Responsible Hospitality Is Not an Add-On. It Is Hospitality

I believe that responsibility for reducing and accounting for environmental damage should primarily lie with hospitality businesses, rather than individual guests. Environmental costs should be embedded in business operations and reflected in pricing, just as labour, energy, and other operational costs are. However, paying for emissions should never become a substitute for reducing them in the first place.

View by Anna de Visser Amundson, Professor Responsible Consumption, Hotelschool The Hague

Of course, consumers also have a role to play by choosing responsible hospitality providers. But we cannot rely on consumer choice alone. Guests make decisions based on price, convenience, location, and quality, and sustainability is not always their primary consideration. Nor should responsible hospitality depend on consumers being willing to pay a premium.

This requires a level playing field, with clear standards and regulations that encourage businesses to reduce their environmental impact rather than simply pass the costs on to guests. Any revenues generated through carbon pricing should support meaningful emissions reductions and the transition towards more sustainable operations.

Ultimately, in today's world, being hospitable means more than taking care of guests. It also means taking responsibility for the people, communities, and natural environment on which hospitality depends. Protecting and regenerating the social and natural capital that sustains our industry is not an optional sustainability initiative; it is fundamental to what it means to be hospitable in the first place.

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