Spring Summit Sparks Industry Transformation in Hospitality!

The picturesque city of Nice became the epicentre of a transformative movement last week as the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance) convened for its bi-annual Spring Members Summit. The event, hosted at Amadeus’ offices, drew over 100 C-Suite representatives from across the globe, united by a singular mission: to usher in a new era of sustainability toward New Positive Hospitality.

Over two intense days, the Alliance unveiled a bold agenda for 2024 aimed at harmonising industry standards, creating a universal sustainability criterion, and launching cutting-edge initiatives. Central to this vision are:

– Unified Standards and Carbon Measurement: The Alliance will harmonise metrics, update the carbon measurement tool, and initiate a data management research effort to tell the compelling stories behind the numbers.

– World Academy for Sustainable Hospitality: The Alliance will develop an academy to educate and engage the hospitality workforce in collaboration with industry partners.

– Net Positive Hospitality Impact Fund: A fund to support local Accelerator projects focusing on decarbonisation, human rights, and destination stewardship.

The summit highlighted significant advancements made by the Alliance’s innovative Impact Committees:

– Supply Chain Optimization: Projects targeting carbon reduction in food and beverage and waste reduction in dry amenities are set to launch.

– Standards and Reporting: Development of Universal Sustainable Criteria and an industry-wide data management solution.

– Financing the Transition: Creating a Net Positive Impact Fund addressing key market failures.

– Risk and Resilience: Engaging asset owners as ‘change champions’ and developing an Academy course to foster industry-wide resilience.

– Technology Transfer: Collaboration with institutions to create a best practices library accessible to all hotels.

– Communications and Public Relations: Developing a comprehensive Glossary of Terms and Media Toolkit to support sustainability storytelling.

A pivotal moment in the summit was the announcement of Wolfgang M. Neumann’s departure as Chair after nine years of transformative leadership. Daniella Foster, a visionary leader from Bayer’s Consumer Health Division, will succeed him, bringing fresh perspectives and renewed energy.

The Alliance also celebrated the launch of the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards, inviting global pioneers in sustainable travel to gain recognition for their contributions to Net Positive tourism.

Reflecting on the summit, CEO Glenn Mandziuk remarked, “The discussions and commitments made collectively over the past two days at our Summit are integral to us reaching our industry-wide goal of Net Positive Hospitality. I want to thank Wolfgang for his strong leadership as Chair, Daniella for taking on her new role, and our members and partners for joining us as we transform our sector into the sustainable industry it must be. And finally, I’d like to thank our entire team for delivering a productive and positive summit that will be the foundation for our work over the next six months.”

Outgoing Chair Wolfgang M. Neumann added, “The Alliance now represents over 40% of the global hospitality industry, and it was good to see almost 100 representatives from across our network come together to reflect on our progress towards Net Positive Hospitality. This mindset change and our bold five-year strategy are deliberately far-reaching and ambitious, aiming to be regenerative for the benefit of people, the planet, and the destinations where we operate. Responsible business is certainly not a spectator game… it’s like a combat sport, which takes hard work, effort, and dedication. Thanks to the commitment of our members across the value chain, we have achieved a great deal. I am proud that our targeted actions show tangible results, and that the Alliance is increasingly recognised as the industry’s voice.”