CSR and Sustainability

🌲 Booking.com survey shows 56% of travelers look for eco-friendly accommodations; nearly 67% prefer comfort with sustainable amenities. The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance indicates hotels can reduce their carbon footprint by adopting sustainability principles. Operations can cut costs with efficient systems, renewable energy, and water conservation. Strategies include energy audits, low-flow installations, robust recycling, and smart room technologies. Hotels can also support local communities through partnerships and eco-tourism, while innovative practices involve green building design, renewable energy, and guest-involved energy projects. Hotels embracing sustainability cater to eco-conscious travelers, building resilient, future-proof businesses.

🏖 On Mar 25, 2025, travel industry stakeholders, including companies like Booking.com and Wyndham, are acknowledged for their role in alleviating overtourism by shaping traveler behavior. Key approaches include offering sustainable options, promoting less-known destinations, enforcing visitor limits, and educating about off-peak travel. Collaboration among travelers, businesses, governments, and destinations is emphasized as essential in addressing overtourism. Government policies alone, such as Venice's entry restrictions, may not suffice without significant costs to deter visitors.

🧴 Louise Lisztman launched Dead Sea Dream, a natural skincare brand based on Dead Sea minerals, over two years ago after personal struggles with acne and eczema. The brand's idea stemmed from a transformative trip to the Dead Sea when Lisztman was about 19 years old, during her time at Glion. The Dead Sea, the saltiest and lowest body of water on Earth, is known for its high concentration of essential minerals like magnesium and calcium. Lisztman collaborates with the Dead Sea Revival Project to support environmental conservation, contributing a percentage of revenue to the NGO. The enterprise faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and pivoted from digital marketing to pop-up events and live TV appearances to boost sales. Dead Sea Dream launched with six products and has already garnered multiple industry awards, including the Vegan Beauty Awards and the Pure Gift Awards. Lisztman hinted at launching a new skincare product in three months, following regulatory processes. Her best-selling items include the Nourishing Hand and Foot Cream and the Purifying Mineral Mud Mask. Dead Sea Dream aims to be environmentally conscious, sourcing packaging locally, and considering a sustainable amenities range for hotels, reflecting a commitment to eco-friendly practices.

🏥 Carol Davies entered the hospitality business unexpectedly, taking a sales coordinator role during a college break and then transitioning to full-time, eventually moving up the career ladder. Mentored by Marie, who emphasized self-assessment and emotional control, Davies learned the importance of paying it forward, particularly in supporting other women in the industry. Despite progress in diversity over 30 years, Davies notes the hospitality industry still lacks diversity at the highest levels, with gender bias at all levels and a need for leadership development programs for underrepresented groups. More women are in leadership today, yet they are underrepresented in executive roles, with barriers such as unconscious bias and family obligations. Davies advocates for transparent promotion pathways and leadership training to foster better business performance and workplace culture.

🎓 Allison Handy's hospitality career was inspired 25 years ago by a role model at the Newport Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau. She learned the importance of knowledge and leadership from mentors who emphasized preparedness, strategic thinking, and self-guided problem-solving. Today, Handy observes progress in diversity with more women in leadership positions and advocates for work environments offering equal opportunities for all to balance family and career. At Aimbridge, female general managers exceed the industry average, yet executive leadership still lacks sufficient female representation.

🏡 Robert De Niro, actor and hotel investor, plans to open Nobu Beach Inn in early 2026 on Barbuda’s southwest coast. The property, which De Niro will own with partners Daniel Shamoon and James Packer, spans 400 acres with over two miles of beachfront. Nobu Hospitality, co-founded by De Niro, has 19 hotels worldwide and 23 in development. The eco-friendly Barbuda project will consist of 17 bungalow cottages with 36 bedrooms, featuring multiple restaurants and real-estate opportunities. Pre-sales for 25 beachfront villa lots have begun, with more custom lots to follow.

🏆 Winners of the Equity in Tourism awards were announced at ITB Berlin. Community Homestay Network, Nepal for Accommodation and Responsible Travel, Ecuador for Travel and Destinations received awards for promoting gender equality in tourism. Amba Yaalu (Mango Friends) Kandalama, Sri Lanka, was highly commended. The award, in its third year, had a panel including Michelle Mason (World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance) and Dawn Briggs (Sojern). Eternal Landscapes Mongolia, Accor Brazil Embrace Program, and Travel Excellence are past winners.

🌏 IHG Hotels & Resorts launched voco Zeal Exeter Science Park as its first net zero carbon hotel, featuring 142 rooms, renewable and solar energy usage. The Exeter-based hotel includes a gym, landscaped gardens, meeting spaces, 12 EV charging stations, and emphasizes locally sourced ingredients at its restaurant, ISCA. It aligns with the UK Green Building Council's Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework, incorporates Solarlab vertical photovoltaic panels, follows the Passivhaus standard, and utilized Ecocrete to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 85%. Exeter Science Park will host 76,400 m² dedicated to STEMM businesses, and voco brand plans 20+ new properties in the coming years.