The (Green) Recovery Imperative: Hospitality Re-Set Or Bouncing Forward?
Sustainability in Hospitality
— 15 experts shared their view



Associate Professor at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)
The uncertainty around the Coronavirus outbreak may have an impact on how far the travel, hospitality, and foodservice sector will go to embrace sustainability. Academic research and practitioners agree that the challenge posed by the current pandemic can and must be solved by developing leadership and management capabilities to support sustainability through innovative collaborations. see more

CEO of Kerten Hospitality
For the hospitality industry to come out of the havoc, we all need to focus on building Ecosystems grounded on sustainable supply chains with scale, as well as create elaborative business models across the larger value chain and through strategic partnerships locally and with international entities. The onus post-COVID-19 will no longer be on green investment for the recovery, but on ethical investment, sustainability for the sake of IMPACT, and growth in challenging industry times while supporting the Local Supply Chain that involves different stakeholders. Collectively, we will mature enough to engage investors, owners, guests, residents, entrepreneurs, digital nomads who will jointly foster that coveted impact. see more

Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Balancing survival today with working for a better tomorrow is challenging – but it must be our highest priority. The natural reaction is to rebuild as things were, to replace what was lost. It is much harder to stop and ask “how can I makes things better?” than they were before (particularly if you are worried that you won't make it through next week). see more

Contingent Managing Director - Sustainability at Techstars
I think there needs to be, and hopefully, there will be, a shift in thinking. Sustainability is often associated with additional costs. This is however often not the case and models that embrace sustainability also provide cost savings to businesses. I have in earlier panel answers talked about technology and in particular the power of data, and I think data will be one of the key components for activating “green recovery in hospitality”. see more

Principal Sustainable Development at 3 Pillar Solutions, LLC
Leadership from hospitality trade associations, such as the American Hotel & Lodging Association in the U.S., by educating and encouraging their industry members and partners would go a long way to avoid slipping back into pre-COVID-19 norms. From what I have seen locally and read about elsewhere, green initiatives have been set aside in lieu of cleaning initiatives. It is as if they see it as a trade-off and not something that can be combined for an even greater outcome. see more

Vice President Global Sustainability at Kempinski Hotels S.A.
The circumstances of the economic downturn have activated cost-saving mode. Which includes saving utility costs that make up a considerable share of operational expenses. At the same time, technology providers are more willing to share investments for technology set up, in return for sharing profit from saved utility costs. In addition, the use of digital technologies increased, in order to meet the requirements of personal distancing. This will lead to a widening of digital technology use for other areas of business life, with a consequent impact on the use of natural resources (paper use, waste management, monitoring of appropriate equipment maintenance, etc.) All this leads to the financial feasibility of resource-saving, adding to the motivation driven by the pressure of sustainability-conscious clients and management.

PhD, Founder & Editor, Sustainability Leaders Project
Whether hoteliers will do what they can to use the current crisis as an opportunity to be (better) prepared and (more) resilient when the next crisis hits - and the climate emergency for many destinations will be a question of survival - probably depends on their own values and purpose of doing business. If you are a hotelier and host through and through, that is, if this is your passion, then you will find ways to invest in resilience and quality. If not, then you might continue to ride the wave as before and either go under or make it out of the water in time before the next, bigger wave hits. see more

Associate Professor at Institut Paul Bocuse
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the point of view, a bounce back to the pre-COVID world is unlikely. Leisure travel will eventually recover. However, business travel may never reach the volumes seen earlier, as the crisis could finally prompt the long-predicted conversion to online meetings and permanently shrink this segment. This, of course, is good for the environment but not so for the industry. see more

Founder & CEO, Astrapto
We continue to have a culture and structure problem that blocks a "green recovery". I frequently hear students who work for chains say they read about sustainability initiatives on the corporate website (not a job requirement; it's a class assignment), but then do not see evidence of those commitments at their property. In general, the level of cynicism I face from students, about their GM/owner's openness to sustainability, is disheartening. see more
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Professor of Hospitality Management at the IUBH International University
More by force than by choice, the tourism industry is looking for reinvention. Nanotourism (Dekleva and Gregorič, 2014) – at the opposite of mass tourism - probably best describes the transition, which has taken place over the past few months to reboot local economies. Travelers (re)discovered local heritage and enjoyed nature-based destinations after months of lockdown. The short-term priorities of the hospitality industry are clear; cost-cutting measures (including a hard look at utility costs) and access to some liquidity (via governmental support programs, if available) to avoid the specter of large-scale insolvencies. see more

Founder, Agentur Auf!
Readiness and willingness are only two aspects to a “build back better” turnaround to sound eco-friendly and sustainable hospitality industry. Even if both exist, we'll often see a lack of expertise on how to deal with biodiversity and ecosystem services in a manner that makes the difference between greenwashing and responsible business development. Planting a few trees and use recycled paper is just not enough. (Nature) tourism depends heavily on intact ecosystems and their services. Not only because nature makes good scenery for a nice vacation, but because hotels and resorts depend on ecosystem services such as cleaning air and water or providing healthy and diverse food. If we had protected rainforests in Asia instead of seeing them as a free supermarket for natural resources – n-COVID-19 would never have emerged. Biodiversity protection is our greatest challenge – we should all take it seriously.

Head of Development Hospitality-Catering at IECD
Hospitality will be bouncing forward. In the last months, we heard and watch through countless webinars what will be the strategy and what could be the best move. Despite the several initiatives to put environmental concerns at the front, the curve is still at its early stages. The industry is still in a shock and the second wave of consequences of the COVID-19 crisis has not started yet. see more

Professor of Sustainability in Hospitality and Tourism at Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Crises have been often saluted as an opportunity for frog-jumping towards sustainability. 2008 will be still in the memory of most of us; also then the idea of a green-recovery was launched but it failed to materialize. Will the post-COVID-19 recoveries be different? see more

Partner/Director at the Considerate Group
The good news being that it is not just up to the hospitality industry's goodwill to bounce forward into a green recovery modus but in the EU this movement will also be dictated by new regulations, which are part of the bloc's commitment within the EU Green Deal. see more

Founder and CEO of InfraCert GmbH
The hotel industry certainly has other concerns today. In many places, it is about existence and survival. The new challenges of meeting all hygiene regulations and guest wishes take up a lot of time and effort for hoteliers. It is certainly a particular challenge for hoteliers to keep an eye on sustainability issues. Nonetheless, we see many hotels making efforts to position themselves sustainably and stick to the issues. The world has changed - but travel, perhaps differently than before, will remain with us. The quality standards of travelers will continue to increase and those who improve their business processes sustainably can score points here. COVID-19 has changed the world and there will probably not be a return to the "old" normalcy. Now it is up to the people and the companies how they use the opportunity to equip themselves sustainably for the future.