Sustainability

Meaningful Guest Experiences as a Catalyst for Change

I believe the true definition of a meaningful guest experience is one that drives someone to say, "You just have to go there!" to their family, friends, or followers. In addition, aside from delighting guests, exceeding expectations, and creating "wow" moments, great meaningful experiences can also generate curiosity, open minds to possibility, and become a catalyst for positive behavioural change.

View by Sarah Habsburg-Lothringen, Responsible Hospitality | Marketing & Training | sarahhabsburg.com, sarahhabsburg

Meaningful guest experiences - best practices from Sri Lanka

What is a meaningful guest experience for you?

A meaningful guest experience entails genuine human connection(s) with local host(s) while being able to embrace and respect the sensitivities of natural ecosystems within a destination. Some of the most inspiring and memorable guest experiences I've had were those where I made friends, learned new skills, tested my own abilities, and challenged my thinking. Meaningful experiences also broaden my horizon on new ways of living and doing better business, for example, learning how to upcycle waste materials creatively in design and construction, or to innovate with local ingredients and materials.

View by Chalana Perera, Founder – RETRACE™ Hospitality, RETRACE™ Hospitality

Beyond Comfort: Crafting Transformative Guest Experiences through Sustainable Hospitality

As the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, we wholeheartedly agree that sustainability is critical in crafting meaningful guest experiences. To us, a meaningful guest experience goes beyond comfort and convenience. It is about engaging guests in a journey of learning and contributing to sustainability, making them feel part of a larger purpose. It could be as simple as educating guests about local culture and conservation efforts or as immersive as involving them in community projects.

View by Glenn Mandziuk, President & CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

Demonstrating ESG Strategies for Green Financing

The most effective strategies for securing green finance would seem to focus on evidence of  financial stability and ability to repay financing in a timely manner and the opportunity for  lending institutions to apply an organization's documented environmental, social and governance value (ESG) efforts to their corporate reporting. Investment Business Daily recently noted that "Investors want stocks to align with ESG values". An article in Hotel Tech Report in February of 2023 details the ESG process for the hotel industry.  https://hoteltechreport.com/news/hotel-sustainability-statistics 

View by Nancy Scanlon, PhD, Professor, FIU

Shifting perception of green investments thanks to green finance opportunities

Green finance is still emerging and defining itself. As such, it currently raises more questions than it provides answers for hospitality professionals, especially among family or small businesses and independent operators who cannot dedicate their limited resources to stay up to date with such specific and technical trends. As a result green investment is very often considered as an extra cost with no short-term benefits and uncertain long-term benefits.

View by Johanna Wagner, Co-Founder of La Belle EDuC, Founder of Upside Up Hotel Asset and Guest Lecture, ESSEC IMHI

A unified hospitality industry can unlock Green Finance

As an alliance our role is to unify the hospitality industry towards a more sustainable future.  We aim to propel the sector towards a state of Net Positive, where the industry not only thrives but enriches our destinations, by giving back more than it takes, across people, planet, and place (the destination).  We exist to convene the industry, collate knowledge and best practice and create an industry movement.

View by Glenn Mandziuk, President & CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

Reflexivity and Learning

The path towards system change is unpredictable, and that reminded me on the book Risk Society by Ulrich Beck. Beck's concept of the risk society highlights the need for a new approach to managing risks based on cooperation, reflexivity, and sustainability in a context of complexity and uncertainty. The book contains valuable lessons for to be applied on topics as Climate change and Biodiversity. Learning is a key ingredient in Beck's risk society and learning involves a continuous process of reflexivity and adaptation in response to new information and changing circumstances. Important to realize is that this learning is not only at an individual level, but also on group and even societal level. Companies, citizens and communities, NGOs, governments and scientists and experts all play an important role in this collective learning process.

View by Arjan van Rheede, Senior Research Fellow in Sustainability, Hotelschool The Hague

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!

Most of us will know from any private or professional crisis we will have doubtless been through, that the task of solving a problem is always a lot easier when this is done in company rather than alone. (The analogy of Don Quixote fighting against the windmills comes to mind)

View by Xenia zu Hohenlohe, Partner/Director, Considerate Group

Collaboration in Food Waste Prevention - the case of Mauritius

I think that most of the hospitality industry is evolving in silos, and that certainly has negative consequences on issues realted to biodiversity and use of natural resources.

View by Benjamin Lephilibert, Founder & CEO, LightBlue Consulting

Trailblazing new paths together

I believe that we'd be further on the road of climate and biodiversity actions if we were effectively using cooperation in our sectors. Initiatives of small and wider scales are growing though, which is necessary as trailblazing new ways of doing business and new ways of designing desirable travel experiences requires exploring as many new paths as possible.

View by Johanna Wagner, Co-Founder of La Belle EDuC, Founder of Upside Up Hotel Asset and Guest Lecture, ESSEC IMHI

Growing sustainably amidst volatile times: UBBU by Kerten Hospitality

Today more than ever, the hospitality industry is facing a tough call: How to grow sustainably and thrive amidst volatile times influenced by internal and external factors?

View by Marloes Knippenberg, CEO, Kerten Hospitality

Hotels and the Perfect Storm: Prioritising the most critical actions

Risks affecting the hospitality industry are not only related to inflation, war, and geopolitics. Science has proven that climate-related risks and biodiversity loss are a threat to the fabric of society. The convergence of global systemic risks has a name: 'global polycrisis'[1]. The hospitality industry operates in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. Thus, it is challenging for hotel owners, operators, and leadership teams to adapt to the constantly changing circumstances.

View by Glenn Mandziuk, President & CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

The Long Run: Lessons in navigating the Perfect Storm

How are hotels navigating the current 'perfect storm' of geopolitical uncertainties, energy transition and operational challenges (e.g. having enough staff to support operations or even develop and eventually open new hotels)? 

In times of uncertainty, many businesses focus on their internal operations to survive. However, the climate and biodiversity crisis as well as the 'perfect storm' cannot be tackled in isolation, ignoring neighbours, other stakeholders, and the environment we are part of. “Everything that we achieve collectively at The Long Run is about protecting ecosystems, restoring, and regenerating landscapes, and connecting habitats. This is more important than ever in the current climate — there are increasing pressures on resources and so land use and management is critical to protect wildlife, ecosystems, and communities.” (Michael Dyer, the MD of Borana Conservancy, Kenya).

View by Dr. Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner, Executive Director, The Long Run