CSR and Sustainability

🔒 In Washington, D.C., the AHLA Foundation announced 2024-2025 No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Survivor Fund grantees on the United Nation’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Doubling the funds from $500,000 in 2023 to $1M in 2024, the foundation increased support to human-trafficking survivors. Eight community-based organizations received grants, and ten more received microgrants. In one year, nearly 650 survivors were aided by the NRFT Survivor Fund through training and emergency services.

🍹 Turtle Bay, a Caribbean-inspired restaurant group, reported 90% of staff feeling their well-being had improved or stayed the same with its ‘4 days at the Bay’ initiative. The scheme led to a recommendation rate of 83%, a refreshed feeling in 77% of employees, and a team turnover decrease from 131.5% to 84.1%. Record turnover reached £93.7m by 31 March 2024, with a slight EBITDA decrease to £9m. Profit before tax was £1.9m, down from £9.9m the previous year. The group invested £8.4m in new and existing sites, including openings in Glasgow, Camden, Blackpool, and Lincoln.

🏡 Bayview PACE allocated $7 million in C-PACE financing for Pocketbook Factory's transformation in Hudson, N.Y., into Pocketbook Hudson, a $42 million, 70,000-square-foot mixed-use development featuring a 40-room hotel, wellness center, restaurant, bar, and café. The project, returning the market to 2020 levels, will add rooms increasing Hudson's market count by 10%. The historic property, purchased for $3 million in 2021, also utilized $8.96 million in historic tax credit financing and $13 million in EB-5 debt. C-PACE funds in the U.S. have surpassed $7 billion.

📈 Pebblebrook Hotel Trust reported Q2 2024 results with a net income of $32.2 million and a Same-Property Total RevPAR increase of 2.5% from Q2 2023. Urban and resort properties saw a 3.4% and 0.6% growth, respectively. Same-Property EBITDA reached $117.2 million, up 8.9%, while Adjusted EBITDAre grew to $123.5 million, a 6.2% increase. Adjusted FFO per diluted share rose to $0.69, an 11.3% improvement. Urban properties enhanced occupancy by 2.5 points, resort properties by 3.5 points. Operating efficiencies led to a 0.1% drop in same-property total expenses. Over $520 million invested in redeveloping properties, anticipating revenue gains and cash flow improvements. LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club's Q2 EBITDAre hit $7.0 million, with an extra $7.3 million in business interruption income, surpassing forecasts by $3.3 million. Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica will convert to Hyatt Centric in mid-September 2024. The 2024 outlook includes a net loss between ($13.0) to ($4.0) million, a RevPAR Growth Rate up from 1.25% to 2.25%, Adjusted

🏕️ World of Hyatt partners with Under Canvas to offer stays at 13 outdoor resorts, including the new ULUM Moab, across U.S. national parks. Hyatt members gain access to luxury camps with amenities like nightly campfires, yoga, and kid’s activities. The camps, such as those near Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia, and the future Yosemite camp (opening May 2025), offer authentic outdoor experiences. Under Canvas and ULUM Moab prioritize eco-friendliness with DarkSky certification, energy and water-saving features, and safari-inspired tents equipped with king-size beds and wood-burning stoves.

🏕 Rio Perdido, an eco-luxury hotel in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, has added eight West Bungalows designed by Studio Saxe and Dania Saragovia. These forest hideaways feature a 170-square-foot terrace, double outdoor shower, oversized tub with hot spring water, and interiors with 90% locally sourced materials. The new bungalows join 30 existing ones, surrounded by 20 miles of trails, a thermal river, and pools.

🚀 Carriers Air France-KLM and Qantas form an alliance with Airbus, investing $200 million in the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Financing Alliance (SAFFA). Qantas contributes $50 million from its 2023 climate fund. SAFFA focuses on aviation biofuel technology and production, initially in the US. SAFFA's first investment was in Crysalis Biosciences in April 2024. The fund aims to reduce low-carbon fuel costs and accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson emphasizes the need for industry partnerships to bridge the supply and demand gap for SAF.

💸 Starbucks, under CEO Laxman Narasimhan, announces multiple sustainability efforts, with a focus on combatting climate change by the end of 2023. They've launched a returnable beverage cup program with NextGen and partnered with Mercedes-Benz to install 400 electric vehicle chargers at 100 stores. Recently, Starbucks revealed a partnership with Nexamp, initiating six solar energy projects in Illinois, aimed to provide electricity savings for over 1,100 residents and power 170 local stores. These initiatives build on 340 Illinois stores already wind-powered, and by 2025, the solar projects will contribute more than 40 megawatts of solar energy. Starbucks also formed an environmental board committee to oversee green investments.

💾 Generation Z, with considerable buying power, is entering the full-time workforce and seeking travel experiences aligned with their values: healthy living, sustainability, and advocacy. Around 36% of Gen Z exercise regularly; 30% use hotel fitness facilities; 56% prefer eco-friendly accommodations; hotels can attract them with well-equipped fitness centers and sustainable practices, like cardio equipment converting human energy to electricity. Brown University student Elina Pipa influenced her university to adopt sustainable cardio fitness equipment. Ruben Mejia of SportsArt emphasizes the influence of Gen Z on the hospitality industry.

🏨 RIU Hotels & Resorts and Joyned partnership, launched June 2023, resulted in a 4.8x conversion rate, 5.3x ARPU increase, 16% growth in average deal value, and 11% revenue hike. The collaboration enables customers to plan trips collaboratively on RIU’s US website using Joyned’s tech, which has significantly improved business outcomes.