Foreword: Unlocking The ESG Innovation Stack In Hospitality
In this opening article, Chief Guest Editor Willy Legrand sets the stage for this year's edition of HYB 2024 Hospitality ESG Edition which focuses on unlocking the "ESG Innovation Stack" in hospitality, a crucial strategy in today’s competitive environment. It emphasizes leveraging innovation for sustainability, adapting to socioeconomic and environmental changes, and adopting a regenerative, net-positive approach.
HYB 2024 Hospitality ESG Edition is all about Unlocking the ESG Innovation Stack in Hospitality. In today’s competitive environment, ESG lies at the core of business strategy. Crucial to advancing sustainability is to leverage innovation which offers vast opportunities to mitigate impacts, and adapt to changing socio-economic and environmental conditions but also to engage in a regenerative, net positive approach. The field of sustainable innovation is ripe for exploration.
Thus, the "innovation stack" refers to a collection of technologies, methods, and strategies that, when effectively combined, can revolutionize the way the hospitality industry operates. Considering the convergence of global systemic risks (see: HN World Panel on Hotels and Global Polycrisis), expanding this innovation stack can ultimately lead to more resilient, adaptive, and future-ready hospitality businesses.
HYB 2024 Hospitality ESG Edition
The global hospitality sector is at a crossroad when it comes to implementing sustainability. Consumers demand trustworthy information while regulators and investors expect transparent disclosure on sustainability performance. Owners, brands and managers aim to mitigate the sector’s footprint thus reaping the financial and reputational benefits. Industry players that fail to adopt a sustainability strategy or fall short in the implementation stage may struggle to remain competitive in the long term. Industry experts and researchers identify key areas where sustainable innovation can have the greatest impact, developing new technologies and solutions to address sustainability challenges, and creating policies and incentives that encourage the adoption of sustainable practices. The HYB 2024 Hospitality ESG Edition aims to unlock the sustainability innovation stack by highlighting the range and interconnectedness of sustainable technologies, systems, and practices that can be combined in a holistic way that creates a more sustainable hospitality ecosystem.