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Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

Green sprouts of hope in the regeneration question

Starting from her own skepticism, Dr Natasha Montesalvo explores where regenerative tourism is already moving from rhetoric to reality, highlighting destinations and hotels that build regeneration into governance, design, and operations from day one. Through examples like Red Sea Global, Capella Ubud, Maroma and TTNQ’s Reforest partnership, she shows that measurable positive impact on ecosystems and communities is possible – but only when strong policy, thoughtful design, and long-term performance tracking replace vague “do good” intentions.

Natasha Montesalvo
By Natasha Montesalvo, Director of Research and Policy and Principal Consultant – Destinations, Strategy and Insights, EarthCheck
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

Where Will You Place Your First Needle?

Using Camiguin Island in the Philippines as a living laboratory, Mahe Besson explores regenerative tourism through the metaphor of acupuncture: small, precise interventions that unlock a destination’s own capacity to heal. Rather than rebuilding systems from scratch, she argues for carefully chosen “acupuncture points” such as teaching resorts, youth ocean programs, and co-created (un)Summits that let local ecosystems and communities regain their flow.

Mahé Besson
By Mahé Besson, Project manager, 7Generations
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

Values over value: adding to place rather than extracting from it

David Leventhal challenges tourism’s “growth is always good” mindset, arguing that low-density, values-driven, regenerative hospitality can deliver both better guest experiences and stronger profitability. He explains how Playa Viva optimises resources, rebuilds degraded landscapes, involves local communities, and experiments with inclusive pricing models, while also tackling tough questions on aviation emissions, greenwashing, and how to scale without becoming extractive.

Willy LegrandDavid Leventhal
By Willy Legrand and David Leventhal
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

When Hospitality shapes places, not just stays

Regenerative hospitality reframes hotels from standalone assets into locally embedded infrastructures that strengthen ecosystems, communities, and destination resilience. Diane Binder argues that the real shift is from “doing less harm” to actively serving place – with independent and franchised hotels acting as catalysts for land restoration, cultural vitality, and shared prosperity, supported by new governance, measurement, and blended finance models.

Diane Binder
By Diane Binder, Founder & CEO, Regenopolis
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Centara Reveals Exclusive Sneak Preview of Centara Life Namba Hotel Osaka

Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand’s leading hotel operator, is unveiling an exclusive first look at its second property in Japan, Centara Life Namba Hotel Osaka, ahead of its highly anticipated debut in April 2026, welcoming its first guests. Revealed for the first time, the hotel’s completed interiors and guest spaces showcase a contemporary lifestyle concept designed for today’s urban explorers. Located in Osaka’s vibrant Namba district, the 300‑room hotel blends modern design with the city’s energetic spirit, featuring warm tones, inviting textures, and Osaka-inspired artwork. Open, versatile common areas throughout the property offer comfortable places to work, relax, or socialise after a day discovering the city.

Centara Life
Osaka, Japan
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

What Hospitality Might Become

Yves Carnazzola argues that the real shift facing hospitality is not from sustainability to regeneration as competing trends, but from seeing hospitality as an industry managing impacts to seeing it as a participant in living systems. Regeneration is framed as a reorientation of purpose: from efficiency and control to coherence, shared responsibility, and place vitality, supported by new governance, financing, and accountability structures.

Yves Carnazzola
By Yves Carnazzola, CEO, AxessImpact
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

What Is This Place Asking of Us?

Amanda Ho argues that sustainability, while valuable, is no longer enough for a hospitality industry facing climate instability, biodiversity loss, and social inequity. Regeneration is proposed as a deeper, place-based paradigm that asks a fundamental question: “What is this place asking of us?” Instead of treating hotels as isolated assets, it frames them as actors within living systems of community, culture, and ecology, illustrated through examples like Fogo Island Inn, Basata Eco-Lodge, and African Bush Camps. 

Amanda Ho
By Amanda Ho, Co-Founder & CEO, Regenerative Travel
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Hilton Strengthens Goa Portfolio with the Opening of Hilton Garden Inn Goa Calangute

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the opening of Hilton Garden Inn Goa Calangute, marking the brand’s debut in the state and introducing Hilton’s award-winning upscale brand in Goa. Developed in association with Kokra Resort & Spa Private Limited, the new hotel is located in the heart of North Goa, in the bustling vicinity of Calangute. Calangute is a popular tourist destination known for its lively beach shacks, extensive water sports and energetic nightlife. It is also approximately 40 kilometers from both Manohar International Airport (GOX) and Dabolim International Airport (GOI), positioning the hotel within easy reach of Goa’s two key air getaways.

Hilton Garden Inn
Calangute, India
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

Reimagining Hospitality Through Regeneration and Place Vitality

Professor Michail Toanoglou argues that hospitality must move beyond “low-impact” sustainability toward regenerative hospitality that actively strengthens the vitality of places: their ecosystems, cultures, communities, and economies. He lays out a new value architecture and six executive priorities for hotel leaders to embed systems thinking and place-based reciprocity into strategy.

Michail Toanoglou
By Michail Toanoglou, PMP Professor & Academic Director MSc Hospitality Management, ESSEC Business School, ESSEC IMHI
Henri Roelings
By Henri Roelings
Expert Views (17)
Matthijs Welle
Matthijs Welle, CEO, Mews

Hotels are better positioned for the AI era than most people think. They own something no LLM can replicate: years of proprietary guest data and a direct relationship with the customer. That's a genuine competitive moat, and agentic AI is finally what turns it into action.

Sergio Golia
Sergio Golia, Vice President, Strategy, Amadeus IT Group

The takeaway that stays with me isn't about any single technology. It's about what AI can actually do to change the way we experience travel.An example of this was the live demo I gave on stage to change my own flight home - not by calling a helpdesk, not by navigating an app - but by having a natural conversation with an AI agent that handled everything live: rebooking, seat, baggage, transfer all in one simple phone call.The audience went quiet for a moment.

Uli Pillau
Uli Pillau, Founder and CEO, Apaleo GmbH

What stood out to me most at ITB Berlin this year was how much the conversation around AI has shifted from theory to real, everyday use. Hoteliers and operators are no longer asking whether AI matters, but where it can make the biggest difference for guests and teams right now.

View all Answers
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Sustainability Edition

From Harm Reduction to Healing: Why True Hospitality Must Become Regenerative

Glenn Mandziuk argues that hospitality must evolve from “doing less harm” to actively regenerating the ecosystems and communities it depends on. Building on the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance’s Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality and shared data platforms like Vera-FY, he calls for accountable, place-based leadership and cross-industry collaboration that leaves destinations measurably better than we found them. 

Glenn Mandziuk
By Glenn Mandziuk, President & CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance