The hospitality industry is responsible for some 7.6 per cent of GDP worldwide and generates 295 million jobs globally. However, it needs to radically evolve to take on board new environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting requirements. Dr Marc Lepere and Professor Giana Eckhardt elaborate on how this was the inspiration behind King’s Business School’s decision to launch the first-ever ESG executive education programme A
HOSPITALITY
At the start of 2022, the hospitality sector looked like it was set for a relatively uncomplicated couple of years, breathing a sigh of relief as a hedonistic wave of post-Covid ‘revenge’ travel replenished its finances. But by the summer the picture was already looking very different, as an energy-intensive sector faced the impact of price hikes resulting from the war in Ukraine. Then came 2023’s wildfires in tourist honeypots such as Hawaii and the Mediterranean, seemingly almost designed by Mother Nature to bring concerns about climate change and the ethics of travel to the front of consumers’ minds. Coupled with the introduction of mandatory ESG reporting requirements, it is clear that the sector is facing unprecedented pressure to adapt to a world in which such considerations are more important than ever before. As business school leaders, we recognised that helping a sector responsible for 7.6 per cent of GDP globally and generating 295 million jobs to transform its practices for the better was an opportunity to change lives around the world. We also observed that the industry has unique requirements rooted in the fact that it needs to address a spectrum of issues, from very physical, technical concerns relating to the environmental impact of its buildings to human questions around the wellbeing of its staff and the communities in which it operates. This is why we took the decision to launch the first‑ever ESG executive education programme designed specifically for hospitality sector leaders, developed in partnership with the Energy and Environment Alliance (EEA). The EEA is a global coalition of hospitality and lodging investors, developers, building operators, brand owners and asset managers that collectively represents more than 26,000 hotel properties around the world, with
Ambition | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 43
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