Escaping the Low Impact Loop: How to do Better in 2026?

Question

A sustainability auditor recently sent me her checklist of a property: "Remove single-use soap from bathrooms. Install low-flow showerheads. Replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Calculate food waste. Monitor AC complaints to adjust thermostats."

She added, somewhat frustrated: "Never ending. Always the same problems at every hotel."

Different properties, different countries, identical checklist.

Author and systems theorist Donella Meadows looked into why some interventions transform systems while others merely operate on the surface such as adjusting parameters and tweaking some variables (Meadows actually writes: "diddling with the details, arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" [1]). She identified twelve leverage points [see 1]. These points are places to intervene in a system all ranked by effectiveness. At the bottom: adjusting parameters like numbers, rates, and constants. At the top: changing the goals and paradigms that drive the entire system.

In Meadows' framework, most of global hospitality is trapped at leverage point 12. This is the weakest intervention possible. The industry is adjusting parameters: showerhead flow rates, breakfast portion sizes, thermostat settings, light bulb wattage, thermostat settings and so on.

These interventions matter surely, but parameter adjustments are the simplest, most comfortable interventions as they are easy to implement and visible to stakeholders. They also help the hospitality sector to generate reports, demonstrate compliance, satisfy marketing needs. They show "action", without threatening assumptions, existing business models and are increasingly not enough, considering the planetary challenges.

Meanwhile, what is happening on the higher-leverage interventions?

Leverage point 8: Information flows. What if franchise agreements required upward reporting of carbon intensity with the same rigor as RevPAR?

Leverage point 6: System structure. Why do centralized procurement protocols and approved vendor lists force hotels to source food from thousands of kilometres away when fresher, lower-carbon local options exist?

Leverage point 2: System goals. What if we measured hotel success by biodiversity recovered per guest night aside from RevPAR?

Leverage point 1: Paradigms. What if hospitality's purpose wasn't extracting maximum revenue from places but regenerating the destinations that make hospitality viable?

These questions rarely appear in sustainability audits. And if your 2026 sustainability plan resembles a checklist from 2015, you're possibly working with the wrong levers. As the 2025 Planetary Health Check confirms accelerating environmental system disturbances [2], the question isn't whether you're implementing actions (Afterall, hotel leaders have proven they can tweak operation efficiently if the will is there), but it's whether those actions operate at leverage points where transformation actually occurs.

With this in mind, the following three questions emerge:

What should hospitality prioritise in 2026?
How would you recommend prioritizing these actions?
How can technology help make that happen?

References

[1] Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, The Sustainability Institute. p. 6. https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/.

[2] Planetary Boundaries Science (PBScience). 2025. Planetary Health Check 2025. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany. https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/PlanetaryHealthCheck2025.pdf

Melinda Ratkai · Answer

Understanding Opting-In and Opting-Out Strategies Knowing the difference between opting-in and opting-out is essential when aiming to influence behaviour and drive change effectively. The "default option" principle can be applied to almost any business or operational process, allowing organisations to guide decisions without lengthy explanations or losing control over outcomes. Opting-in means that people must actively choose an alternative to the existing status quo. For instance, in a hotel, guests might be invited to opt in for a local dining experience or a guided cultural tour. This requires them to take deliberate action to participate. Opting-out works the other way around: the preferred alternative becomes the default choice, and customers must actively decline it if they wish to change. For example, a resort could automatically enroll guests in a carbon-offset program for their stay, while giving them the option to opt out if they prefer not to participate. By consciously setting default options, businesses can shape outcomes and promote positive change. In many cases, guests appreciate that thoughtful decisions have already been made on their behalf, making their experience easier, smoother, and more aligned with responsible business practices.

Randy Durband · Answer

I would prioritize two things amid the myriad issues of opportunity and concern: 1) Improve measurement, data collection, data analysis, and reporting at the property level on sustainability performance, at least with energy, waste, and water, but then move on to other elements. 2) Convince the hotel investor/ownership community to take more serious efforts to improve rather than hiding behind the brands' guidance systems which the owners utilize far too little.

Sarah Habsburg-Lothringen · Answer

In 2026 hospitality should prioritise shifting from surface-level sustainability actions to systemic change through investment in leadership training. While technical improvements remain important, the primary focus must be on transforming internal mindsets. Training leaders to understand and champion sustainability as a core business strategy allows this mindset to cascade naturally through teams and operations. Simultaneously, financial departments must be brought into the conversation early to recognise sustainability as an investment in long-term profitability, business resilience, and brand value. One priority is to tie sustainability KPIs to annual bonuses to close the incentive gap. In addition, sustainability literacy should be embedded into financial and operational planning, allowing budgets to reflect long-term returns on environmental and social initiatives. Finally, cross-staff training should cover not just the use of digital dashboards and reporting tools, but also how to interpret their output. It must also allay fears that new technology supporting sustainability goals signals job reduction, emphasising that people remain the essential differentiator and that technology should enhance, not diminish, the human experience. This shifts sustainability from a peripheral topic to a measurable performance indicator. When staff and management see tangible results, technology becomes a unifying force rather than a perceived threat.

Marloes Knippenberg · Answer

Incremental sustainability efforts and offset pledges are no longer enough. As we approach 2026, hospitality must move beyond “doing less harm” to becoming real engines of local and planetary regeneration. Sustainability, social goals, community benefits, and measurable impact must become mandatory, enforced by regulation and demanded by travellers, investors, and communities alike. Future developments will be judged not only by yield but by social and environmental impact, moving beyond compliance to deliver measurable impact on all fronts. As a UN PRI signatory, Kerten Hospitality embeds ESG principles into every project from the outset, not as an afterthought or checklist item. Through UBBU (United Building a Better Universe), our ESG framework, we prove that ESG integration and revenue performance can coexist to ensure long-term value creation. The opportunity lies in reimagining assets as community ecosystems that create shared value Technology can transform ambition into accountability through data-driven measurement, transparent sourcing, and participatory design. But technology alone isn’t the answer; mindset is. To escape the low-impact loop, we must design hospitality concepts where impact is integral, not additive and where doing good is simply how business is done. That’s the only sustainable path forward for our industry and the communities we serve.

Stefan Gössling · Answer

The academic view is that there is a rift in hospitality: we have the many small innovative businesses doing all they can to become more sustainable, though arguably some also buying into the buzzwords (yes, 'regenerative'!). Then we have the drivers of the tourism system, from the large enterprises to UNWTO, all heavily engaged in greenwashing (telling us all will be good, for decades now). Their interest is growth and growth alone. The game changer? To me, it would be a call for action coming from industry, ideally industry representations, DMOs, NTOs, asking policymakers for governance that will force the sector "on track", creating a level playing field for all. What we see, however, is the opposite - the sector continuously lobbying to water down even modest policy proposals.

Ioannis S. Pantelidis · Answer

As we enter 2026, hospitality must evolve from performative sustainability to transformative regeneration. From sustaining to healing! The industry can no longer rely on symbolic gestures like LED lights or towel reuse. Instead, it must reimagine its purpose: not just providing comfort and profit, but becoming a regenerative force that heals people, communities, and the planet. Priorities include regenerative business models that move beyond net-zero, local supply chains supporting biodiversity, transparent carbon and biodiversity metrics; education that builds ethical, systems-minded leaders; and deep, continuous collaboration between academia and industry. Change begins with mindset. Boards and investors must redefine what success means, supplementing narrow KPIs and metrics with measures of environmental and social gain. Sustainability reporting should be as rigorous and visible as financial data. Technology, used wisely, can accelerate this shift. Blockchain, AI, and digital twins can enhance transparency and foresight, while immersive learning can nurture empathy and sustainability literacy. Hospitality has always been about care. The next chapter demands that we extend that care not only to our guests, but to the planet itself. It's time for hospitality to stop sustaining and start healing, but an important key to all this is even better collaboration between academia and industry.

Brooke Hansen · Answer

We need to amp up our collective impact in an all-hands-on-deck approach (and not the deck of the Titanic, where we keep rearranging the deck chairs and thinking we are getting the job done). This project at its core is about culture. Management might introduce new SOPs (e.g., waste reduction), but if the culture of the workplace is not simultaneously changed to create investment in sustainability at all levels, then all is lost. While technology has been a powerful tool (e.g., AI for food waste reduction like Winnow), people are the prime asset. Cultural values of regeneration need to be established, reinforced, and communicated to all stakeholders, including guests. Green teams should be supported, morally and financially, to innovate better practices and know what their workplace is doing and why. I have asked front desk staff and general managers at resorts that I knew had a sustainability certification if they had any eco-certifications - it is surprising how often the answer is no or "I don't know" (when I know it's yes). Ultimately, we can create long sustainability checklists but if hospitality businesses are literally just checking the boxes to say they have done something, is that real change?

Adam Maclennan · Answer

A top priority for 2026 for the 'hospitality industry', as well as all individuals and corporate citizens, should be to get climate risk and sustainability back as a priority on the political agenda. There has been a recent backlash against ESG in the US, which has prompted other powerful governments around the world to delay or dilute legislation that was supposed to improve measurement and reporting of climate risk and emmissions, reduce greenwashing and move us towards net zero. Without mass popular and political support and major systemic changes, we will struggle to make the progress that is needed to make a meaningful difference. My priority for 2026 is to use any platform at my disposal to persuade politicians, business owners, and individuals working in the industry to keep focussed. Keep working on achieving meaningful certifications; install measurement tools; educate and empower stakeholders in your organisation to make decisions that will positively impact your triple bottom line. Set positive examples in your communities and do business with companies who do the same. AI technology could help reduce costs, automate, measure, improve, but we must think about potential energy and human costs of AI. Political action is needed.

Natasha Montesalvo · Answer

It is important to take a pragmatic approach to action: whilst a major paradigm change may benefit progress, the reality is, it is unlikely to occur at the scale that we need. What we need is action to start now! Looking to 2026, let's learn from those making progress already. EarthCheck sees the greatest success across members where sustainability sits at the heart of the organisational values. We see action when a clear commitment or sustainability policy guides intent with strategy and focus. A clear policy enables businesses to understand that sometimes trade-offs are needed and that decision making factors in sustainability (social, environmental and economic). If sustainability isn't a key part of the organisational values, that doesn't mean that action can't happen, a policy or commitment can still champion progress in 2026 – it is a small step towards a shift in paradigm……and a small step is better than no step.

Johanna Wagner · Answer

Number 1 priority for 2026? Zero food waste! Zero as in absolutely none, along the whole value chain. Which actually starts with how we design our menus, which ingredients we put in each dish and who we're buying them from. If hotel owners had to invest in the appropriate equipment according to brand standards set by franchisors, and if operators had to pay a penalty for each kilogram of food wasted, a lot would certainly change. Is it difficult? Yes, because we have such bad habits. Is it possible? Yes, because when we set ourselves priorities with the right incentives, we can achieve a lot! Would it have systemic consequences? Undeniably, because we'd support our suppliers, be role models to our employees and show the way to our clients. Would it require investments? For sure. Would they yield a return? Absolutely! With a level of concentration like never before in the industry, a statement and commitment from the largest brands and real estate owners would be enough to shift the trajectory of the whole industry… and the cooking and eating habits of hundreds of millions of customers! Zero food waste is what I can see on our plate for 2026!

Willy Legrand · Answer

Optimize the Trivial While Ignoring the Existential? A Leverage Points Analysis I am using Donella Meadows' twelve leverage points (LP) framework as a tool for analysis. Result: hospitality focuses on the weak intervention points (LP12-10:) while avoiding higher-leverage interventions (LP6-1). Table 1 (to be found in the full article with link below) maps current hospitality practice against transformative potential across all twelve leverage points, proposing actions for 2026 and beyond (and thus responding to this viewpoint). Hotel development decisions create 30-50 year path dependencies; a poorly designed building (e.g. with poor energy rating) constrains operational possibilities regardless of management effort. Yet much of the sustainability effort concentrates on operations: adjusting thermostats, flow rates, portion sizes. Meanwhile, many critical higher-leverage interventions remain partly or simply unaddressed: redesigning franchise agreement rules (LP5) to mandate sustainable procurement; redefining success metrics (LP3) beyond RevPAR toward ecosystem restoration; questioning growth paradigms (LP2). The deepest challenge: hospitality never asks "Should this hotel exist? Are operations appropriate at this scale in this location?" The industry cannot simultaneously pursue growth AND acknowledge limits; cannot extract value AND regenerate systems. These are difficult tensions to resolve. Regenerative hospitality may transcend this as it operates at these higher leverage points.

Sven Wiltink · Answer

Looking ahead to 2026, the hospitality industry stands at a pivotal crossroads, facing mounting pressure to address its environmental and social responsibilities more transparently and effectively. The first priority should be the establishment of comprehensive data platform in collaboration with industry membership organizations. These platforms must not only aggregate sustainability KPIs and attributes for internal benchmarking and B2B purposes but also translate this data into educational content for end consumers, fostering wider public engagement and understanding.

Glenn Mandziuk · Answer

In 2026, the hospitality industry must move beyond incremental progress, adopting transformational sustainability as its core business strategy. Our sector can no longer depend on checklists of low-impact actions such as recycling bins or energy-efficient bulbs. These are baseline expectations, not indicators of true leadership. The priority now must be systemic decarbonisation, nature-positive operations, and the empowerment of people through education, innovation, and collaboration. At the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, we are driving this transformation through flagship initiatives designed to turn ambition into measurable progress. The Amenities Pack sets a global standard for responsible procurement, eliminating unnecessary plastics, embedding circular design, and ensuring guest experiences contribute to a lower-impact, regenerative model. The World Academy for Sustainable Hospitality is cultivating the next generation of leaders by embedding sustainability knowledge and skills across every level of the industry. Our development of Universal KPIs will enable the sector to achieve Net Positive Hospitality by establishing a unified framework for accountability — creating shared metrics for carbon, water, waste, human rights, and biodiversity, aligned with global standards. Importantly, these initiatives are open to businesses of all sizes — uniting the entire industry is essential as we redefine hospitality's role as a driver of Net Positive

Jonathon Day · Answer

2025 has been a challenging year for sustainability in the hospitality industry. Nevertheless – I am heartened that the work goes on and progress is still being made across hospitality and tourism. As we prepare for 2026, here are five things that the hospitality industry should prioritize: Doing the work. The challenge is clear and we know what we need to do. It is time to lean into the task. Owning it – and spreading the word. At a time when many are greenhushing to avoid attention and criticism, we must continue to tell the story of our work. We must normalize talking about our commitments to the environment and hospitality for all. Changing systems. Tourism is one of the largest industries and we must use our market power to encourage change. Where to start? Renewable energy solutions, new recycling options, plastic alternatives… let's use our spending power to unleash the creativity of our suppliers in solving these problems. Working together. The challenges are great and we need to work together to find solutions. Focus on The Why. We do this work because we want to make the world better. Keep working!

Peter Varga · Answer

As a result of growing pressure to adopt a "mindset" focused on sustainability, more and more hotels are now sustainability conscious. This is already a major step forward compared to the situation twenty years ago. However, low-impact loops and mandatory reporting criteria have resulted in relatively little progress. We need a paradigm shift that returns hospitality to its roots. The Latin word "Hospes" means both host and guest, reflecting the reciprocal nature of hospitality. Both must play a key role in the development of hospitality and the current sustainability transition. I believe it is time to focus on guests and their role in such an initiative. We need to rethink historically established aristocratic service expectations, which include abundance and extreme consumer behaviour. Guests must gradually join hotels' efforts to change the system and seek less extravagant products, such as local and authentic products instead of distant ones. To this end, we must focus on behavioural economics through intensified research. This may seem paradoxical today, but hopefully it will progressively become an axiom in the near future.

Henri Kuokkanen · Answer

Instead of ticking boxes, both the environmental and social sides of sustainability must be integrated into customer experience. In our just-published research (free download link), we investigate how a business can engage customers emotionally through sustainability initiatives and find that information transparency alone fails to create an impact. When combined with social connection with staff, the second design aspect we used in our immersive experiment, it strengthens judgments of ethical meaningfulness and triggers positive emotions in customers. This means that customers experience sustainability, rather than just read about it. We conclude that businesses that have focused on CSR communication until now, hoping to attract responsible consumers, have only traveled halfway toward that goal: positive judgments and emotional responses are only created through the interaction of several design aspects. Social connection with staff is crucial for ethically meaningful experiences to arise, and genuine social connection can be co-created only by employees engaged in their work. In the paper, we provide further ideas for practical implementation of our findings, including those related to digital tools. Kuokkanen, H., Han, D., Kirillova, K., & Boerwinkel, M. (2026). Crafting ethically meaningful experiences: Towards experiential corporate social responsibility. Tourism Management.

Bastienne Bernasco · Answer

I agree wholeheartedly that hospitality cannot continue as usual in this stressed-out, fragile world. As a hopeful educator, I see business and education tied to the same post. Both are like old fashioned carroussels going around in an endless spiral. Employing human beings in mechanical systems suited to a world that satisfies some: a world grounded in liberal market economies and inequalities, built on human and natural resource exploitation. Education should match a new reality. It is time to be bold and share the urgency with our students and staff. What does the climate science tell us? How can we build collective capacities to mitigate climate change? How to live in a world without fossil fuels? How to build safe spaces and save democracy? Whether we work in hospitality or in education, we hold some of the keys to resilience: healthy plant-based food, fossil-free travel, eco-positive, enjoyable and festive spaces and experiences. Where to start? Leave your merry-go-round. Throw away your bucket list and find your inner goals. Connect with human and non-human beings. Rediscover your talent to provide hospitality for unexpected visitors. Build value models rather than business models. Design technology for good goals. Look around you, look ahead.

Sandi Lesueur · Answer

VIRTU, currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a purpose-driven hospitality and real estate development company advancing regenerative models that honor people, planet, and place. We believe that 2026 marks a crucial shift for hospitality: the industry must move beyond incremental sustainability checklists and toward frameworks that restore ecosystems, uphold cultural identity, and build enduring community wellbeing. A core element of our approach is our partnership with the World Indigenous Business Network (WIBN). Together, we are developing Regenerative Certification Pathways to ensure that every partner and collaborator across architecture, engineering, procurement, construction, supply chains, and hotel operations is aligned with cultural stewardship, ecological regeneration, and shared economic benefit. This ensures that regenerative values are not aspirational, they are standardized, contractual, and measurable. Key Priorities for 2026 1. Adopt Place-Based Governance: Indigenous leadership and local community stakeholders must be embedded from conception through ownership, ensuring the development strengthens cultural continuity. 2. Redesign Capital and Ownership Models: Shared-equity, reinvestment structures, and circular revenue systems ensure long-term benefit and prevent displacement. 3. Design and Operate for Regeneration: Move beyond energy efficiency to restoring soil health, biodiversity, watershed vitality, and community resilience. How Technology Enables This Shift Technology must serve transparency and truth. Real-time biodiversity and water health monitoring Renewable energy and circular waste systems Community co-governed ESG and impact reporting dashboards Digital archiving of land histories and cultural knowledge Technology does not replace Indigenous knowledge, it supports, verifies, and amplifies it. To truly escape the “low impact loop,” hospitality must evolve from doing less harm to creating net-positive cultural and ecological benefit. Our work with WIBN demonstrates that regenerative hospitality is not only possible, it is replicable, investable, and urgently necessary.

Dr. Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner · Answer

The hospitality industry’s obsession with checklists has delivered progress, but often only at the level of adjusting parameters rather than transforming systems. Swapping lightbulbs and measuring food waste matter, but if they aren’t connected to deeper organisational change, they remain surface interventions. To escape this “low-impact loop”, sustainability needs to move beyond compliance to become an embedded culture, supported by clear structures, informed leadership, and shared accountability. 1. What should hospitality prioritise in 2026? The priority is to embed sustainability throughout the organisation, not as a department or reporting line but as part of the business DNA. This means focusing on: Culture and structure: Sustainability must be part of every role, process, and decision, from boardroom to housekeeping. Capacity building: Investing in training and awareness so that every team member understands why an action matters, not just what to do. Transparency and accountability: Honest reflection on where impact really lies, and how value is created and distributed across conservation, community, culture, and commerce. 2. How should these actions be prioritised? Systems change requires a two-pronged approach: Top-down: Engage owners, CEOs, and senior managers in defining long-term goals, 5, 10, 20 years out and aligning business strategy with regenerative outcomes. Bottom-up: Empower operational teams with the tools, skills, and understanding to act meaningfully day-to-day.The critical link is information flow, ensuring that knowledge, decisions, and feedback move freely between levels and departments so that short-term actions reinforce long-term intentions, and sustainable change. 3. How can technology help make that happen? Technology can enable transparency and connection, but only if it serves the right purpose. Impact data platforms can help businesses visualise how their operations affect ecosystems and communities, turning abstract sustainability goals into measurable progress. Shared databases and peer networks such as The Long Run’s regional supplier database initiatives can strengthen local supply chains and promote responsible sourcing. Digital impact statements can show guests and partners where money flows and what good impact looks like, shifting perceptions and rewarding genuine regeneration. Ultimately, escaping the low-impact loop means connecting every checklist item to a higher-order purpose. The challenge, and opportunity for 2026 is to make sustainability systemic, not symbolic.

Christopher Warren · Answer

What should hospitality prioritise in 2026? As temperatures rise so energy use rises in an effort to keep our guests (and staff) comfortable and safe (for example, in Australia buildings can use 25% more energy during extreme weather events). If we do not learn to better manage energy and its use for heating and cooling then we are on a never-ending cycle on accelerating consumption as Climate Change rises temperatures and extends heat waves. Therefore, our priority should be applying adaptation policies in hospitality that ‘Cut Energy – Cope with Heat’. The following approach also will work for extreme cool. How would you recommend prioritizing these actions? This project that should involve the hotel’s maintenance, housekeeping, guest relations and marketing teams, working as one to apply adaptation. A silo approach to saving energy is much harder to deliver results as other departments can harbour concerns of perceived inconveniences, extra duties, and they can be unconvinced of the benefits…what are the benefits of energy saving if you cannot see them!Have a plan of action for extreme weather events that details: Pre-emptive actions so the building can be better ‘insulated’ from high (or low) and extended temperatures Detail changes in HVAC (or central heating) set point, indicate time this change in scheduled, guest room preparation (e.g. closing curtains), adjust guest welcome (e.g. cool welcome drinks from when guests arrive) and empathy from guest relations staff, clear responsible communication about comfort health and safety on the website Run tests to optimsie heating/cooling systems Train housekeeping to turn guests rooms into a ‘cool retreat’ i.e. different room set up that feels more comfortable Practice application of the above How can technology help make that happen? This is where technology guides the collective team and provides the ‘evidence’ of success. Our technology will: Warn of extreme events and communicate pre-emptive actions Unite the whole team and remind them of their change in duties to achieve high guest comfort, satisfaction and lower energy use and waste Measure actual savings so they can be donated to a regenerative nature project locally based Provide data insights to optimise the approach Results are 15-35% energy saving, ~20% increases in guest comfort satisfaction increase in staff productivity and moral.