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Enel and Mangia’s: walking together towards sustainable tourism

Enel and Mangia’s: walking together towards sustainable tourism

Perhaps in no other economic sector is the challenge of sustainability as alive and important as in tourism: it means openness to the future, dialogue with new customer needs, risk assessment and value creation. Bringing the travel or vacation experience into the era of ecological transition is a decisive step for a world that in recent years has always been at the forefront of contemporary challenges (just think of the pandemic). «People have become increasingly sensitive, they ask for sustainability starting from the moment they begin studying options on search engines, it is the new normal, customers almost take it for granted, and they are right», explains Marcello Mangia, President of Mangia’s, one of the leading Italian companies in this sector’s transformation. In the 1970s it was a small travel agency in Palermo, Aeroviaggi, which, through its evolution, was able to interpret the times and the market: initially a tour operator bringing Sicilians abroad, it later became a point of reference for tourists from all over the world visiting Sicily, the leading operator for France, a position strengthened by the growth of one of the island's most beautiful networks of facilities. Today Mangia’s is the first Italian hotel company by number of owned beds, over 9,000, for 3,300 rooms, spread across 13 hotels, with 1,300 employees. In 2023, Mangia’s will celebrate fifty years, but its outlook on the present remains young, and today the present has only one requirement: to reduce impact, whether it be energy, resource and raw material use, or waste production.

“For most of these forty-nine years, Enel has been by our side as our energy supplier.”

Marcello Mangia - President of Mangia's

«Today, however, our relationship goes far beyond what is created with those who simply provide a good in exchange for money, for us Enel is a strategic choice, a pillar of our future policies. Beyond a business relationship, our bond is built on shared values and a common vision». For Mangia’s, the environmental approach, certified through its ESG sustainability path, involves progressively abandoning plastic but also focusing on electrification, efficiency and monitoring. An evolved and contemporary approach to energy. As Michele Abbate, Head of the South Macro Area of Enel Energia, explains: «I remember well the first time I met Marcello Mangia, at Mangia’s headquarters: he had the spirit of someone who wants to do many things, someone who already sees the future and the competitive advantage of getting there first. We started with initial efficiency and monitoring measures, but our dialogue is part of a much broader design». Monitoring consumption is crucial in this context of climate and energy crisis. It started with Mangia’s first facilities in Sciacca (Agrigento) and will soon be extended to other resorts. «Monitoring is fundamental for us, it helps us detect anomalies, weigh consumption, understand how much we can improve, and know the margins and possibilities for efficient energy use».

“The goal is to reduce costs and emissions at the same time. This is the great advantage of the transition: it allows you to be sustainable both environmentally and economically.”

Marcello Mangia - President of Mangia's

This is a historic moment that is both delicate and fertile for major energy consumers: there are complex challenges, but also the right tools to face them. For customers like Mangia’s, Enel Energia acts as both partner and guide during this process of change. As Abbate explains: «When done properly, the transition is a path that can create value. This is what we bring to companies: it is right to do it for moral reasons, because ecology is ethics, and it is convenient to do it for cost reasons, because ecology is also economy». After monitoring and efficiency, clean mobility follows, in dialogue with Enel X: charging stations for electric vehicles are already present at some facilities, and in the future there will be on-site renewable energy installations and the implementation of advanced digital demand-response tools to manage energy flows increasingly in real time. The future of energy is still to be written: «For us, the current mission is to build a model, to demonstrate that there are many advantages to being sustainable. The environment and financial results tell the same story: another kind of hospitality industry is possible».This is what is being built through the ongoing dialogue between Enel and Mangia’s: a different idea of the future. The same one that has always impressed Abbate: «I remember when I was a child in Palermo and this company was already a point of reference for the whole city. They have always believed in a managerial and cutting-edge idea of tourism, capable of giving back to the community and the territory. Enel and Mangia’s operate in different sectors, but with the same spirit: creating empathy with people, building trust, facing complexity and growing sustainably».