The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance unveiled its new five-year strategy to catalyse system change during its Summit in Berlin on 15th May 2023. Leading hospitality brands have backed the strategy for a prosperous and responsible sector that gives back to the destination more than it takes.
The strategy has been developed over the last twelve months by Alliance CEO Glenn Mandziuk, alongside donor members, external partners, and systems change consultancy Systemiq.
It adopts a holistic approach to inspire the industry and positively impact the environment, communities, and the economy.
Backed by leading hospitality players, the strategy is a vision that seeks to develop a shared definition of sustainability standards for the once-fragmented hospitality industry.
As part of the strategy, the Alliance aims to implement a benchmarking process to track progress on its Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality, which it unveiled last year.
This vision for Net Positive Hospitality will be achieved through a number of initiatives including introducing standard sustainability metrics across the industry.
The establishment of a Net Positive Pathway is one such initiative. It is an action-focussed programme outlining shared visions and actions, combined with a shared definition of sustainability standards.
The launch of Hospitality High Ambition Movers seeks to drive large-scale change in the sector towards net positive. The initiative unites donor members of the Alliance to forge bold commitments and partnerships that leverage their market power and investment capacity.
Net Positive Accelerators has been founded in order to inspire the Alliance’s members and leverage their footprints and operations to launch collaborative pilot initiatives targeting systemic issues in specific destinations. Successful pilot schemes will then be scaled for dissemination across the broader industry.
The strategy is to be deployed of a five-year period and, as such, the Alliance has chosen to adopt a phased approach to unlock transformative results over time.
By the end of the period defined by the plan (2028), the Alliance aims to:
- Have all mainstream private and public leaders convinced of economic opportunity in Net Positive;
- Equip business teams/talent to embed Net Positive into strategy;
- Pioneer nature and people positive solutions that are competitive with incumbent alternatives – innovations securing investment;
- Launch Policymaker engagement – prompting meaningful reform;
- Advance partner collaboration to advance Net Positive in destinations worldwide, inspired by opportunities unlocked within the past five years.
The Alliance today represents over 50,000 properties and 7 million rooms globally.
I am delighted the industry has come together to back our shared vision to go beyond net zero. We look forward to implementing our five-year strategy which includes bold initiatives such as the Net Positive Hospitality Academy and standardised metrics for the industry. This strategy can drive large-scale, tangible change, creating net positive leadership. Our environment and communities will undoubtedly benefit from this strategy, and I foresee a prosperous and contributory future for the global hospitality sector.
Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
We know that the travel & tourism industry could cut emissions by 40%, as soon as 2030. And while much of the industry is still not moving fast enough, momentum around sustainable hospitality, and the work of the Alliance, can drive that industry-wide transition. Hospitality has a rare opportunity for outsize impact, as one of the few industries that connects to both global industries and local communities through its supply-chain. Collaboration is critical to leverage this opportunity and overcome barriers to change: the Alliance provides a critical platform for hospitality players to partner across sectors and destinations to achieve net zero.
Jeremy Oppenheim, Senior Partner at Systemiq
