For a long time, luxury in hospitality was defined by an abundance of staff, grand lobbies, imported materials, and elaborate service. On the other hand, sustainability was often viewed as a limitation, implying a need to cut back. But today’s travellers are changing that view. Luxury and sustainability are no longer on opposite sides; they are deeply intertwined with each other.
We are glad to introduce our innovative and sustainable key cards, designed not only to enhance the guest experience but also to support your environmental goals in hospitality industry.
Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality company and owner of Premier Inn, has expanded its Thrive programme—a pioneering, employer-led initiative supporting young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) into work—into the Liverpool City Region.
As part of its Proudly Committed sustainability strategy, RIU Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement with TIRME, Mallorca Environmental Technology Park, to guarantee the supply of 100% renewable electricity generated locally in all of its hotels in the Balearic Islands.
We’re back with the second installment of our 2024–2025 Sustainability Series, where we dive into the real-world strategies that make greener hospitality both responsible and profitable.
The hospitality industry has continuously evolved in response to changing guest expectations. Over the last decade, the shift has been both visible and profound. Today, travellers increasingly look beyond the thread count of linens or gourmet menus. They want transparency, values, and accountability. They want to know how a hotel treats its waste, conserves water, supports the community, and manages its carbon footprint.
In an era where climate concerns and rising operational costs dominate the global conversation, sustainability is no longer just a buzzword — it is a core business strategy. For hotels across the globe, going green is both an ethical imperative and an economic one. While the hospitality industry has grappled with the perception that sustainability is expensive, smart resource management proves otherwise – allowing them to reduce waste, lower energy costs, and build long-term resilience. In this context, sustainability is profitability, and resource efficiency is its foundation.
Meliá Hotels International has been recognized as the most sustainable hotel company in Europe and the second worldwide in the newly released World's 500 Most Sustainable Companies 2025 ranking, published by the prestigious TIME magazine in collaboration with data analytics firm Statista. Meliá is also listed among the top 20 Spanish companies in this global index, which highlights organizations with the strongest commitment and progress in sustainability.
The first rule of management: "What is not measured, cannot be managed."
That means we need KPIs, and ideally, lots of them. The more, the better... right?
Today at London Climate Action Week, the Travel Foundation announced an ambitious new initiative under the banner: Where Next? Big ideas for tourism's climate transition. The global NGO introduced four such "big ideas" that will form the basis of a global engagement and consultation process leading up to the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Brazil this November.
To KPI or not to KPI assumes that metrics are the lever. But in real estate and hospitality, the real lever is sequencing. We don't have a KPI problem, we have a decision logic problem. KPIs are just the output of upstream workflows. Yet in 2025, asset upgrades still rely on fragmented, manual processes that break long before reliable data is even available. We have seen how KPIs can backfire, especially when short-term metrics or legacy certifications are mistaken for long-term assurance. One of our clients proudly achieved BREEAM Excellent just a few years ago, only to now face an EPC E rating and a multi-million-pound retrofit bill. The upgrades were superficial, the certification held weight at the time, but the building is now non-compliant. KPIs weren't wrong: they were simply disconnected from science-based targets and emerging regulation. At SustainCRE, we are not optimising metrics. We are codifying the system logic that gets buildings upgraded faster, cheaper and with measurable yield. Think of it like a self-driving car. You feed it inputs — destination, weather, traffic — and the system determines the best path, recalibrates in real time, and gets you there more efficiently. The result? Optimised KPIs as a by-product:
If we want KPIs to reflect meaningful progress—not just numbers in a dashboard—we need to start at the top. That means rethinking how we incentivize leadership. Most hotel bonus structures are still tied exclusively to revenue. But what if hitting sustainability KPIs—like reducing waste, engaging local communities, or improving staff well-being—was also rewarded?
Share price and value are correlated to current and expected future profits, which can depend on decisions from governments with short term priorities who legislate for GDP growth as a solution to most of their problems. We should be pushing for a lasting global commitment to change the collective vision of success, and to accept that success shouldn't be measured in purely economic terms.
What do KPIs, certificates, and ESG ratings have in common? They're all tools we use to measure impact and performance. But can one metric, or even one system, capture everything at once? Probably not. As we navigate ESG reporting, the challenge isn't just what to measure, but how much, how specifically, and how meaningfully.
Looking for a guest souvenir that zips past the ordinary and straight into the heart? Here it is: our Xenyra charming wooden fridge magnet, playfully shaped like a cartoon electric tricycle, complete with an adorable horseman. Yes, it's as delightful as it sounds, and it's ready to add a unique sprinkle of joy and character to your guest experience. A miniature piece of art designed to bring a smile and a fond memory of their stay.
As you continue to innovate your guest experience with sustainable and stylish solutions, consider a crucial touchpoint for every traveller: the reliable identification of their belongings. We're proud to extend our expertise in premium plant-based leather to an item essential for smooth travel – our luggage tags.
As the world marks World Refugee Day tomorrow (on 20 June), Accor and Community Corporate are proud to announce a growing partnership dedicated to building more inclusive and human-centred workplaces across Australia. Together, the organisations are transforming lives through employer-led pathways that welcome, support and elevate refugee and migrant talent.
In a world where connection and community matter more than ever, Hilton has never been more committed to its founding purpose of spreading the light and warmth of hospitality. For more than 105 years, Hilton has believed that hospitality can – and should – be a force for good. That belief comes to life through Travel with Purpose, Hilton’s strategy to drive positive impact and deliver lasting value to the people, hotels and communities where we all live, work and stay. Travel with Purpose is good for business—enabling Hilton to grow responsibly while creating meaningful change. With the support of the Hilton Global Foundation, Hilton’s philanthropic arm, the hospitality leader is spreading the light and warmth of hospitality by unlocking opportunity for our people, creating more sustainable stays and building the resilience of communities around the world – all while operating at the highest levels of integrity, accountability and transparency.
At the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), tourism emerged as a major actor in shaping a sustainable and resilient ocean economy. With oceans under unprecedented pressure from climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, stakeholders from across the tourism sector met to launch new partnerships, align financing mechanisms, and scale up initiatives and action to regenerate marine ecosystems and support coastal communities.
As The Oberoi Group enters a new phase of growth, marked by exciting developments and a strong pipeline of hotel openings, it reaffirms its commitment to building a future anchored in sustainability. Elements by Oberoi, the Group’s holistic environmental and social responsibility framework, reflects a philosophy that has quietly shaped its ethos for decades and now takes centre stage as the company scales new heights.
During the EHL Open Innovation Summit in Lausanne, we spoke with Caty Batten, Co-founder and CEO at Intaconnected and The Nature of Business Lab, about how the hospitality industry can move beyond traditional sustainability and embrace a regenerative approach. Our conversation focused on the Net Positive Hospitality Pathway, a practical tool for building resilience and long-term value, and why regeneration must become the new standard for climate, nature, and people.