We explore for international conference and event planners, how the local hospitality industry in Gran Canaria supports the sustainable development efforts of the government and what are the steps and action they take.
We start with the Lopesan Group and talked to Dr. Zoilo Aleman, director MICE at Lopesan to give us an update about the hotel group’s recent efforts to strengthen sustainable management in their hotels and venues.
The hospitality company offers an impressive portfolio particularly for organisers of congresses or larger events.
Located in Meloneras, in southern Gran Canaria, alongside the various hotels of the Lopesan Hotel Group, ExpoMeloneras is a world renowned venue for staging both national and international corporate meetings and events and for association congresses. ExpoMeloneras is a multipurpose venue for congresses, meetings, conferences, presentations, courses and seminars.
Best of all – it has a cluster of 4 Lopesan hotels within walking distance of the congress venue, on the coast in the Meloneras Community.
Together with attractive themed bars, terraces and venues in the hotels, the total offer of Lopesan here in Meloneras allows for a great flexibility in selecting different rooms and function spaces for all kinds of events and meetings. Presently 2 of the hotels are being refurbished and redecorated – the Hotel Faro Collection by Lopesan and Lopesan Costa Meloneras. Together with the well appointed Lopesan Baobab and Lopesan Villa del Conde Hotels, all 4 of them provide a fresh and positive product for post-pandemic events to be organised in the safe and comfortable environment of Gran Canaria’s South.
The congress cluster hotels are all in 4 and 5 star category. Together with the conference centre they provide the following sustainable back-up to organisers:
- All distances are within easy reach by foot – no additional transfers will be necessary once the event attendees have been brought in from the airport (only 20 minutes of travel time) which is the best condition for a responsible event.
- Solar panels are planned to be built on the conference centre in the strategy to move closer towards lower emissions – presently a study is looking into the efficiency and value of the planned project.
- Solar panels are already established on the hotels and heat the water supplies for guest rooms and public areas.
- Waste water is recycled and reused in the lush gardens of the Lopesan properties.
The Hotels support the island’s reforestation projects and offer a tree-planting excursion for attendees at meetings or events participants – alternatively a sponsoring of trees with certificate can be provided as a purposeful legacy project – for congress organisers who like to support local strategies for improvement of the destination’s ecosystem.
The ExpoMeloneras Congress Centre is surrounded by spectacular ravines and protected natural habitats. Being located only seven hundred metres from the beaches, the venue features an impressive and versatile design. Laid out for multi-purpose use, the floor area covers 14,000 square metres, of which 9,264 are dedicated to congresses, conventions, seminars, exhibitions, concerts.
On top, Lopesan features a unique combination for organisers of medical congresses or pharmaceutical events: the San Roque Maspalomas Hospital is part of the group – also in walking distance from ExpoMeloneras – and interconnected with state-of-the-art technology to broadcast procedures from the operating theatre to the convention centre. The 25,000 m2 hospital has the very latest in technology and excellent medical services. Its specialist areas include internal medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, gynaecology and obstetrics, clinical laboratory analysis and 24-hour ER room.
Not far from Meloneras, the Maspalomas Dunes Nature Reserve, with its exotic lake, is one of the most emblematic points in the South of Gran Canaria. The reserve is divided into three ecosystems: the Palm Grove, the Pond, and the Dunes themselves. The natural value of this incredible coastal setting is unparalleled – also as an area of rest for birds migrating to Africa.
The climate in Gran Canaria is mild with warm temperatures year-round. The dense vegetation everywhere also makes for a surprising sample of the archipelago’s subtropical nature and experience in close vicinity to Europe.
text: Johanna Fischer, tmf knowledge destinations for Gran Canaris CB
The Convention Bureau of Gran Canaria supports conference planners to identify and include sustainable projects in their programs in the island of Gran Canaria –
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Your contact:
Sergio Macanti, Convention Bureau of Gran Canaria,
email: info@grancanariacb.com.
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