Zacchera Hotels
It is a brand with a green heart that of the Zacchera family, hoteliers for four generations who, over the years, have created the first Hotel Group on Lago Maggiore, contributing concretely to its affirmation as an international tourist destination, respecting the territory and the strong values linked to the tradition of Italian hospitality
The care for the environment is today an essential trend in the development of tourism and highlevel hospitality, as well as more and more a discriminating choice from a conscious tourism that is no longer satisfied just with a beautiful and comfortable place, but that also seeks “virtuous” facilities inserted “healthily” in the context. This is confirmed by the growing demand at an international level for locations and destinations that are able to reduce, through the adoption of innovative technologies and sustainable initiatives, the impact of their activity on the territory. In this landscape, which we hope will be more and more projected towards a green future, stands out the name of Zacchera, an Italian brand on Lago Maggiore that identifies with an accommodation philosophy particularly dedicated to quality and respect for the environment.
With two Grand Hotels, the Bristol in Stresa and the Dino in Baveno, two 4- star hotels, the Simplon and the Splendid, a Residence, the Carl&Do, and the Adventure Park, always in Baveno, the Zacchera offer intercepts different market needs – from the MICE demand to the leisure one – with a single common denominator: a hospitality always up to date in which the “software” is not only technological; it is also and above all human, represented by an ethical way of understanding and creating the accommodation that places the person and the environment at the centre. In the Zacchera Hotels, customer care is also expressed, in fact, in the attention to the quality of work of the staff – the service is a reason of pride for the brand – and in the preservation of the territory: the Group has joined a “green meeting” program which guarantees the execution of activities based on a code of best practices aimed at reducing energy and material consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and paper waste.
A conversation with Andrea Zacchera
We met Andrea Zacchera, to ask him in more detail what parameters the Group has adopted in defence of the environment. «The Zacchera Hotels group has received the EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certification, the eco-management and audit system adopted by the European Council based on the principle of ‘shared responsibility’ for the protection of the environment, official recognition of excellence in this field at the European level», explains the entrepreneur, specifying that the certification took place after the required adjustments were carried out.
«For example», continues Andrea Zacchera, «we have installed new boilers that allow us to adapt the temperature, in the various environments, to the actual needs, so as to significantly reduce the consumption of methane. In addition to introducing the electronic card for the opening of the rooms that allows you to automatically turn off all the appliances at the exit of the guest, we centralized the management of all the lights of the hotels, now controlled with a touch screen, and replaced the old bulbs with new LEDs that last longer, consume less, and are also less sensitive to sudden changes in voltage. The pool is heated with solar panels, while the air conditioning system works through the thermal exchange with the water from the lake – collecting it at a distance of 150 meters from the shore and a depth of 50 meters – which has a constant temperature of 9°C all year.
Sustainable behaviours
We encourage guests to share sustainable behaviours, for example, with the simple gesture of indicating which bath sponges they want changed. We also use the separate waste collection system and choose mainly suppliers that use products with the Ecolab label. In the garage there are some charging stations for electric cars while, to save paper, we prefer communications via email and web, we adopt electronic signs and, soon, in all rooms we will introduce a tablet in place of the paper folder, and by 2019 we will introduce a configurator for the virtual tour of all meeting rooms: an innovative system to eliminate paper cards and to show in 3D all the features and set-ups of each single room, both through a touch panel and a software with which customers can set up their room. Finally, for the management of all operational activities and internal communications among the various departments, we have adopted the Hoxell module system, relieving the reception of extra work and optimizing time and resources.
A practical example, just to better understand: the housekeeper, on her mobile device, can see in real time the situation of the rooms and manage the requests, as well as reporting damage or possible failures directly to the maintenance technician. The system also allows the control of linen, mini fridge, and various amenities. I am convinced that between doing business and defending the territory, doing business and defending work, doing “social” business with actions in favour of the community, there is a virtuous combination in favour of global growth».
