Sustainability is a vital initiative for the entire travel industry. Maybe you, like us, experienced what feels like the hottest and driest summer in memory. Anomalous weather patterns like this are becoming increasingly common across the globe, and hotels are increasingly pressed to do their part.
Sustainability is a win-win. With better energy-management and water-saving equipment installed with AI-powered monitoring systems, very real cost efficiencies are attainable. Not only that, but when fully embraced, sustainability can bloom into a core pillar of a hotel’s branding, therein helping differentiate it from a sea of competitors. That leads to rate gains and more direct bookings, which lowers acquisition costs, among other benefits.
It’s this second quality – brand storytelling – that brings us to the other ‘S’ of genuine hospitality: stewardship. While sustainability is more about quantification and processing of carbon and energy, stewardship is more experiential and less explicitly measurable in direct return on investment.
Exceptional and meaningful experiences benefit hotels and lead to ADR gains and channel shift, in addition to longer lengths of stay, which reduces cost per occupied room and occupancy pockets. Net promoter scores go up, reducing marketing requirements, as does augmented total revenue, namely from ancillary and package sales.
The yearning for cultural experiences
So what exactly is stewardship? For hotels it’s best described as being a patron of the region. Land stewardship describes patronage of the environment and cultural stewardship describes patronage of the community.
In a previous article, we shared some properties excelling at land stewardship, rewilding and regenerative agriculture.
Today we focus on the communal, human front. Cultural stewardship’s ultimate goal is to preserve elements of the past while simultaneously ushering the region forward to a brighter future. It need not be overly elaborate; think having an art gallery on property or sponsoring a local school.
And to restate, there’s an ROI in this noble cause; guests of all walks crave authentic, localized cultural immersion, and they are willing to pay for the privilege.
As pieces of global culture disappear with our collective move to become more homogenized, urban city-dwellers, we lose pieces of our heritage. We see this as ancient languages disappear, art and music touchstones fade away and traditional recipes lose practitioners.
At some primal level, we all feel this loss. It's what fuels the deep yearning for nature escapes as well as for cultural practices of the past.
Generational asset growth
The adage to keep in mind is one we use to guide our strategic plans: The more personal, the more universal.
What we mean here is that the more we are bombarded with instant messages, social media and digital everything, the more likely individuals are to seek out destination hotels and resorts that can offer some form of temporary respite.
Now, nature escapes and cultural stewardship programs aren’t for every hotel. These are niched offerings that can be profitable when executed wholeheartedly.
At the right hotel, stewardship programs can become vehicles for sustained, long-term business growth, wherein the goodwill generated from culture-driven storytelling can earn customers for life and a strong reputation that passes down.
That’s the best motivation for teams to pursue these activities. They are a win for the community, and hotels can benefit from boosted net operating income.
Examples abound
Let’s dig into some examples from around the world that highlight the diverse range of possibilities under the banner of cultural stewardship:
- The Mayflower, Autograph Collection: Washington, D.C.'s, historic hotel and host to many inaugural balls and dignitary guests celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. The team brough back menu items from the 1920s with a modern twist for some fun. Each staff member has docent-level knowledge so they can answer any questions that guests may have about various events that have transpired within the property's four walls.
- Six Senses Rome: This ultraluxury addition to the acclaimed wellness brand is situated in a beautifully restored UNESCO-listed palazzo, integrating historic preservation with modern sustainability, including LEED Gold certification and 100% renewable energy use. It also serves as a community hub through its Earth Lab, hosting events and workshops on culture, ecology and sustainability.
- Singita: This African safari lodge brand has made conservation and community stewardship a core element of their branding and experiential programming for guests. They offer many environmental stewardship programs, and their cultural stewardship offerings abound. They support onside education for students, digital learning for remote villages, adult education and local entrepreneurship.
- Kasbah Tamadot: Through the Eve Branson Foundation, this Virgin Limited Edition property outside Marrakech provides young people, especially women and girls, with training in traditional crafts. They offer free English classes and 100% of the team is Moroccan, most employed from the local community.
- Ngalung Kalla: This resort in Indonesia has built an experience for guests to tour several villages known for producing some of the finest hand-woven ikat textiles in the world, helping to support and preserve this traditional fabric dyeing technique.
- J.K. Place: To showcase all the artists and designers this Italy-based luxury hotel brand worked with and to progress the conversation around fashion and interior design, this small group of boutique luxury hotels commissioned its own monograph called Bellosguardo used as an in-room coffee table book as well as a gift.
- Fogo Island Inn: All operating surpluses from this Newfoundland gem are reinvested in the community of Fogo Island through its Shorefast foundation's initiatives, which include youth mentorship and programming.
- Palazzo Cordusio, Gran Meliá: Another historic luxury conversion in Milan, one experience of note is through the hotel’s partnership with the nearby Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, a smaller, often-overlooked museum that also served as Leonardo da Vinci’s study when he resided in the city. Hotel guests have exclusive access to after-hours private tours, therein give the museum an additional source of revenue.
- Jamaica Inn: Branching out from its coral restoration and sustainable fishing programs, this independent resort in Ocho Rios started a foundation that provides support to the local community focused on the education and wellbeing of youth as well as supporting several local charitable organizations.
- Imperial Hotel Tokyo: Emblematic of Japanese culture, this hotel is now entering its fourth complete redesign and ground-up new build on the existing site. Each new iteration honors the past hotel buildings by thoughtfully incorporating historic exhibits and antiques into the public spaces.
- Grand Hotel Continental Siena: Here we find an Italian luxury hotel that fully embraces its Sienese past through its craft experiences that give guests a window in the city’s unique Renaissance artistry techniques, simultaneously preserving them from vanishing.
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky are partners of Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd., a Toronto-based consulting practice. Larry focuses on asset management, sales and operations while Adam specializes in hotel technology and marketing.
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