IRENA Roundtable on Renewable Energy for Island Tourism at the ITB Berlin Convention
IRENA, in partnership with the German federal government, hosted a session at the ITB Berlin to discuss the business case for renewable energy in island tourism, engaging with the tourism industry in one of the world’s leading events for this sector. The panelists discussed barriers and obstacles for renewable energy (RE) deployment in the tourism sector and highlighted potential solutions and best practices.
IRENA’s earlier report on island tourism revealed the need to scale up engagement with the private sector. The main concern is often related to green marketing rather than cost savings, which deserved additional engagement to identify viable strategies to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in large-scale tourism businesses.
Large hotels, for which ownership and management sit with different actors, face challenges in adopting renewable energy. One solution is that RE companies can provide RE systems to hotels as a service without the need for any investment by the hotel manager, reducing the electricity bill from the first day of production.
The session at the ITB Berlin brought together key stakeholders from the tourist destinations, such as high-level government representatives, tourism associations, hotel operators and international tourism companies, with representatives of the renewable energy sector.