MAGNUM, Meliá's commitment to improve hotel water management

Water management is at a crucial moment due to the effects of climate change and a new paradigm is vital to sustainably manage this resource. 

MAGNUM is the new project of Meliá Hotels International, Cetaqua, IDP, and Aquatec that aims to develop a pilot tool capable of facing the biggest challenges in sustainable water management in the tourism sector. Thanks to the combination of the latest advances in digitization, water footprint and behavioral sciences, the responsible consumption of water resources will be promoted.

This innovation project, which will end in 2025, is financed with NextGen funds under the RETOS Program, which is aimed at public-private collaboration initiatives to promote the advancement of scientific knowledge. This project aims to develop a digital twin of the water infrastructure for the two Meliá hotels, creating a virtual replica of the hotel in order to monitor and analyze data remotely and in real time.

This tool, known as MAGNUM Digital Twin, will make it possible to face the global challenge of monitoring the impact on the environment, and in particular on water resources in the tourism sector. In this way, MAGNUM will make it easier for Meliá hotels to monitor water consumption more efficiently and identify anomalies and areas for improvement for a sustainable use of water from hotel infrastructures.

The project will begin by implementing the solution and digitalizing its hydraulic system in two of its flagship hotels, Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora (Isora, Tenerife) and Meliá Palma Marina (Palma de Mallorca). After testing in situ, it will be deployed to the rest of the Group's hotels.

MAGNUM Digital Twin, digitization in the tourism sector to improve the management of water resources

The system will allow to obtain a daily visualization of the water footprint of the establishments, differentiating direct footprint (impacts related to the direct activities of the hotel) and indirect (impacts of the products and services acquired by the hotel), as well as between departments. This innovation will make it possible to obtain a calculation of the water footprint in the most automatic way and with the greatest possible detail, solving the challenge of monitoring its environmental impacts on a continuous basis.

The digital twin will also serve to make operational decisions that allow maximizing water efficiency, through early detection of anomalies and simulation of scenarios to achieve maximum water savings. In addition, the segmentation of the water footprint by departments will allow specific awareness campaigns to be carried out for hotel employees with the greatest potential for improvement, through scientific methods based on behavioral sciences.

Finally, it is also proposed to carry out actions to involve Meliá customers in the care of water resources, combining digital and behavioral tools, and raising awareness about the importance of water.

"The collaboration with Meliá to improve the sustainability of water in the tourism sector allows us to create new digital solutions that integrate very valuable knowledge from the water and hotel sectors. It is a clear demonstration of the applied research carried out at Cetaqua , focused on applied solutions that provide differential value to users and to society through improved management of water resources”, says Carlos Montero, General Director of Cetaqua.

Meliá, a leading hotel chain in the tourism sector, seeks to strengthen its focus on efficient water management and continue leading the way towards sustainability. "It is our responsibility to explore sustainable innovation formulas to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and contribute to the conservation of water, a scarce resource in many of the destinations where we are present. This pilot project is part of this objective, in which We are accompanied by leading partners in the fields of technology and innovation.”

The collaboration between Meliá, Aquatec, IDP and Cetaqua reinforces the importance of cooperation to address current environmental challenges.