Communication Key in the Hospitality Industry’s Sustainability Growth
“It’s important to understand how sustainability has evolved over the last few years, particularly in the luxury segment where people originally thought that you were introducing practices, because you wanted to reduce costs opposed to actually driving sustainability,” explains Francisco Macedo, Group Operations Director at Iconic Luxury Hotels.
“There is a huge interest and a huge focus in educating our guests to understand where we are going and what sustainability really means. Within our businesses we have to take it step by step. We need to understand, particularly within our properties that are generally quite old properties, exactly what the consumptions are, where are we wasting and then we can start putting targets in place.”
“We target energy consumption as one of them, but our focus at this stage is really educating our guests to understand that sustainability is here to stay and it’s not just another trend.”
Francisco joined FuturePlus co-founders Alex Smith and Mike Penrose alongside L+R Hotel’s Asset Management Director, Tristin Swales, on the latest episode of the Business of Sustainability
Podcast created in partnership with FuturePlus and CityAM.
“Within our businesses you’ve got a variety of demographics so whilst we focus on educating some of our guests and consumers, we are also being driven by some of our clients, some of our corporate clients and so on, to actually drive sustainability as the main initiative.
“A lot of businesses now, we find it more and more that they don’t want to do any business with you, they don’t want to stay in your properties, if you are not driving sustainability at the forefront of everything you do. So it’s key that we keep it going, and quickly.”
L+R Hotels, has a portfolio including Iconic Luxury Hotels, Atlas Hotels, City Hotels and Destination Hotels and uses the FuturePlus platform to manage and report on its ESG strategies and growth of its properties which boast over 23,000 bedrooms in the UK, Europe, the US, and the Caribbean.
“For me it’s all about education. It’s really ensuring that both our teams as well as our guests are fully educated as to why we’ve done that initiative.
“I think the more you educate your guests, the more willing they are to go on the journey with you, the more understanding they are.
“However, there are guests that will always say, well I don’t really care really, I’m paying for a service and this is what I want and you have to adapt to it. You have to adapt to your guests, you have to adapt to ultimately you’re nothing if you don’t have your clients, if you don’t have your guests. So you need to adapt to them. But with time, the more we go through the journey, the more willing our guests will be to be taking part in our journey.
“The key is spending the time with the team really going through it. If the team doesn’t understand why you’re doing it, your guests will never understand it, because undoubtedly those guests will be asking your team why and why did you change, since their last stay. So it’s important that the team is comfortable and believes in the change and impact you’re making.”
The Business of Sustainability podcast is for anyone looking for valuable insights on sustainability in business, it features a range of experts in the ESG and sustainability sectors including investors, innovators, and regulators.
We’ll look to provide you with expert analysis and opinions on the future of sustainability in business, including some of the challenges facing all of us.
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CityAM YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AnHtd_QXIg
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