Sabina Fluxá, VP and CEO of Iberostar Group: “We champion a value-added type of tourism”
“We want to take into account the impact of our business and we champion a value-added sort of tourism,” explained Sabina Fluxá, vice president and CEO of the Iberostar group and a former Esade student (Lic&MBA ‘04), at the latest session of Matins Esade. “The company’s long-term outlook is based on circularity, and we are working towards a far-reaching 2030 Agenda with a view to becoming waste-free by 2025, carbon-neutral by 2030, 100% responsible in our seafood supply chain by 2025, and improving the health of the ecosystems around our hotels”, Fluxá pointed out. As a result, “in 2020, the Iberostar Group was the world’s first hotel chain to eliminate single-use plastics from all its operations.”
Food waste, decarbonization and sustainable mobility
Another goal being implemented by this family firm concerns the reduction of food wastage by implementing a system to measure and classify what is thrown away. “Addressing the issue of food waste involves having a system that enables us to measure and classify what we throw away. This might sound easy, but on an industrial scale, with thousands of cooks working around the world, technology is crucial”, said the CEO.
This is in addition to the use of green hydrogen as an energy source, and it must be said that six of the company’s hotels already use electricity generated by renewable sources. The company also measures the carbon footprint of three different stages, with a view to reducing emissions by being more efficient and involving communities. Another major cornerstone concerns the consumption of fish and seafood. The company aims to achieve 100% responsibility as regards what is consumed by 2025, by means of certification, compliance with fishing and breeding seasons, supporting legal local fisheries or guaranteed fishing methods.
Agreement with IHG
The vice president and CEO of the Iberostar Group took the opportunity of her speech at Matins Esade to announce the business alliance that the company entered into in November 2022 with the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) chain for the marketing of resorts and hotels in the Caribbean, America, southern Europe and northern Africa. According to this strategic agreement, Iberostar will market up to 70 hotels (24,300 rooms) on beachfront locations that will be incorporated into the IHG system under the Iberostar Beachfront Resorts brand.
The origins of the Iberostar Group, a family business in the world of hospitality and tourism with more than 65 years of experience, can be traced back to the shoe industry in the Majorcan town of Inca. Its main business is Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio includes more than 100 4- and 5-star hotels, with more than 30,000 employees of 95 nationalities in 16 countries.
Matins Esade are conferences where the leaders of foremost companies and institutions address their own challenges and issues, and share their own track records in them. Sabina Fluxá was accompanied by Patricia Valentí, director of Esade Alumni, and Carles Torrecilla, professor in the Esade Marketing Department.
