’s St. Andrew Square will be one of the Group’s first properties designed to have zero carbon emissions on site. Furthermore, as the renovation plans go, external consultants estimate that the design will have around 70% lower carbon content and 50% lower lifecycle CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) compared to a hypothetical new-build structure.
Caitriona Conroy, Head of Operational Risk & Sustainability at Dalata Hotel Group, said: “As a leader in the hospitality industry, we remain committed to contributing to a more resilient and environmentally responsible future. The fact that most of our hotels have maintained Green Tourism’s ‘Gold’ scores is testament to the sustainability commitment at all levels of our organisation and we will continue to strive to achieve the ‘Gold’ standard through our action plans. We would like to thank all our hotel teams and managers for their hard work in maintaining key sustainability credentials across our portfolio. We would also like to thank Green Tourism for their continued guidance and recognition of our sustainability achievements.”
Andrea Nicholas, CEO of Green Tourism, said: “It’s fantastic to see Dalata Hotel Group’s leadership team’s progressive approach to sustainability have led to them achieving Green Tourism and Green Meetings Gold certification for many of their hotels in Ireland, the UK and Europe. We’ve been delighted to have supported them since 2019, advising and monitoring on sustainability best practice to the outstanding environmental performance standards they have now achieved as a group.”
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