CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Certain markets can't implement international sustainability standards due to the realities in those markets' communities, landscapes and destinations.
One problem is that aspirational requirements often are devised by international bodies with a blanket approach, according to panelists on a session on sustainability at the Future Hospitality Summit Africa.
Measurement of sustainability and related disciplines remain at the heart of aspiring to be net zero or net positive, said Caty Batten, net positive information lead at the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance.
“If we cannot articulate and visualize what sustainability means for our companies, how would we ever be able to arrive there?” she said.
“Do green standards translate to the hotel or resort on the ground?” asked Laurinda Marsh, key account manager at kitchen and bathroom appliances manufacturer Hansgrohe.
In Africa, where water is often scarce, there must be different approaches to measuring conservation efforts or sustainability metrics. Panelists said the same metrics used in the European Union can't be applied in Africa, for example.
“When we set the standards, we sometimes miss the reality on the ground,” said Virginia Messina, executive vice president at the World Travel & Tourism Council.
There are more discussions on adopting global sustainability standards in local markets, but a persistent issue is that investors, financiers and branded-property hoteliers might have different accounting standards and metrics they follow, Batten said. Those distinctions can be the difference between moving forward with development of a hotel or not.
Messina said the WTTC works with various stakeholder groups to further the conversation through advisory and training, funding and investment, innovation support, events, community-led organizations, policy making, research and think tanks, professional networks, and certification and labels.
All work toward a regenerative tourism ecosystem, and while it requires umbrella guidance, evidence, validation and certification, not every hotel or market will be able to adopt all the sustainability initiatives that are recommended. However, these hotels and markets can still achieve the highest standards and a strategy toward being net positive.
From an investment viewpoint, standards bring sustainability into the business and help operational alignment, said Lopang Rapodile, environment, social and governance manager at Johannesburg-based Kasada Capital Management.
“Standards must be adaptable to local cultures and markets. Importing triple-glazing to Senegal makes no sense,” she said.
Internationally accepted standards and guidelines might not be pragmatic in every case in the continent, and African hoteliers should not be at fault for this.
“We do not necessarily have a voice as African investors and developers. Do not penalize us for not having a bicycle-washing rooms when no one cycles in Cape Town,” she said.
Guest experience can be improved by having lower tech and natural ventilation. A hands-off approach toward being sustainable might have more positive effects for the environment, culture, nature and community, Rapodile said.
Underlying all these well-meaning initiatives are considerations about future-proofing hotels and preparing for exiting real estate down the line, panelists said. Messina said policymakers are considering how to bring smaller hotel-industry players into the picture.
She said there must be “road maps for each industry, starting with the low-hanging fruit. In 2023, [the hotel] industry was responsible for 6.5% of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Rapodile said the conversation must be granular, too.
“Sustainability should lead to higher margins, future-proofing and the exit, and we want to be in the room when these things start to matter,” she said.
Reporting standards that take into consideration driving money into a hotel’s community also is a critical factor.
“The U.S. has lowered standards, the EU has higher ones. That makes it tough,” Messina said.
She added firstly, hoteliers need to make sure there is a baseline, one that has an impact. The WTTC uses 12 different criteria for measuring sustainability.
"Every hotel [collaborating with us] needs to select eight and move to 12 by year three. In [some parts of] South America, though, they could not start even with three,” she said, adding that the WTTC is not a certification authority.
She gave the example of China as one market that was nowhere near having the right ESG standards, but it saw the opportunity. She also cited Colombia and Costa Rica, which decided to align national standards with those of the WTTC and its accreditation partners.
Marsh said many organizations remain siloed and do not engage in open platforms.
Rapodile added Africa is relatively fragmented, and many hotel owners do not have hotels as their primary interest.
“Realizing how fragmented we are is the first step. More collaboration is required,” she said.
Working with national hotel associations often is a key route to market sustainability, but there is not always the assurance that best practices will reach a hotel, Messina said. Best practices for each market might consist of doing something that reduces risk and provides some form of reward layered on top.
For example, using plastic in some cases has a smaller carbon footprint than using glass. Messina said understanding the bigger picture needs to come from understanding local practices and conditions.
“We constantly talk but there seemingly always remain gaps,” she said.