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When a travel group voluntarily measures everything, including the carbon cost of every hotel night, you can safely assume two things. First, it knows the numbers will be uncomfortable. Second, it understands that in today’s regulatory and reputational climate, not measuring them is worse.

That, in essence, is the message running through HBX Group’s 2025 ESG Report, a document that reads less like a glossy sustainability brochure and more like a balance sheet for a sector now well past the era of gentle pledges and vague intentions.

Published this week, the report marks a notable shift in tone and substance for the Mallorca-headquartered travel technology group. For the first time, HBX has incorporated externally assured disclosures aligned with Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), despite not yet being legally compelled to do so. It is a move that signals both confidence and caution: confidence in the group’s internal controls, and caution about where regulatory expectations are heading.

Since its market listing, HBX Group (HBX.SM) has tightened the bolts on governance and oversight, introducing a disclosure framework that mirrors the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The result is a report that is notably rigorous by travel industry standards and deliberately so.

Double materiality, done properly

At the heart of the document is an enhanced double materiality assessment, conducted in line with CSRD and ESRS guidance using the methodology defined by EFRAG, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. This is not a desk exercise.

HBX’s assessment spans its entire upstream and downstream value chain, factoring in internal leadership input, external stakeholder perspectives, ESG risk analysis, peer benchmarking, regulatory signals and media scrutiny. In short, it asks two questions regulators now insist on: how does the business affect the world, and how does the world affect the business?

The outcome is a detailed mapping of the company’s most significant sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities, both positive and negative. These findings now shape HBX Group’s reporting priorities and will underpin a new ESG strategy due for release in February 2026.

Crucially, ESG risks are no longer parked in a side document. They have been embedded in the group’s enterprise risk management framework, sharpening Board oversight and ensuring that sustainability considerations inform mainstream commercial decision-making rather than sit politely on the sidelines.

The carbon number that matters

If there is a headline number in the report, it is this: 1,486,482 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

That is HBX Group’s full carbon footprint for 2025, now established as the baseline year for its climate strategy. The figure includes Scope 1, Scope 2 and, significantly, Scope 3 emissions, with the latter accounting for 99.9 per cent of total emissions.

In travel, this is where credibility is won or lost. Scope 3 emissions—those generated across a company’s value chain are complex, messy and deeply inconvenient. HBX has chosen to measure them anyway, including emissions associated with each hotel night sold.

The resulting emissions intensity of 2,065 tCO₂e per € million of revenue starkly illustrates the sector’s structural challenge. Technology platforms may run lean offices, but the services they enable are inherently carbon-heavy.

HBX has paired disclosure with intent, outlining a decarbonisation plan and 2030 reduction targets for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, while continuing to understand better and mitigate its Scope 3 footprint. A completed climate scenario analysis examines both physical and transition risks across multiple time horizons, supporting long-term resilience planning rather than short-term reassurance.

Operationally, the group has implemented an ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System, now being rolled out from its Mallorca headquarters across all regions, a signal that process discipline is expected to travel as well as policy.

Governance moves from theory to incentive.

On governance, the report makes clear that ESG performance is no longer a theoretical concern. HBX has voluntarily prepared its disclosures in accordance with CSRD and ESRS frameworks and strengthened Board-level oversight of sustainability risks.

More tellingly, ESG indicators are now embedded in long-term incentive structures, including targets linked to the proportion of sustainable products available through HBX’s marketplace. In corporate life, incentives reveal priorities faster than any policy statement.

People, pay and participation.

The social dimension of the report is equally specific. HBX Group employs 3,478 people globally, with women accounting for 56 per cent of the workforce. Its adjusted global gender pay gap stands at 1.1 per cent, well below the IBEX 35 average of 2.41 per cent reported for 2023, with similarly low gaps across its key markets.

Every employee has completed the group’s “Sustainability in Action” training, reinforcing awareness of environmental impacts and responsibilities. It is a modest intervention, but one that reflects a view that sustainability literacy is no longer optional in a global travel business.

As Nicolas Huss, CEO of HBX Group, put it:

“Our ESG Report reflects the real progress we are making in our sustainability strategy and the level of transparency we aim to offer our stakeholders. We have strengthened our governance systems, developed a comprehensive view of our climate footprint and reinforced our commitment to equity, learning, and the development of our teams.”

It is a measured statement and deliberately so. The confidence comes from disclosure rather than declaration.

Embedding sustainability into the product

Looking ahead, HBX plans to embed sustainability more deeply into its commercial offering. Over the next three years, the group aims to expand its sustainable portfolio by 13 per cent, driven in part by the continued development of its Sustainable Hotels Programme. The program aligns property classification and promotion with standards endorsed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and Travalyst.

The company’s Sustainability Hub serves as an education and awareness platform for hotels, tour operators, and travel service providers, while targeted Sustainability Waves marketing campaigns highlight practical attributes, such as eliminating single-use plastics, accessibility features, and pet-friendly policies.

In the experiences segment, HBX has introduced a new Animal Welfare Policy, categorising its entire portfolio according to levels of animal interaction. The aim is clarity rather than moralising, providing travellers with the information they need to make informed choices.

Beyond the marketplace, HBX continues initiatives such as Think Big, supporting local communities in developing micro-destinations, and Guides for Good, its flagship volunteering program connecting tourism with vulnerable groups through structured corporate participation.

A signal, not a slogan

With its inclusion in the IBEX ESG Index, HBX joins a cohort of listed companies recognised for transparency and performance across environmental, social and governance criteria. But the more important signal lies elsewhere.

This report reflects a travel industry slowly accepting that sustainability disclosure is no longer reputational theatre. It is operational reality, regulatory expectation and, increasingly, investor hygiene.

For HBX Group, laying the numbers on the table is not the end of the conversation; it is the start of a more exacting one.

The whole HBX Group 2025 ESG Report is available here.