A new tool has been added to the range of services offered by the Accor group to professionals involved in organising meetings and seminars: the hotelier has just presented its 'Carbon Optimizer' in Frankfurt, where the IMEX trade fair is being held every year. The aim of this tool is to enable companies to identify - and therefore reduce - the carbon footprint generated by their MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, Event) event. Number of participants and overnight stays, duration of the seminar, surface area of the meeting rooms, the country's energy mix: the Carbon Optimizer uses a comprehensive approach to better identify potential savings in terms of sustainable development. While initiatives of this kind are beginning to proliferate in the hotel sector, the French group intends to go even further: "This is the originality of the approach proposed by Accor: whereas calculators already on the market often only take into account emissions due to the production and energy consumption of hotel equipment, Accor includes in its optimiser the indirect emissions linked to the organisation of seminars: waste treatment, stationery and, above all, catering, a major source of carbon emissions", states the press release published by Accor on 22 May. Sophie Flak, Accor's Director of Academies and Sustainable Development, explains: "Planet 21's ambition is to involve our customers more closely in our continuous progress approach to sustainable development". "The Carbon Optimiser, an innovative tool with unique calculation criteria, is part of this objective. This tool will enable us to work with our business customers on sustainable offers for seminars and meetings organised in our hotels", she adds.
