Marina Resort Benidorm’s Corporate Social Responsibility

Gestión Hotelera la Marina, S.L., is a family business committed to its surroundings, local communities, suppliers and the environmen, and it’s been embracing the responsibility of incorporating this commitment into its business management for many years now. CSR is all about responsible tourism based on three cornerstones: social sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.

This firm commitment, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, is reflected in the company’s governance policies, such as the following:

  • CSR Policy
  • Environmental Policy
  • Quality Policy
  • Human Rights and Good Labour Practices Policy
  • Health and Safety Policy
  • Local Community Support Policy

1. Social Sustainability

Gestión Hotelera La Marina’s CSR policies are aimed at creating a fairer and more equitable society, and see cooperation with public authorities, social agents and organisations that focus on social causes as a key way to promote CSR.

We collaborate closely on social projects focused on integration, inclusion and equality within our community.

1.1 Supporting the local community and stakeholders

  • Prioritisation of local suppliers (up to 80%) in procurement
  • Support for local (0 km) and seasonal production.
  • Promotion of local tradition and culture among our guests.

1.2 Good Labour Practices and Promotion of Human Rights

  • Implementation of equality plans in all of the company’s departments.
  • Corporate culture policies that favour a positive work environment, team spirit and the fight against inequality.
  • Professional training and education plans that promote the personal and professional development of our employees.
  • Co-creation and implementation of the Lean method, based on managing the impacts our business activity has on guests, employees, shareholders, the environment and society in general.

1.3 Social Action

Recurring collaborative work and/or specific collaboration agreements with various non-profit organisations and campaigns for social causes. Encouraging the employment of people with disabilities, who perform cleaning tasks in the kitchen and administrative work.

2. Strategic/Economic Sustainability

We promote economic growth that creates equitable wealth based on innovation, respect for the environment and partnerships with our stakeholders.

2.1 Investments in modernising our establishments

  • A focus on providing services of the highest quality and excellence thanks to the modernisation of infrastructure.
  • Ensuring compliance with regulatory and statutory requirements.
  • Prioritisation of new technologies for an efficient use of resources.
  • Refurbishment and reuse of materials to promote the circular economy.

2.2 Quality, innovation and customer focus as the foundations of our company philosophy

  • Agile and accessible online internal systems for the evaluation of customer satisfaction, with the goal of continuous improvement and being able to act quickly in the event that we fail to meet expectations.
  • Customer loyalty program, to show our appreciation for their business.
  • Internal project to improve standardised procedures and productivity monitoring through business intelligence applications.
  • Internal quality management system, focused on the standardisation of operating instructions and monitoring the effectiveness of processes.
  • Participation in the destination quality programme.

2.3 Health and safety systems and projects

  • In-house occupational hazard prevention system.
  • Health & Safety programme, with control plans and audits of food hygiene and water safety in all our establishments.
  • Heart-safe hotel
  • In the process of being included in the FACE (Federation of Coeliac Associations of Spain) programme.

2.4 Donations and sponsorships

  • Donations for areas affected by natural disasters.
  • Sponsorship of the Callosa d'en Sarrià cycling team.
  • Sponsorship of the Benidorm Triathlon team.
  • Sponsorship of the Alcoy city football team.
  • Sponsorship of various sporting events in the region.

2.5 Presence in associations and projects that seek to encourage improvement and innovation in the sector

  • Members of HOSBEC (Hotel Association of the Costa Blanca), currently serving as advisors.

3. Environmental Sustainability

We’ve listened to the voice of our environmental conscience for over 20 years now, and get our employees, guests, suppliers and the surrounding community involved as well.

Water

  • Use of an eco-friendly mop that reduces water and chemical consumption in cleaning the floors.
  • Devices that optimise the consumption of sanitary water, such as high efficiency and comfort flow regulators in taps, dual-flush toilets, taps with presence detection sensors in bathrooms in common areas, etc.
  • Eco-friendly systems for changing towels and sheets at the guest’s request. Posters and awareness-raising campaigns to encourage guests to use water wisely.
  • Control measures for the sanitary wastewater discharged into the municipal sewer system to comply with discharge parameters in accordance with local regulations.

Energy

  • Purchasing criteria for household appliances and electronic equipment that take into account an energy-efficient rating.
  • Low-energy and/or LED lighting throughout the premises.
  • Heat recovery systems in most of our HVAC plants.
  • Efficiency devices in water circuit booster sets.
  • Comprehensive preventive maintenance of the facilities for optimal machinery performance.

Waste

Approach based on the 4Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.

  • “No plastic” strategy for replacing all single-use plastic items with sustainable alternatives.
  • Decreased use of bottled water by providing employees and guests with refillable bottles and purified water dispensing machines.
  • Elimination of single-use amenities in rooms, replacing them with refillable dispensers.
  • Criteria for reducing packaging in purchases to cut down on the production of these materials.
  • Presentation of products in bulk instead of individual portions in buffets.
  • Paperless policy, reducing paper consumption and the waste associated with it.
  • Purchase of recyclable toners through our own supplier.
  • All the containers needed for the separation and subsequent recycling of waste are available to both employees and guests.
  • We separate all the organic matter generated in our kitchen so that it can be processed
  • Prioritisation of refurbishing furniture to extend its useful life and minimise the generation of bulky waste.
  • Collection of used cooking oil and delivery to an authorised manager for recycling and use as biodiesel.

We have a system for the proper management of hazardous and/or special waste (empty containers of chemical products, aerosols, batteries, obsolete fluorescents…) and delivery to authorised managers.

We have analysis tools that allow us to quantify the amount of recycled and/or reused waste, according to type.

Carbon Footprint

  • What’s more, we have an energy efficiency plan with measures regulating the use of: air conditioning and heating with sensors to switch off when doors are opened, energy-efficient lighting, motion and lighting sensors and energy-efficient meters.
  • Investments in energy efficiency in our facilities to reduce energy consumption, cutting down on emissions into the atmosphere and our carbon footprint.
  • Progressive modernisation of kitchen refrigeration facilities with centralised systems and use of glycol water as a cooling system, in addition to replacing refrigerant gases already present in all refrigeration facilities with gases that have a lower global warming potential.