How to Create Sustainable Hospitality : A Handbook for Guest Participation

Guests directly account for over 50% of resource use in hotels and as much as +90% in self-catering accommodation. They are quite simply the most significant factor contributing to hospitalitys ongoing carbon emissions. Given the targets to reduce carbon emissions by 66% by the year 2030, it is imperative that practical solutions for the accommodation sector are created and applied fast.How to Create Sustainable Hospitality: a handbook for guest participation is the first text to demonstrate how to actively persuade guests to participate in achieving sustainable hospitality.

Practitioners and commentators have tended to criticise guests, believing they wont sacrifice while on holiday. However, social trends show there is increasing consumer expectations for more sustainable services e.g. reduction of food waste, elimination of single serve plastic, as well as firm evidence that consumption is not linked to guest happiness. The opportunity is therefore to design experiences which deliver better hospitality by inviting guests to apply saving behaviours that do not mean they will have a less enjoyable experience. Based on 16 years personally delivering sustainable hospitality experiences face to face with guests and conducting the first hard research on guest engagement at a variety of sites in Australia and Europe (from 1000-bedroom hotels and B&Bs to self-contained holiday homes and timeshare lodges), the author presents a tried and tested five step methodology on how to directly, effectively and successfully involve guests to conserve resources. This presents a new paradigm for tourism.