Sustainable development

Pierre & Vacances: environmental action

Orientating our strategy within a framework of sustainable development is a necessity and an obligation for tourism market leaders.
Our field of responsibility towards the protection of the environment is vast, both upstream (as a builder) and downstream (as an operator). These preoccupations are not new ones; the creation of the first car-free resort at Avoriaz in 1967 also marked the origin of the Group. But the stakes today for the Pierre & Vacances Group are to take into account its environmental impact in a more systematic way, throughout the lifecycle of its activities, and to improve its practices.

Integrating new practices in our property operations

The environment in the Group's property policy

The Group's property policy has always been to select sites according to their environmental quality and then to use them in such a way as to reinforce their attractiveness, with well-integrated architecture and careful landscaping.

To be sure that our sites (both new and renovated) meet as completely as possible the needs of our holidaying clients, investors and operating constraints, a technical specifications document has been implemented. As a cross-disciplinary project lead by our development and operational teams, it enables us to improve our consideration of environmental aspects (reduction in water and energy consumption, site management, etc.). This specifications document is constantly evolving. Today it concerns Pierre & Vacances and Maeva operations and will gradually be applied to all of the Group's brands.

The High Environmental Quality (HEQ) initiative

In the field of ecological construction, for its next Center Parcs project (Domaine du Lac de l'Ailette in L'Aisne) the Group launched a request for pilot proposals to adapt the HEQ initiative to its holiday residences. This initiative is part of the continuity process of our Center Parcs ISO 14001 certification, renewed this year.
These studies will enable us to progress in our knowledge and to identify the major environmental axes which can be adopted for future construction and renovation projects.

Innovation

The Pierre & Vacances Group, in collaboration with its partners EuroDisney and the Etablissement Public d'Aménagement Marne (Marne Public Works Establishment), is working with the British non-governmental organisation BioRegional and the WWF to draw up a sustainable development plan for the "Villages Nature" project. This initiative is following the One Planet Living methodology, which aims to reduce the ecological footprint left by our lifestyles in order to adapt them to the planet's production limitations.

Pierre & Vacances and the WWF

In 2005, a three-year partnership was agreed with WWF, the environmental protection organisation, to help us identify priority actions and assist us with their implementation. But we must also involve local authorities in this initiative – "nature" organisations, right from the project development stage – our clients – involved in the everyday operation of our buildings and property owners who are keen to make the most of their property – our shareholders – to whom we must prove the economic benefits of the initiative, – and our partners – who represent day-to-day the environmental commitments of the Group.