Hospitality leaders explore strategies to accelerate the commercialisation of sustainability at HSMAI Europe Fall Curate
Association members and industry guests identify practical steps to take action now, from energy saving measures and new approaches to management to adopting all-inclusive training and innovative technology that engages all stakeholders
Strategies to accelerate the commercialisation of sustainability in the hospitality sector were intensely debated by industry leaders at the HSMAI Europe Fall Curate, held on November 7 th at The Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel in London.
Association members and industry guests from fields spanning commercial strategy, sustainability, corporate communications, technology, and education gathered to discuss immediate, actionable steps for industry wide change.
The discussions focused on mobilising sustainability efforts at the hotel, corporate, and industry levels, tackling obstacles to change, and fostering a culture where every stakeholder is aligned toward a shared vision. While the commercial benefits were clear – such as reducing costs by optimising energy, water, and waste management – the conversations extended beyond the bottom line.
Leaders also emphasised the broader impact of a holistic approach to sustainability, including the influence on brand reputation among investors, staff, and guests, and the importance of top-down behavioural change, comprehensive training, and incentives. Innovation and technology were highlighted as critical tools in achieving these goals.
Beyond commercial gains, a sense of purpose was championed, with calls for hospitality to lead by example, setting a standard for governments and other sectors. Rather than contributing to challenges like carbon emissions and over-tourism, the industry can actively become part of the solution, supporting communities, safeguarding environments, and enhancing places to live and visit. The long-term gain is a future-fit industry, because sustainable hospitality is the only path to long-term commercial viability.
Quick and affordable paths to decarbonisation
The Curate started with a game-changing presentation on the Commercialisation of Sustainability: How Do We Achieve It?, presented by Hoang N. Nguyen, Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer at d2o – an online platform helping hotels to make better resource management decisions – and Tord Moe Laeskogen, the owner of Sundvolden Hotel in Norway, a property just outside of Oslo that has set new benchmarks for resource management and sustainability.
Sub-titled Making Sustainability Profitable: Transformative Strategies for Hospitality, Nguyen and Laeskogen presented low-cost, low-effort ways for hotels to kick-start and accelerate the sustainability journey – quick wins that not only boost gross operating profit but also build momentum in the longer term, laying the foundation for larger projects.
They revealed eye-opening figures on money that could be saved with minimal expenditure and time – arguably two of the biggest challenges to implementing sustainable practices – through the smart deployment of property technologies and daily management behaviour changes.
Nguyen challenged the common belief that costly retrofits – such as window replacements, insulation enhancements, HVAC upgrades, and advanced building management systems – are the only way to make hotels more energy efficient, with often uncertain returns on investment. He noted that, due to this misconception, many hotels, especially those under financial pressure, restrict their sustainability initiatives to lower-cost measures like eco-labels and green certifications.
The idea that sustainability has to be expensive is outdated. By focusing on behaviour changes, efficient resource management, and smart technology, we can significantly reduce both costs and emissions, while strengthening our financial capacity to undertake larger projects, driven by data and results. The best part is that jumpstarting this effort doesn’t require more than €5 – €8k per property, and the potential savings can be substantial. Hoang N. Nguyen, Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer at d2o
The statistics to prove it
To reinforce his point, Nguyen cited several successful case studies.
Pandox, a Europe-based hotel company, committed to science-based targets focused on behaviour change and efficiency, saving €265,000 in energy costs across 15 properties in a year. This effort reduced energy consumption by 16% per guest night, totalling more than 1,600 MWh in savings.
Similarly, Strawberry Hotels (formerly Nordic Choice Hotels) achieved more than €2 million in energy savings across 15 hotels in Scandinavia within 12 months, cutting energy usage by more than 7,000 MWh and achieving a 35% reduction per guest night since 2022.
Helping sustain these results is d2o’s PMI GoGreen platform, which sets monthly targets for reducing CO2 emissions, energy, water, and food waste. With PMI GoGreen, resource consumption data is tracked and analysed to guide efficient resourcing, reduce waste, and cut costs.
Pandox used PMI GoGreen to achieve an 11.5% reduction in energy per square metre and 2.15 kWh per guest night. The platform also integrates the Go Green Index, a daily score that measures eco-friendly actions. This index uses leading indicators, like tracking active logins and monitoring resource usage against predicted demand, to provide timely feedback and foster continuous communication and improvement across hotel teams.
Adding to these success stories is the Sundvolden Hotel example where the focus has been on practical, profitable sustainability through affordable smart technology. Laeskogen’s approach is testament to how hotels can commercialise sustainability without excessive costs.
To boost resource efficiency, cut expenses, and elevate guest experiences, Laeskogen opted to replace traditional, high-cost HVAC providers with smart, affordable alternatives. By integrating IoT-driven solutions through Energy Control, Sundvolden achieved a remarkable 22.9% reduction in energy consumption from 2018 to 2023, saving 1,164,000 kWh.
A key innovation was implementing sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, air pollution, and CO2 levels, allowing for precise control over indoor conditions and also, aligning resource use with daily demand patterns.
In the events hall, Sundvolden has adopted needs-based ventilation, ensuring air quality aligns with occupancy and activity, reducing unnecessary energy use.
Energy Control also provides a daily operations dashboard, which integrates HVAC systems, tracks energy consumption, manages service contracts, and supports data-driven investments in energy management. This holistic approach has enabled Sundvolden to upgrade its systems for efficiency and sustainability, showcasing the powerful impact of well-targeted, data-driven technology on sustainability efforts.
Together, the cases of Pandox, Strawberry Hotels, and Sundvolden illustrated to HSMAI members the commercial potential of sustainability through smart investments, behaviour change, and the adoption of innovative technologies that deliver measurable, impactful results.
You can’t afford to be left behind
These examples also made it clear that for hotels aiming to commercialise sustainability, measurable KPIs are essential to drive real progress and accountability.
Nguyen advised hotels to implement KPIs that include setting monthly, property-specific targets tied to larger, group-wide 2030 sustainability goals, aligning resource usage closely with daily demand, and tracking results through a tailored sustainability index.
Similar to financial management, this data should be published transparently each week, providing buyers and guests with an accurate view of a hotel’s progress toward its sustainability goals. Such transparency not only empowers consumers to make informed choices and rewards hotels actively minimising their environmental footprint, but it also fosters a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. In a competitive market, embracing these practices isn’t just beneficial – it’s essential. You can’t afford to be left behind. Hoang N. Nguyen, Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer at d2o
Glenn Mandzuik, CEO of the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the ‘Alliance’), underscored the urgency of this shift, highlighting that financial institutions and investors are increasingly diverting their funds to other industries.
The hospitality industry isn’t being taken seriously by the investment community because it’s lagging on sustainability. Investors now view sustainability as an essential component of a business’s strategy – both in terms of its overall plan and its commitment to responsible practices. This has become a critical factor in investment decisions. Glenn Mandzuik, CEO of the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the ‘Alliance’)
Hotels face the growing risk of becoming “stranded assets” as a result of inaction on sustainability, he continued. In the long term, this could affect not only their access to loans and investment but also their ability to secure insurance.
The industry’s reputation is also at stake, as hospitality is often associated with high CO2 emissions and over-tourism – issues that are frequently highlighted in the media and perceived as contributing to global environmental problems. This negative image can deter investment, underscoring the need for hotels to shift from being seen as part of the problem to becoming part of the solution.
Adding further pressure, Mandzuik pointed out, is the wave of new legislation in Europe that could impact commercial performance. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) mandates that companies disclose their environmental and social impact, while new regulations on “Green Claims” require businesses to provide truthful information about their products and services. This legislation aims to curb greenwashing and protect both consumers and the environment.
Non-compliance with these rules not only risks fines but damages with consumers, employees, business partners and investors alike – essentially impacting commercial performance.
Mandzuik also highlighted a critical issue that many in the industry overlook: the alarming prevalence of modern slavery within hospitality, with an estimated 10% of modern slaves working in the sector. He emphasised the importance of ethical labour training, noting that many hoteliers are unaware of the signs of forced labour, making education and training essential to combating this issue.
Transformative tools and training for net positive hospitality
The Alliance is tackling the major challenges highlighted by Mandzuik, aiming to transform hospitality into a force for positive change and empowering the industry to make a meaningful impact on communities, destinations, and the planet.
At the Curate he explained how the Alliance’s Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality is a four-stage roadmap that enables hotels to advance through progressive sustainability milestones, from efficient resource use and pollution reduction to fair workplace practices and community engagement.
This framework, which guides hotels from “starting” to “leading” in sustainable practices, provides the foundation for lasting change.
To help hotels turn these ambitions into action, the Alliance introduced the Net Positive Hospitality Simulation, an innovative tool that puts sustainability into the hands of hospitality professionals.
In a virtual seven-year journey, users take charge of a hotel, making strategic decisions across the “4Ps” – People, Planet, Place, and Prosperity – to reach Net Positive while balancing financial performance.
Each decision, whether it’s a policy change, technical solution, or behavioural initiative, generates immediate feedback on its impact, allowing users to refine their approach and develop a powerful business case for stakeholders. By showing the tangible effects of specific actions, the simulation helps build compelling evidence that sustainability not only aligns with operational goals but also strengthens a hotel’s bottom line.
The simulation categorises hotels into sustainability stages – Starting, Advancing, Accelerating, or Leading – aligning them with the stages of the Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality. This gamified, interactive experience is designed to enhance engagement, making sustainability training accessible and practical for general managers, department heads, engineering teams, and students.
It serves as a proving ground for ESG strategies, helping hotels test and optimise their approach before rolling out full-scale programmes, ultimately creating robust, data-backed sustainability plans that drive both commercial and environmental value.
Adding to this transformative toolkit, the Alliance recently launched a ground-breaking online training tool: the World Academy for Sustainable Hospitality. This Academy is a catalyst for behavioural change, uniquely tailored to every department within the hospitality sector.
From HSMAI Europe’s perspective, it includes all commercial functions including sales, marketing, distribution, revenue management, and more. Developed “by the industry, for the industry”, it empowers every hospitality professional to understand their unique role in driving sustainability and, importantly, to appreciate the commercial impact of their efforts.
By equipping staff with the skills and knowledge to contribute to sustainability goals, the Academy strengthens each hotel’s internal commitment to sustainability.
It offers bespoke training that aligns with departmental responsibilities, turning abstract sustainability concepts into actionable insights relevant to daily operations.
With the Alliance’s tools, hotels can present a clear, data-driven case to stakeholders, showing that sustainability isn’t just a moral choice – it’s a smart, profitable business strategy.
HSMAI Europe leaders forge a path ahead
After the insightful presentations and discussions led by Curate’s three thought leaders, HSMAI Europe members broke into four groups to delve into the challenges and opportunities surrounding the topics raised. Each group presented their findings and the entire group then voted on the top three issues for deeper exploration, selecting: leadership , brand reputation , and technology and innovation. A common thread among these was the crucial role of training and education.
With these priorities in mind, members brainstormed actionable steps they could implement within their departments, companies, and across the industry, focusing on practical changes with minimal resistance. They also examined ways in which HSMAI Europe could support their efforts.
Here are the key takeaways from these discussions:
1. Leadership
Leadership as a driver: Effective leadership – from associations to hotel management – is essential for advancing sustainability in hospitality. Members stressed that behaviour change among decision-makers, supported by training and education, will influence sustainability efforts throughout the workforce.
Incentivising sustainability: Linking sustainability performance to incentives, as seen at Strawberry Hotels (Formerly Nordic Hotels)–which links management bonuses to sustainability targets – was highlighted as impactful. Members recommended embedding sustainability and ESG metrics into KPIs across departments and roles, with additional incentives for employees who exceed targets. Tools like the d2o Go Green Index offer visual dashboards that show staff the impact of their efforts.
Transparency with guests: Demonstrating commitment through transparent reporting, such as publishing sustainability results online for guests, helps build trust. Rewards for eco-friendly behaviours can also be extended to guests through loyalty programmes.
Embedding sustainability in roles: Members suggested incorporating sustainability responsibilities into job descriptions, especially for commercial roles like finance and revenue management, so these functions understand the financial and commercial impact of sustainability.
Aligning goals in Hotel Management Agreements: Ensuring that sustainability targets align with operational and financial objectives within Hotel Management Agreements was also recommended for consistent commitment to sustainable growth.
2. Brand reputation and sustainability
Protecting brand reputation: A strong brand reputation is essential to commercial success, helping companies become preferred choices for guests, employees, investors, and partners. Poor perception due to sustainability shortcomings can damage the industry’s image, highlighting the need for effective storytelling across all levels.
Unified, transparent messaging: Clear, uniform messaging is crucial, especially for sales and marketing teams, to communicate sustainability efforts authentically. As one example of the impact of action or inaction, online travel agencies (OTAs) are now prioritising hotels with sustainability credentials and properties meeting these standards are gaining visibility and credibility in search rankings.
Building trust through storytelling: By focusing on issues that resonate with stakeholders (financial institutions, investors, business partners, staff and guests), and positioning themselves as part of the solution to global challenges (rather than part of the problem), hotels can build lasting trust and appeal. This approach strengthens brand loyalty, aligns with the growing demand for responsible, transparent brands, and essentially, secures the long-term commercial viability of hotels.
3. Technology and Innovation
Learning from best practices: Success stories from industry leaders, such as d2o clients and Sundvolden Hotel, show how technology can drive sustainability. Piloting new ideas on a small scale and developing a business case before scaling helps build confidence and improve outcomes.
Scalable solutions in F&B: Effective innovation in food waste management, guest profiling, and menu planning connects sustainability with revenue management. Starting with small changes, hotels can refine strategies and then scale them, ensuring efficiency without delays.
Collaboration and data sharing: Working together within the industry to share best practices and data strengthens collective progress toward sustainability goals. Using engaging, user-friendly technology, from energy management systems to training platforms, promotes active participation and avoids inaction.
Role-specific training for impact: Tailoring sustainability training to job functions maximises the effectiveness of new tools and technologies. Engaging students and hospitality schools in brainstorming and implementing innovative solutions can also drive fresh, scalable ideas in sustainability.
How HSMAI Europe can help:
Education and think tanks: Curate attendees unanimously agreed on the need for ongoing discussions about sustainability, particularly the commercialisation of sustainable practices. HSMAI Europe President & CEO Ingunn Hofseth emphasised the partnership with the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance to host think-tank-style workshops, beginning in London and expanding across Europe, with plans for global outreach. Attendees suggested prioritising general managers as key participants in these workshops.
Case studies and thought leadership: Building on the Curate’s insights and practical guidance, members requested more case studies and concrete examples to help translate sustainability goals into action. The emphasis would be on showcasing innovative approaches to inspire change across the industry.
Networking opportunities: To streamline access to relevant solutions and cut through the “noise”, HSMAI Europe could facilitate “speed dating” sessions between providers and hotel companies, helping members discover the latest innovations and services tailored to their needs.
Messaging development: Storytelling was highlighted as essential to counter greenwashing and effectively communicate sustainability efforts to stakeholders. Curate attendees expressed a need for support in crafting impactful and authentic messaging.
Toolkits: To accelerate the practical adoption of sustainable practices, HSMAI Europe could collaborate with partners like d2o, the Alliance, and many others, to continue to develop HSMAI Europe ‘how-to’ toolkits.
These resources would provide actionable steps and insights specifically geared toward making sustainability a commercially viable focus. HSMAI Europe Sustainability Guide for Hospitality e-book will be updated and translated into several languages.
For more information on the Commercialisation of Sustainability Curate, please reach out to us at [email protected].
About HSMAI Europe
HSMAI – Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International – is a global organisation founded in the US in 1927. HSMAI Region Europe is the European arm of the organisation. HSMAI Europe aims to be a key influencer, pioneer and the go-to industry resource for professional development, commercial strategies and sustainability in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry champion in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales, marketing, and revenue management disciplines. Read More
