Whitbread publishes sustainable hospitality report

The report, by the parent company of Premier Inn, Beefeater and Costa Coffee, is called the the Future of Sustainable Hospitality

The report, which recently opened its greenest hotel, focuses on Ten Recommendations for Action.

It was put together following a debate with sustainability leaders at the low carbon hotel the Premier Inn, in West Sussex.

More than 50 leading names in hospitality and sustainability identified the ten key areas for improvement.

Commercial and property director for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, Mark Anderson, said: “We all know sustainability is a big issue for us and guests in our own Premier Inns have told us they would like us to do more.

“The challenge is finding the right solutions. We want to get better and we are confident we can also use the power of the Whitbread network to drive improvements across our industry as a whole.”

Whitbread is making the report available across government, the hospitality industry and within the wider industry supply chain.

The Ten Recommendations are:

·Sharing is the solution for improvement

·Talk the same language

·Educating employees is vital

·Retro-fitting the estate is where the real gains can be made

·The UK hospitality industry needs its leaders to step up

·Sustainable hospitality does not mean living in a ‘yurt economy’ nor is it ‘eco bling’

·The UK hospitality industry has an essential role to play in raising awareness of sustainability

·Consumers care

·Management needs to move away from simple forecasting strategies for business growth and embrace ‘back-casting’

·There is a ‘green pound’ and more should be done to help consumers make informed choices

Luke Walsh