Center Parcs Has Been Opting for Sustainability for 20 Years
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The Dutch Center Parcs vacation park provider has long been guided by principles such as sustainability, environmental protection and regionalism. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the company’s receipt of the internationally recognized “ISO 14001” certification. In 2017, the certificate was extended to “ISO 50001”, which provides specifications for systematic energy management for companies, and since 2020, all of the group’s vacation parks have held the “Green Key Certificate”. To obtain the latter, the tourism business must prove every three years that it complies with mandatory as well as voluntary standards.
Center Parcs also cooperates with social organizations such as Stichting de Opkikker, Make a Wish, Beyond the Moon and the WWF. In addition, the company has set itself the following goals for its vacation parks to be reached by 2025:
- Reducing electricity and water consumption by 25 percent;
- using exclusively green electricity;
- improving recycling processes by sorting 70 percent of waste;
- reducing water consumption by 16 percent.
“At Center Parcs, we have strong green and sustainable goals. Since our founding in 1967, restoring and strengthening the connection between people and nature has been central to the design of our vacation parks. Sustainability has been deeply embedded in our corporate culture from the very beginning. As a European leader in the field of local tourism, we consider it our duty to be at the forefront of sustainable design within the tourism industry, offering solutions that meet the needs of our guests and the expectations of our stakeholders. In doing so, our corporate goals are based on two pillars: People and nature,” says Erwin Dezeure, CSR Director Center Parcs Europe, summarizing the company’s values.
Also, the company wants to underline its values through its rebranding and new strategic direction, which it undertook at the beginning of the year (see also our EAP news of Jan. 17, 2023). (eap)
