Austria
RIU has presented its new Proudly Committed sustainability strategy. This change comes after a deep internal reflection on the future of the hotel industry and its impact on the community, the environment and employees. As a result of this process, RIU decided to transform the company and place sustainability at the centre of all the organisation's decisions to ensure that the impact of the company's activity on both the local community and the surrounding ecosystems is always as positive as possible.
Proudly Committed represents a turning point for RIU. The company has always been very proud of its commitment to providing customers with an excellent service and achieving good results, but now, the challenge is to maintain what it has already achieved while also increasing its commitment to people and the environment. The strategy, which has been developed with RIU's typical wisdom and moderation, marks the path that the company will follow over the next three years from 2024 to 2026 and establishes ambitious, specific and measurable goals in each of the four pillars, which are Community and Sustainable Destinations, Environment, People and Transparency.
Proudly Committed is not just the name of the strategy, but also the title of the communication campaign that reflects the company’s pride and enthusiasm for this project and represents RIU's commitment to doing things properly and making good on its promises. Full details of the campaign can be found here.
One of the keys to ensuring the success of this new strategy is the involvement of RIU Hotels & Resorts' highest governing body, the Board of Directors, in the decision-making process, as well as the creation of a multidisciplinary Sustainability Committee including professionals from different areas of the company. This Committee will define the projects carried out under each pillar and monitor them to ensure they fulfil their intended purpose.
The aim of the first pillar – Community and Sustainable Destinations – is to continue contributing to the prosperity of the communities where RIU operates and the goal for 2026 is to have a major project in all destinations. Social investment decisions will continue to be based on the RIU Method, a system that applies an academic methodology to analyse a destination’s current situation, needs and problems in order to allocate resources where they are most needed and will have the clearest and most positive impact on the community. Guided by the Riu family’s concerns, this pillar will continue to focus on protecting children and their health.
The second pillar is Environment, which aims to minimise the company’s environmental footprint. The goal is to move towards an increasingly circular business model and have a flagship biodiversity project in each destination. One of the most important parts of this pillar is RIU’s decarbonisation plan to make the company carbon-neutral. Thanks to projects that are already underway, CO2 emissions fell by 27% in 2023. In addition, RIU supports projects that protect native species such as turtles and corals, as well as initiatives related to circularity and waste reduction.
People is the third pillar of this new strategy and seeks to promote talent and training by putting people at the centre of the company. RIU wants to continue providing its teams with career opportunities so they are motivated to work towards a more satisfying professional and personal life.
The fourth and last pillar – Transparency – will check compliance and focus on the certification of hotels. The goal is for all of RIU’s hotels to hold a sustainability certification.
