SMART WATER MANAGEMENT IN HOTELS: EVERY DROP COUNTS!

Conscious water consumption in hotels: lower bill and better for the environment

On 20 June 2023, hundreds of hospitality experts and suppliers descended on the Van Marcke Showroom in Zaventem. They attended Trinity Purchasing's Hotel Business Insights & Purchasing Event. During this event, hospitality entrepreneurs - from hotels to holiday parks - and manufacturers exchanged business ideas and experiences, focusing on innovative hospitality solutions. One of the topics covered was smart water management in hotels.

For many entrepreneurs in the hospitality sector, the name Trinity Purchasing sounds familiar. No wonder when you consider that this internationally operating purchasing centre has been active for more than 13 years and currently supports more than 2,000 hospitality entrepreneurs in several European countries in the procurement of products and services. As part of the Avendra Group's portfolio of companies, Trinity Purchasing invests to the maximum in resources and programmes to provide added value to its affiliated members and suppliers.

Trinity Purchasing members operate in all sectors of the hospitality industry. Hotels, golf resorts, restaurants, senior residences, campsites... In each sector, buyers from the members receive the very best support when negotiating with suppliers. During Trinity Purchasing's Hotel Business Insights & Purchasing Event, all parties were able to meet each other, discover new products and services as well as brush up on their substantive knowledge on trending topics in the hospitality sector during fascinating company presentations.

During one of these presentations, Machiel van Dooren, co-founder of the Made Blue Foundation, spoke. Since 2014, this entrepreneurial foundation has already realised more than 10 billion litres of clean drinking water on behalf of more than 400 ambassadors. The operation of this organisation is through donations from members, who also contribute a lot of expertise in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Water is the second largest energy user for hotels, which with current gas prices is a hefty cost. Machiel surprised attendees from the hotel industry with some striking figures. For example, did you know that hotel guests enjoy a shower in a hotel room for a whopping 7.5 minutes on average? Add to that the water consumption of the sink and toilet, and you quickly arrive at a cost of 50,000 euros per year for a hotel with 200 rooms.

By the way, in the first issue of Hotelvak (June-July-August 203), you could read another interesting fact on page 97: water consumption in public areas is 50 per cent higher per person than at home. The reason for this higher consumption is obvious: a hotel guest is just a passer-by and does not have to pay the final bill. More and more hotel owners are aware of this issue and therefore want to shift up a gear in smart water management.

The Made Blue Foundation provides hotel owners with creative solutions to make guests and visitors more conscious of their water consumption. During his presentation, Machiel referred to the voucher campaign 'The Gift Of Water', in which hotel guests are playfully encouraged, for example, to shower a few minutes shorter - without sacrificing comfort - after which the litres of water saved are converted into a donation to an international water project.

The experts at the Made Blue Foundation calculated that a hotel guest needs to shower just 15 seconds shorter to recoup a donation of 5 cents per night (or just 3% shorter on an average shower time of 7.5 minutes). So every extra second or water-saving technique directly saves a lot of money. And a survey conducted by the organisation found that over 7 in 10 hotel guests are willing to shower shorter if it helps support water-saving campaigns.

Other inspiring actions for smart water management tailored to the hotel sector include replacing plastic water bottles with a reusable, sustainable water bottle that guests can fill themselves in the hotel lobby. The Made Blue Foundation calculated that each reusable bottle saves at least 3.5 kilograms of CO₂-emissions and avoids 4 kilograms of plastic waste.

Or even: water bars in the hotel that invite guests to 'refuel' cheap, fresh and filtered water. This solution is also becoming increasingly popular in the industry, on the way to sustainable use of precious water.

There will be a new Trinity Hotel Expo in Kortrijk' on 21 September. You can register via https://lnkd.in/eptACuZY