The Guayarmina Princess hotel: sustainable tourism in Tenerife
At Princess Hotels & Resorts, we understand that true luxury goes beyond exceptional service and comfort. It’s about creating a positive impact on the world around us.
That’s why we’re proud to showcase the Guayarmina Princess in the south of Tenerife. Our adults-only hotel is one of the hotels participating in the Comunidades Turísticas Circulares (Circular Tourism Communities/CTC) initiative. Thanks to our excellent team and state-of-the-art facilities, we can transform organic resources into fresh and healthy foods. Want to know how?
The maiden project
CTC Biowaste (CTC Bioresiduos in Spanish) is the first Circular Tourism Communities project. In just two years, the initiative has successfully turned a massive 1,000 tonnes of hotel waste into 350 tonnes of eco-compost.
The goal? To minimise food waste and recycle organic matter produced by hotels.
How does it all work?
Food waste and pruning offcuts are transformed into high quality fertiliser, which is then used to enrich the soils of the gardens, hotels and estates. In turn, this makes the soil more fertile. This means less waste is sent to the Environmental Complex in Arico.
Guayarmina Princess is one of the hotels that has participated in the project right from the start. This new circular economy initiative is driven by Ashotel; the Hotel and Lodging Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, and Asaga Canarias; the Canary Islands’ Association for Agricultural Producers and Livestock Farmers.
Uniting for a Sustainable Future:
This project is a shining example of successful public-private collaboration. Here’s how it works:
- 17 Hotels: These hotels Generate biowaste from food and garden waste.
- Public bodies: They ensure efficient collection and transportation of biowaste from hotels to designated processing facilities.
- Agroecological Farms: These farms transform the biowaste into high-quality compost, a natural and nutrient-rich fertilizer for the soil. In our Guayarmina Princess hotel, Adeje Limpia, a municipal company, takes care of transporting the waste to a processing site in Guía de Isora.
Organisations participating in the project include the council of Tenerife, the Canary Islands Department of Agriculture, and GMR Canarias. The key objective is to create circular economy initiatives that strengthen synergies between tourism and the primary sector in the Canary Islands.
Furthermore a team of researchers from the Ashotel-CajaCanarias-ULL Chair of Tourism at the University of La Laguna is providing scientific support for the project. Experts from the fields of design, waste management and circular economy are contributing their expertise to continuously optimise the initiative and develop new innovative solutions.
The Magic of Composting
Do you know how long it takes to turn food scraps and leaves into something valuable? Composting is the secret recipe! First of all, the waste is collected, including things like fruit and vegetable peelings and dry leaves.
Next, the waste is mixed together and placed in a special container that controls air, moisture, and temperature. Tiny living things called fungi and bacteria break down the waste in a process that takes about 10 to 16 weeks.
The amazing result? Nutrient-rich compost that can be put back into the soil on local farms. This allows the hotel sector to offer organic fruits and vegetables, all while promoting sustainable tourism in Tenerife and supporting local producers.
Positive balance
The project results are incredibly positive. According to figures released by Ashotel to the companies involved, just 1.8% of the waste collected is unsuitable, guaranteeing high quality compost.
But it doesn’t end there. The aim is to grow the project significantly. Circular Tourism Communities expects to add around 20 hotels to the initiative, processing between 1,000 and 1,500 tonnes of biowaste per year. This would yield an estimated 400 tonnes of quality compost.
And at Princess, we’re going to keep doing our bit!
Our commitment to sustainability
At Princess Hotels & Resorts, our firm commitment to developing sustainable tourism in Tenerife is reflected in our Corporate Social Responsibility programme. This covers all business areas, and is something we work on continuously in our everyday work.
Princess’s main goal is to build a better world, offering hotel service excellence through our sustainable values, involving actions such as the creation of the first Circular Tourism Community.
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