Meliá Hotels International Receives AENOR Certification For Its Criminal Compliance Management System
Meliá Hotels International, the leading hotel company in Spain and one of the 20 largest in the world, has achieved AENOR Criminal Compliance certification under the UNE 19601 Standard, the Spanish standard for best practices in management systems to prevent crime, reduce the risk of crime and promote an ethical business culture and compliance with the law.
- The company is the first in the travel industry to achieve certification
- The Conseller of Tourism of the Balearic Islands, Iago Negueruela, supported with his presence the achievement of this recognition
Meliá Hotels International, the leading hotel company in Spain and one of the 20 largest in the world, has achieved AENOR Criminal Compliance certification under the UNE 19601 Standard, the Spanish standard for best practices in management systems to prevent crime, reduce the risk of crime and promote an ethical business culture and compliance with the law. The UNE 19601 Standard is a benchmark for requirements for the implementation and operation of a Criminal Compliance Management System.
After an extensive audit involving all corporate areas and some hotels, Meliá has become one of the first companies included in the Ibex 35 stock market index to earn AENOR certification for criminal compliance. Among other things, the Meliá Crime Prevention and Detection Model includes a map of the risks or crimes to which the company is exposed by its activity and more than 340 controls related to those risks, demonstrating that the company has defined appropriate mechanisms and controls to ensure criminal compliance.
In the words of the Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, "in the current business environment full of volatility and endless change, it is essential that we maintain the trust of our stakeholders. That is why we have put so much effort into updating our Code of Ethics, our corporate policies and our risk map, at the same time promoting training and sharing best practices to bring about constant improvement. For that reason, we greatly appreciate the role of AENOR in certifying the level of excellence we have achieved."
For her part, Soledad Seisdedos, Director of AENOR in the Balearic Islands, said that "AENOR has granted Meliá this certification after carrying out a rigorous audit, in which all the corporate areas of the company have participated, demonstrating the will to strengthen a culture of compliance based on values such as integrity, responsibility and transparency".
AENOR certification validates the due diligence and alignment of Meliá with global best practices, in line with the Criminal Code and with international standards (ISO 19600 on Compliance Management Systems or ISO 37001 on Anti-Bribery Management Systems).
Since its creation in 2018, the Meliá Risk and Compliance Department has made significant progress in risk prevention and in raising awareness within the company and encouraging a corporate culture of compliance.
The commitment to comply with legislation that has been validated by certification of the Meliá Crime Prevention Model, together with other advances such as the company's Code of Ethics, have a significant impact on its corporate reputation and the creation of trust among stakeholders, factors that are beginning to have a growing impact on the bottom line for companies. After six consecutive years leading the MERCO travel industry ranking for corporate reputation, and after being named the third most sustainable hotel company in the world in the Sustainability Yearbook published by RobecoSAM, corporate reputation is a strategic priority for Meliá within its vision for 2030.