The world is not only a legacy for us, but a trust that we will leave to future generations. Our journeys are not only about our footprints; our thoughts, actions, and feelings also leave a mark behind.
Tha's why, as Akra Hotels, we see tourism not only as a business sector but also as a responsibility.
We advocate a sustainable and world-respecting approach to tourism through our Ethical Tourism program. We choose to produce rather than consume, to share rather than to receive. Because we know that true discovery is not about changing the places we visit, but understanding their spirit. As Akra Hotels, we are taking concrete steps for a sustainable world.
We are powered by the energy we receive from the sun and consciously use the resources nature offers us. We support local producers and care about social development. We contribute to gender equality and develop projects that add value to the environment we are in. We work for the protection of the ecosystem and carry our seas, forests, and cities into the future.
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Orientation to Renewable Energy Sources: Our Solar Power Plants
The sun has the power to provide more than our planet's yearly energy needs in just one hour. As BHM Hospitality, we are aware of this potential and act with a sense of responsibility toward the world. In this direction, since 2022, we have directed our energy investments to solar power and implemented the necessary steps to ensure the continuation of sustainability.
We meet the annual electricity needs of our hotels Akra Antalya, Akra V, Akra Kemer, Akra Sorgun, Akra Fethiye, and Akra Fethiye The Residence with our own energy resources. Thanks to these steps we take under the umbrella of Ethical Tourism, we reduce our carbon emissions and increase our contribution to nature.
Our solar power plants were commissioned in Döşemealtı and Aksu in 2022, in Afyon Sandıklı in 2023, and in Alanya and Elmalı Bayındır in 2024. Finally, our Elmalı Kışlaköy SPP project started to operate in March 2025. All our power plants have a total installed power of 21 MWp.
A total of 18,990,945 kWh of electricity was generated from these power plants, which were in operation throughout 2024, and this production covered approximately 65% of our total consumption.
Our goal is to reach a production capacity of 33 million kWh through our future investments and energy saving measures and to meet 100% of our electricity needs from solar energy.
With the 17 electric vehicle investments we made in 2024, we are reducing our carbon footprint by aiming to cut 39 tons of carbon emissions per year. Additionally, by sourcing the electricity used in our new vehicles from our solar power plant, we contribute to sustainability.
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Reducing Plastic Use and Promoting a Plastic-Free Life - Plastic-Free Tourism:
We are phasing out single-use plastics and opting for sustainable alternatives. We also encourage our guests to adopt recycling practices. The use of plastic straws and cups in our facilities has been completely terminated. Through the use of “Ethical Tourism” labeled cardboard cups in our hotels and the single-use bamboo plates, spoons, forks, knives, and cup sets offered to our guests at the Akra Meze Festival, we also strive to spread this practice to the culture of the city we are in.
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Protection of Seas and Coasts – Supporting Blue Flag Policy: Blue Flag Beaches:
By protecting the marine ecosystem, we ensure that our beaches meet Blue Flag standards. We regularly certify all our facilities.
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Waste Management and Recycling:
With a zero-waste goal, we minimize our waste and aim to increase our recycling rate each year.
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Climate Awareness:
We encourage walking and cycling as environmentally friendly transportation options. (Our hotels Akra Antalya, Akra V, Akra Sorgun, and Akra Kemer offer services with “Bike-Friendly Hotel” certifications.) In this way, while encouraging bicycle use, we also promote environmental activities and visits to local locations.
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Protection of Biodiversity:
We carry out projects to protect caretta carettas, sand lilies, and endangered plant and animal species, preserve their natural habitats, and protect the animals in the natural surroundings of our hotels. We support sapling donation and tree planting projects.
Thanks to our collaboration with DEKAFOK, which works to protect marine and coastal ecology in the Side region, caretta caretta hatchlings on our beach continue to safely emerge from their eggs and reach the sea. We continue to show our sensitivity to nature and the environment by contributing to the protection of these special species.
As of September 6, 2024, we launched an environmentally friendly guest loyalty program at Akra Kemer. By donating saplings on behalf of guests who have stayed at our facility more than 10 times, we contribute to the reforestation of Türkiye in cooperation with the OGEM Foundation. With a small touch, we support a greener future together.
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Raising Awareness for Sustainable Travel:
We carry out efforts to raise awareness among our guests about sustainable tourism and to offer them eco-friendly travel alternatives.
Our hotels Akra Antalya, Akra V, Akra Sorgun, Akra Kemer, Akra Fethiye, and Akra Fethiye The Residence have joined the project developed by UNESCO by committing to sustainable practices as part of their operations and services. We continue our efforts to protect nature and local culture, and we raise awareness among our guests on this matter. For example, as of 2024, Akra Sorgun has become part of sustainable living practices through the Bike-Friendly Hotel amenities it offers. With the Bike-Friendly Accommodation Facility certificate, we encourage bicycle use at our hotels Akra Sorgun, Akra Kemer, Akra Antalya, and Akra V by offering both paid and complimentary bicycle services. We provide a privileged sustainable holiday experience to guests staying with their bikes through special parking areas, maintenance and repair zones, a concierge team with up-to-date weather and road condition information and bike route guidance, athlete-specific nutrition menus, 24-hour laundry service, and other additional services.
We prioritize eco-friendly amenities and activities to provide our guests with a sustainable experience throughout their stay. For example: Our cycling routes: Akra Gran Fondo, Akra Tour of Antalya. Accommodation campaigns we have prepared for our hotels: Hiking and Mushroom Hunting Activity. Sporting experiences at our hotels: Diving, SUP board activities in Antalya’s bays throughout the summer with Paddle Together, etc.
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Water and Energy Conservation:
We preserve our natural resources through smart irrigation systems, water recycling projects, and energy-saving technologies.
- Greywater Recovery Project: While energy is conserved at our Akra Sorgun facility through smart room systems, sensors, and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems, rainwater and wastewater have been used for garden irrigation since the launch of the Greywater Recovery Project in 2024. With this project, 100 tons of water are saved daily. Additionally, with Zoysia Japonica grass and xeriscaping, water usage is reduced by 30%, and garden fertilizer use is decreased by 98.4%.
- At Akra Fethiye and Akra Fethiye The Residence, between 2015 and 2024, 95% treated wastewater was used for garden irrigation (a total of 1,083,658 m³ of treated wastewater used as irrigation water). In this way, no additional water source was used for garden irrigation, and natural water resources were preserved.
- At Akra Didim, it is planned to meet the water demand alternatively with treated water sourced from the sea. Within this scope, a Seawater Intake Structure has been constructed and put into operation. During the operational phase of the tourism accommodation facility, the system has been designed to treat seawater—drawn from the sea and passed through a reverse osmosis system—to meet the need for clean, ready-to-use water in addition to drinking water, both in terms of quality and capacity.
- At Akra Didim, the construction of a sewage wastewater treatment plant is planned for the disposal of wastewater generated by the facility. The water treated within the wastewater treatment plant will be used for garden irrigation.
- Every Drop Counts: We encourage our guests to conserve water during room cleaning. We inform our guests that services such as room cleaning, sheet, and towel changes are provided as needed, guide them toward ecological service practices, and offer complimentary treats to encourage these practices. The ecological card program is available at all our facilities.
- To reduce plastic use among our employees at all our facilities, personalized drink bottles were designed and distributed to each staff member. Our employees were also encouraged to adopt a plastic-free daily life.
- Smoke-Free Environment: To create a positive impact both environmentally and socially, smoking is prohibited in common areas and rooms across all our hotels. Smoking is allowed only in smoking areas.
- ISO 50001: We regularly provide our employees with training on improving energy performance—including energy efficiency, energy use, and energy consumption—within the scope of ISO 50001, encouraging energy conservation and waste management in their working environments.
- Certifications and International Standardization: We work with various internationally recognized certification bodies to improve social and environmental standards. We transparently publish all the certifications we have received on the Akra Hotels website.
- Data-Driven Approaches: Sustainability reports for all our facilities are prepared regularly each year and published transparently on the Akra Hotels website
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Equality and Inclusion
As BHM, we embrace gender equality in the business world not as a goal but as a core value; placing the empowerment of women and their access to equal rights and opportunities at the heart of our corporate culture. Our status as a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and our practices crowned with the KAGİDER FEM Certificate are the most concrete indicators of our commitment to creating an equitable, fair, and inclusive work environment.
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Women’s Employment:
The proportion of female employees working within Akra Hotels increased from 43.8% in 2023 to 51.2% in 2024. In general, the proportion of female employees at BHM AŞ, to which Akra Hotels is affiliated, increased from 41.2% in 2023 to 46.7% in 2024.
Encouraging actions have been taken to give women a greater voice in hotel management, and the proportion of female managers has increased from 20.6% to 23.8% by the end of 2024.
In 2025, this upward trend continued, and according to the reviews conducted in January 2025, the proportion increased from 23.8% to 24.1%.
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Strengthening Local Employment:
We encourage the majority of our employees to be recruited from the local community.
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Circular Economy Approach:
We aim for an economic model in which all waste is fully recycled and resources are used efficiently.
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Preference for Geographically Indicated Products:
We prioritize local suppliers and local partnerships to procure our kitchen ingredients, providing ethical and sustainable food and beverage offerings.
At all our facilities, efforts such as culinary journeys, support for cooperatives and local producers, and R&D and product development activities are carried out to encourage the localization of kitchen teams within the supply chain.
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Ethical Supply Chain:
We encourage our business partners from whom we procure supplies to adopt ethical and sustainable practices.
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Supporting Local Producers:
From food to textiles, we support local producers in our supply chain wherever possible, contributing to a sustainable economy.
We work toward more sustainable tourism by fulfilling our responsibilities to nature, people, our cultural heritage, and the industry.
We are aware of our responsibility to protect nature. We reduce our carbon footprint by using renewable energy sources effectively and carry out projects to protect biodiversity in our regions. We are working resolutely to leave a clean and livable world for future generations.
With our people-centered approach, we take impactful steps guided by the principles of equality, justice, inclusion, and diversity. With the projects we develop through a sense of social responsibility, we add value both to society and to the regions in which we operate.
By adopting the principle of preserving local cultures and social values, we contribute to keeping cultural heritage alive in the regions where we operate.
With our Ethical Tourism program, we aim to promote the concept of sustainable tourism and foster a sector culture that is sensitive to the environment and society.
