[SUSTA I NAB I L I TY Hotel groups are ramping up their practices in sustainability for the good of the world and the bottom line. Gone are the days when hotels change your bath towel daily and you could pocket those little bottles of soap, shampoo and conditioner when you checked out. And bravo for that. Who washes their towel at home each day and where did those toiletries you swiped end up other than on a shelf in your shaving cabinet? In the early half of 2022 New Zealand’s Scenic Hotel Group set about understanding the company’s environmental footprint with the assistance of sustainability consultant Annabelle Burgess of Third Era. It then found solutions and new practices with the longer-term goal of not having to offset activities with carbon credits within the next three years. Currently Scenic teams up with B Corp-certified Kiwi enviro-tech company CarbonClick which manages the carbon offset programme. Of the entire process, Scenic Hotel Group CEO, Karl Luxon says: “We wanted to go beyond basic compliance to make a positive impact and demonstrate leadership in this space." Another leader in the space is Sudima Hotels and its management group Hind Management, said to be the first hotel group to achieve a Toitū carbonzero certification. Championing change Now it is the first in its sector nationally to partner with BNZ on a sustainabilitylinked loan (SLL). BNZ’s SLLs are incentive-based loans available to encourage borrower businesses to increase their positive (and reduce negative) environmental and social impact. Under the terms of the SLL agreement, BNZ is extending a more than $100 million general loan to Hind Management and Sudima Hotels which enables savings made through the loan’s structure to be directed into the group’s dedicated sustainability budget, thereby helping to fund further investment in market-leading initiatives. Executive director of sustainability and environment for Hind Management, Kanika Jhunjhnuwala, says the main KPIs Hind Management is working on through to 2025 are focused on reducing actual and potential emissions in Sudima Hotels’ operations, improving accessibility standards to bestin-market, lifting cultural competency across the organisation, and improving the sustainability of the supply chain with a focus on reducing plastic. “The [BNZ] loan integrates our approach to sustainability initiatives into our financing arrangements and advances our accountability and transparency by setting specific sustainability performance targets (SPTs) for us to achieve and report on,” she says. By Brad Foster Global sustainability officer of Flight Centre Travel Group, Michelle Degenhardt, says a good definition of sustainability as it related to travel is “doing good business without negatively impacting the environment, the community or society as a whole.” She says those working on a sustainable travel policy often immediately focused on emissions and calculating travel emissions. “But it’s really important when reviewing your business travel policies that you are always prioritising the health and wellness of your traveller.” She says a good sustainable travel policy also made good business sense with recent research findings being: • With millennials making up to 75% of the workforce by 2025 they are looking for environmentally and socially responsible employers. • 28% of consumers make decisions based on how a business treats their people. • 20% of consumers make decisions on how businesses treat the environment. • 53% of travel decision makers rate improving visibility to make more sustainable choices as one of the critical factors when approving services for use of their travellers. • 58% of executive stakeholders consider reports on sustainable and CO2 emissions extremely important. • 80% of people would work for a company that focused on sustainability. She says it can be daunting to start a sustainable travel policy but there are a range of avenues to seek assistance and advice. The Global Business Travel Association has a Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool that allows organisations to effectively measure themselves across different categories in order to identify strengths and gaps within their programme towards sustainability. Simon Ruri has recently been appointed as operations manager at The George, Christchurch. Ruri brings extensive knowledge of the hospitality industry in both corporate and leisure hotels. He has held roles with a range of premium hotel brands throughout New Zealand as well as working in operational roles delivering worldclass events. Heidi Hellsten has been promoted to events coordinator at The Rees Hotel, Queenstown driving all C&I initiatives for the property. Originally from Finland and living in New Zealand since 2017, Hellsten has over 15 years experience working in various facets of hospitality and sales including hotel training. More people on the move What’s your sustainable travel policy? [36] meeting newz [nov dec] 2022
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=