Terceira Mar Hotel****

Respecting local community and environment

Perfectly integrated in a beautiful natural landscape, the Terceira Mar Hotel can demonstrate to its clients and collaborators its pride and satisfaction in respecting the nature and local community.

The hotel is part of the Bensaude Group which focuses on the potential of tourism development in the Azores, while at the same time promoting a high-quality tourism which preserves a human dimension, and respects the geographical, environmental, social and cultural characteristics of the Azores. It thus contributes to the economic development at regional level and the well being of the local population.

Why EMAS?

The decision to join EMAS was based on the philosophy of the Bensaude Group to respect local conditions in the Azores. The management decided to implement an Environmental Management System in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard and with EMAS because the schemes allow the management to identify and address the environmental concerns relevant to the hotel industry.

Apart from the tangible result of reduction in resource consumption the environmental efforts have also increased the credibility of the Bensaude Group and the employees' pride and motivation concerning the Group's respect of nature and the island community. The Environmental Statement constitutes a very useful tool to inform the Community in which the Hotel is located about the activities of the organisation.

An overall appraisal

Benefits of the implementation of EMAS

In order to minimise environmental impacts some planned construction activities were modified and the hotel invested in specific equipment. For example, a refrigerated storeroom for organic residues was created and a reservoir collecting rain water provides the garden irrigation. Other improvements include a technical management centre to monitor energy consumption, an outdoor swimming pool fed with sea water, as well as pumping stations to convey waste water to the municipal sewage system.

The environmental impacts categorised as significant include:

• energy and water consumption
• production of waste (including hazardous waste)
• consumption of hazardous substances and paper
• noise
• sewage and liquid waste

In 2004, in comparison with 2003, the resource consumption has improved as follows:

• water consumed per room decreased by 22.5%
• electricity consumed per room decreased by 38.11%
• diesel consumed per room decreased by 27.49%
• Butane consumption was reduced by 5.77%
• The number of chemical products used in the hotel was reduced from 99 to 88, and the quantities used were reduced by 35.43%

Challenges encountered in applying EMAS

In 2003 the main difficulties encountered were related to the lack of available comparable information from the hotel industry, since the implementation of EMAS in this sector was new in Portugal.

The establishment of objectives and targets for 2004 was constrained by the short period of operation of the hotel and its Environmental Management System and the lack of reference data for the region of the Azores. The objectives and targets were therefore established on the basis of average consumption data.

Terceira Mar Hotel****

The four star hotel Terceira Mar is located in the Terceira Island of the Azores and opened in 2003. It comprises 281 beds. The hotel is part of the Bensaude Group, which in addition to eight other hotels in the Azores, is also active in the fuel and transport sector in the region.