Emphasising sustainability is key to thriving in the hospitality sector: Dean at Les Roches

While all the major operators employ subject experts in various aspects of sustainability, perhaps the most exciting opportunities lie among the ecosystem of consultancies and suppliers of innovative platforms in the field of travel, tourism and hospitality.

One such business that I was introduced to recently is Travel Perk, which is headquartered in Barcelona and now has some 800 employees worldwide, having grown exponentially since its launch in 2015.

Although its core service is providing travel and expense management services to corporates, TravelPerk has also developed a new tool, GreenPerk to facilitate sustainable business travel that reduces the traveller’s carbon footprint by 100%, thanks to offsetting measures involving VERRA-certified projects across the world.

Also, with the growing emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) there is a lot of funding coming into sustainability, creating fertile conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship.

I believe the answer to that question is yes and we are already seeing this through the sharing of best practice at neutral organizations such as the UNWTO and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

We also see the wider hospitality sector — hotels, cruise lines, events, and others — taking more of a leading role in educating consumers, making progress towards the United Nation's (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Is there more that can be done? Absolutely. With the reawakening of global travel after COVID we will surely see the issue of overtourism back in the spotlight.

The tourism and hospitality industry cannot call itself sustainable while major destinations are choked with tourists; and as we have already seen with cities like Venice and Amsterdam, if the industry cannot control tourist numbers, then the authorities will do it for them.

We have already come a long way in sustainable practices as an industry and the next generation of young talents must now have the drive and the tools to take us further when it comes to striking the perfect balance between guest experience and environmental impact.

As a leading hospitality school, we are also endeavouring to move the debate along by launching a new Bachelor specialisation in Sustainable Developments and Practices, through which we hope to introduce students to sustainability practices and green initiative, so they can join the debate from an informed perspective when they graduate and get out into the workplace.