Juan Carlos de León: “Sustainability is based on the importance of people, and change is down to them”

Juan Carlos de León, operations manager of GF Hotels, participated in the round table ‘The contribution of tourism companies to the SDGs in the context of COVID-19’

The Canarian hotel chain, belonging to Grupo Fedola, announced what has been the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the COVID-19 era and what is expected for the future

Juan Carlos de León, operations manager of GF Hotels, participated in the round table ‘The contribution of tourism companies to the SDGs in the context of COVID-19′, organized by Segittur and the United Nations Global Compact Spain at the  Madrid International Fair, Fitur 2021’. A conference that also included the participation of Soraya Romero, Director of EMEA Sustainability of the Iberostar Hotels & Resorts Group, and Jorge Raheb, Commercial Director of Baleària.

Throughout the debate, De León gave some of the keys which contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals in the COVID-19 era, where he highlighted the work of people. “We must trust technology, but not see it as a religion because the key to sustainability is in people, and in them change will come,” he stressed.

The Canarian hotel chain values the importance of measuring and evaluating resources, because “what cannot be measured cannot be managed”, he stressed. Likewise, emphasis was placed on supporting certifications to demonstrate the performance of companies in terms of environmental quality, social equity and economic prosperity.

In the words of Juan Carlos de León, “The Canary Islands do not compete on prices, they compete on the quality of the environment and for this, we work on a common destination strategy together with public administrations, universities and companies”. In turn, he invited administrations and companies to adhere to the Global Compact and “promote the commitment of our environment to the SDGs, since 50% of people are linking their health to the health of the planet.”

The operations manager of GF Hotels pointed out the importance of working under the concept of “a residual waste is one that is not produced” and highlighted the collaboration with the Hotel and Extra-hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, Ashotel, in “a circular economy project through the selective collection of organic waste for its subsequent conversion into compost”.