Palma de Mallorca, Sep. 4, 2024 - TIME magazine is hailing Meliá Hotels International as the most sustainable company in the tourism sector, designating the Spanish hotel group a number-one pick in the 'World's Most Sustainable Companies of 2024'. 

The inaugural list includes 500 leading companies from more than 30 countries. Meliá Hotels International obtained the highest score in the tourism sector worldwide and occupies 114th place in the global ranking among all industries. The hotel group has also positioned itself in eighth place among the 25 Spanish companies that appear in the ranking.

The TIME announcement comes at the same time that Meliá secured its commitment to sustainability through Ecostars, an internationally recognised certification that evaluates and rewards sustainable practices in the hotel industry. 

Twenty-seven hotels in Asia have already achieved ratings ranging from certified to Silver level. The highest-ranked hotels within the region are Meliá Bali and Meliá Purosani Yogyakarta, both in Indonesia. Meliá Makassar and INNSiDE Yogyakarta, also in Indonesia, achieved a Bronze rating, along with Meliá Vinpearl Hue and Meliá Vinpearl Phu Ly in Vietnam and Meliá Koh Samui in Thailand.

The globally-recognized Ecostars standard evaluates the sustainability of hotels, considering factors related to environmental management and energy efficiency, such as energy consumption, use of green energy, water management, waste management, carbon emissions and sustainable purchasing. 

"Having an assessment as solid as Ecostars across our entire portfolio in ownership, rental and management, not only strengthens our reputation, but also directly enhances our business results, since, as a recent study conducted by Booking.com shows, a visible positioning in sustainability is valued by customers and translates into an increase in bookings," said Gabriel Escarrer, president and CEO of Meliá Hotels International. 

For Meliá Hotels International, another strong point of the Ecostars certification is its global nature, as it is used and recognised all over the world. The portfolio assessed by Ecostars is distributed geographically as follows: 160 hotels in Europe, 60 in the Americas, 40 in Asia and 10 in Africa. 

Earlier this year the group was recognized as one of the top-performing hotel companies globally according to the latest Sustainability Yearbook by S&P Global. The leading financial ratings and market analysis provider ranked Meliá in third place and the first European-origin hotel company in the ranking. The Sustainability Yearbook 2024 was based on the 2023 Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices, which covers over 9,400 companies from around the world. 

www.meliahotelsinternational.com

About Meliá Hotels International

Founded in 1956 in Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International has more than 400 hotels open or in the process of opening, in more than 40 countries, and a portfolio of nine brands: Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, ME by Meliá, The Meliá Collection, Paradisus by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, ZEL, INNSiDE by Meliá, Sol by Meliá, and Affiliated by Meliá. The Company is one of the world's leading hotel chains in the leisure segment and its experience in this area has allowed it to consolidate itself in the growing market of urban hotels inspired by leisure. Its commitment to responsible tourism has led it to be recognised as the most sustainable European hotel company in the world (chosen as "Sustainability Yearbook Member" in 2024 by S&P Global), as well as being a "Top Employer 2024" brand in Spain, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France and Vietnam. For more information, please visit www.meliahotelsinternational.com