Viewpoints

Findings from research that we conducted in the Netherlands suggest that guests are increasing willing to support or even push for sustainability. However, they also argue that hosts should take responsibility first. On the other side, hosts repeatedly stated that guests are generally not interested in sustainability.

I will only address part of the question, in my view, it is also important to see which actor does what, at what point in time. We can easily recognize certain stages of innovation in the process towards a more sustainable industry.

Basically, several factors always play a role. In the hotel and hospitality industry, there are always new trends and customer needs. Sustainability is increasingly becoming the focus of the industry's increasing demand. But if the hotelier or restaurateur does not recognize this and is not convinced that he should be more committed to environmental and climate protection in order to remain marketable, then the processes will not change.

Here are a couple of thoughts from my perspective: Too much opacity in the brand-ownership model. Brands make the commitments with little or no teeth at the operational/ownership level. Owners can benefit from the halo effect of corporate announcements without (full, immediate, consistent) implementation.

As a sustainability consultant to the hotel industry, there is very slow movement toward sustainable hospitality. The major hotel brands that have set goals do so for the properties they own and manage, which is perhaps 10% of the hotel inventory world-wide.

The referenced ITP scenarios are based on the clear forecast that the hotel supply will grow immensely in the coming 2 decades. Sustainability needs to be addressed from the beginning of the hotel project, even before operator selection when initial feasibility is done and/or capital investment is decided.