As we enter a decisive decade for sustainability, is the window of opportunity for hotels closing?

Following a decade of growth which brought jobs and fostered local and regional development, the tourism and hotel industry has repeatedly outperformed the global economy.

More than 3,000 new hotels will open their doors in 2020 alone. However, the industry is also responsible for nearly one-tenth of all carbon emissions globally, with the hotel sector accounting for almost a quarter of all tourism emissions.

Under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the hotel sector must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions per room per year by 66 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050 compared to 2010 (ITP, 2017). The technology required to decarbonize the industry is available now.

How do you see the calls for more sustainability within your organization and, in particular, our responsibility to bring about a carbon-neutral future?

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Jay Stein
Jay Stein
Head of Dream Hotels at Hyatt

I hope the window of opportunity for hotels isn't closing. At Dream Hotel Group, we are great supporters of sustainability and see a need for it in our industry. As a company, we're already taking the necessary steps to start making a difference in our world, such as offering guests the choice to reuse their towels, sheets and other linens versus washing daily. These are small things that make a big impact.

We also recently announced plans to open our first Eco Resort in Belgium next year. I can't reveal too many details, but sustainability is the guiding principle for this property – from the interior/exterior design, food & beverage, recreational activities and more. We hope to announce more on that project soon. 

We also have plans to remove all plastic amenity bottles from our hotels by 2021, starting with our pipeline projects in Atlanta, Memphis and Valle de Guadalupe – all are currently under development, with Dream Valle slated to open first in 2021. A large format, mounted dispenser solution is in our most recent design and construction standards. Phasing out single-use plastic at hotels that are already open and operating will take longer. It will be a process to install the dispensers and wait until existing stock has diminished. That will ensure we're not dumping additional stock because that's wasteful both financially and environmentally.

And while these are all great things, my opinion is that this is too big for us to figure out on our own and it will need to be government-mandated to really have an impact. We need the government to set guidelines that need to be followed. A mandate that leaves zero room for interpretation and will actually help us reach our goals by a certain date/time. New industries will be built around these initiatives, creating new opportunities for our global economy. I think Dream Hotel Group and many other hospitality brands will take the initiative, but it needs to be planned. Someone needs to take the lead. And if it's done right, there are many other institutional organizations that can benefit too, like the restaurant industry, school systems, hospitals, etc. 

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