#33 | 30/05/2024

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I spent the long weekend in the UK at an award winning sustainable campsite in West Sussex. Stubcroft Farm Campsite has many sustainable initiatives, including the building design of its amenities block and a new BMS. I found this out by accident as I bumped into the owner Simon, while I was waiting for one of my feral children to come out of the toilet block. It was great to talk sustainability and hear about the process and how the campsite has developed over the years. It has the Green Tourism’s Gold Award, which covers accessibility, energy efficiency, responsible waste disposal & recycling as well as environmental & wildlife projects.

Last week we held our Sustainable Hotel Exchange: Data Matters webinar. We were joined by some expert panellists Alina Arnell chief sustainability officer, BeCause, Peter Marshall, head of compliance, PPHE and Jo Geneen, co-founder Good&Co. and we had a 45 minute chat about issues and challenges hotels face when collecting, reporting and communicating their sustainability data. We will be releasing the recording next month for those of you who didn't manage to join us.

We caught up with Radisson Hotels and Resorts' Sven Wiltink, global senior director of responsible business, in our latest Q&A – we chatted about the scope of his role, bleisure travel and guest behaviour when it comes to sustainability initiatives. See the Q&A link at the bottom of this newsletter.

We also brought the news that after nine years the chair of the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Wolfgang M. Neumann has stepped down. Commenting on his time as chair, Neumann said: “Together we have not only moved the hospitality industry towards a more sustainable future, but initiated a mindset change towards Net Positive Hospitality. Much has been achieved – so much more remains to be done. Stepping into the role of chair is Daniella Foster read more below.

We have a story about a new foundation created by The Social Hub to help remove barriers to young talent and Accor's launch in China of the Disability Inclusion Self Assessment Hotel Toolkit.

Until next time,

Felicity Cousins
Editor, Sustainable Hotel News

Image courtesy Minor Hotels which launched its latest ESG report – see the story below.

The World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance) has formed a strategic partnership with STR, which provides data benchmarking and analytics for the global hospitality industry. STR, which was founded in 1985, focuses on defining how businesses measure performance, benchmarking possibilities and drive industry standards. Through the new partnership both organisations will provide training and support to each organisation’s respective teams as well as collaborate in working groups, the creation of toolkits and resources, and the testing and implementation of solutions to measure social and environmental sustainability indicators.

Accor has teamed up with experts in accessibility, data and the hotel sector to launch the Disability Inclusion Self-Assessment Hotel Toolkit. The hotel group has launched the tool with The Valuable 500, Accessibility Research Association and Colorful Earth, with the aim to help hoteliers deepen their understanding of the challenges and barriers that travellers with disabilities can face, while emphasising the importance of sharing information about a hotel’s accessibility. The Toolkit is designed to be shared across the hospitality industry to address the wide-ranging needs of the disabled community.

The World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance has announced its long-standing chair, Wolfgang M. Neumann is stepping down. In his nine years as chair, Neumann has been instrumental in some key moments for the Alliance, including setting ambitious targets for the industry in pursuit of its Net Positive Hospitality vision. Stepping into the role of chair is Daniella Foster, executive board member and global senior vice president of public affairs, market access and sustainability for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division. Foster joined the board as a trustee in May last year, and stepped up to vice chair in the Autumn, working alongside Neumann.

The Social Hub has announced the creation of the TSH Talent Foundation to enable talent to overcome barriers to opportunity. The standalone nonprofit will be funded via a pledge by The Social Hub to distribute 1 per cent of its annual turnover to the organisation. The TSH Talent Foundation has been created “on the belief that opportunity should be a right for all, not a privilege.” It aims to help talent overcome barriers to opportunity, specifically change makers who have faced challenges and transformed their experiences. The Foundation will begin activities in September 2024 with a pan-European scholarship programme.

Minor Hotels has published its 2023 Sustainability Report, including details on year-on-year reductions in energy, carbon emission and water intensities. Minor said it had invested US$9.7 million in energy efficiency initiatives last year, and achieved a reduction in energy usage and carbon emissions per rooms sold by nearly 8 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. However, net energy usage and emissions both increased in 2023, which the group said was largely due to multiple openings of energy intensive resorts, and higher group-wide occupancy. But Minor continues to target a 15 per cent reduction in energy and emissions intensities by 2025 against a 2019 baseline, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Radisson has been running its Responsible Business Programme since 2001 with the aim to create a sustainable and responsible business for people, community and planet. Sven Wiltink global senior director of responsible business Radisson Hotel Group talks to Sustainable Hotel News about staff education, European regulations, the challenges of his role and trends in sustainability.

👉 See more Q&As here! 👈

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