In this episode of HNtv Insiders, Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior VP Sustainability, Security and Corporate Communications for Radisson Hotel Group, and Wolfgang M. Neumann, Chairman of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance discuss how the hospitality industry is responding to changing sustainability dynamics as a preview and scene setter for their session on this topic at the 17^th edition of the Arabian & African Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), taking place at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai live in person from 20-22 September 2021.

At the heart of their conversation, Wolfgang and Inge discuss the impact of the global pandemic on the travel and hospitality industry and key learnings on how to respond to changing sustainability dynamics, both from both a planet and people perspective.

Inge highlights how we have really come to see the impact of climate change especially with the catastrophic climate events and natural disasters in recent weeks, including heatwaves, flooding, forest fires, and the first climate-change-induced famine. She emphasizes that climate change is a reality and that we have all realized that there is no vaccine against climate change.

On the positive side, we know from the global pandemic that we can mobilize a human effort to solve a crisis and that there is so much that can be done when we come together to tackle this challenge.

Wolfgang reminds us that tourism remains a significant contributor to carbon emissions and that we as an industry need to take real action now, and ensure that organizational purpose and values are firmly ingrained in a company’s DNA and ethos.

It is important for the industry to build on the increasing levels of consumer awareness and their expectations for action and recognize that the work on sustainability will never be done. In doing so it’s vital to encourage action, whether that’s driven by clients, guests, employees, societal groups, investors, governments, or regulatory frameworks.

But how do we make this happen as an industry?

Inge and Wolfgang stress the importance of collaboration and bringing everyone along on the same journey, we can’t do this alone and sustainability shouldn’t be competitive. We are all at different stages when it comes to sustainable development, both from a planet and people perspective, and we need to find a way to develop a pathway together, each takes a role in this roadmap, and commits to making it happen.

Inge Huijbrechts
Global Senior VP Sustainability, Security and Corporate Communications for Radisson Hotel Group
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/author/148003419.html

Wolfgang M. Neumann
Chairman, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/author/148004804.html

AHIC - Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC)
www.ahic.com/

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