London, 25 July 2023: The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance), the leading network for responsible hospitality, and Travalyst, the sustainable tourism non-profit and coalition of travel and technology companies, have formed a co-operation agreement to accelerate positive change across the tourism sector.
Through the partnership, the Alliance and Travalyst aim to accelerate the industry on the path to net positive hospitality and create a positive impact on the communities and destinations the travel sector serves. The strategy combines both the Alliance’s and Travalyst’s technical and sector-specific expertise with the scale and reach of their respective members to further enhance joined-up action on sustainability across all parts of the industry. Initial areas of collaboration are intended to enhance understanding of the latest in innovation and key sustainability indicators, to advance common measurement and empower positive consumer choices.
The travel and tourism industry brings huge economic, and other, benefits to communities worldwide. Prior to the pandemic, the industry accounted for over 10% of global GDP and over 10% of employment (WTTC). While this provides great opportunity for people from within the local communities from all backgrounds, with the number of tourists travelling across borders expected to reach 1.8 billion a year by 2030 (UNWTO), the industry needs to ensure this growth is managed with environmental and social impact accurately measured for. Last year the Alliance launched its Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality in direct collaboration with the hospitality industry and its value chain, including in consultation with Travalyst. The Pathway first outlined the environmental ambitions across four stages which take account of the different levels of sustainability maturity across the industry. The latest part of the Pathway now incorporates social and economic elements, bringing together people, planet, place and prosperity to create a better and more sustainable future for all. The framework provides pragmatic direction, over four stages, which enables every hotel to advance their positive impact, no matter their starting point.
Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, said: “I have been involved with the hospitality industry for all my career and have witnessed the immensely positive impact it can have – especially where the business sector works in harmony with their local communities and ecosystems to tackle the pertinent issues for that region and ensure the benefits are reaching those who most need them. I am delighted to welcome Travalyst as a strategic partner. We each recognise the need to protect our planet and its people and places, and bring expertise from our complementary parts of the tourism ecosystem. I am confident we can work together to accelerate the industry on the path to net positive hospitality.”
Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst, said: “The strategic partnership with the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance marks another significant milestone in Travalyst’s mission to change the way we travel for good.Our active collaboration will make our frameworks even more robust, ensuring operators can contribute in a meaningful and scalable way. A lack of access to reliable, consistent information has been cited as a barrier to travellers making more sustainable choices, so collaborating on bringing clear and comparable data to the mainstream will not only make it easier for customers, but reduce the impact on operators to manage information requests.”
The Alliance network comprises world-leading hotel companies, including Hilton, IHG Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International and Radisson Hotel Group, as well as regional brands and other parts of the hospitality value chain, including owners, investors and suppliers. Travalyst’s coalition comprises nine of the biggest brands in travel; Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa.
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About the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance brings together engaged hospitality companies and the wider hospitality value chain, along with strategic partners, to address key challenges affecting the planet, people and places around the world. Through their strategic initiatives and global networks, they develop practical programmes and resources to create a prosperous and responsible hospitality sector that gives back to the destination more than it takes.
Their members represent over 50,000 hotels spanning 270 brands – totalling over 7 million rooms – and include world-leading companies including Accor, Choice Hotels International, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, as well as regional brands. Their network also includes other parts of the hospitality value chain, including owners, investors, suppliers, and other partners to further drive joined up action on sustainability, and accelerate the industry on the path to Net Positive Hospitality.
About Travalyst
Founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex in 2019, Travalyst is a not-for-profit sustainable travel organisation that has convened a coalition of nine of the world’s leading travel and technology companies: Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. Travalyst’s mission is to change travel, for good. Together, we are developing a world-first system that can deliver a uniform, industry-wide sustainability framework across multiple platforms; to ultimately enable everyone to make more sustainable choices. The aim is to drive forward a new, more responsible model for travel that builds upon the work of existing standards, with the goal of making them easier to understand for consumers and businesses, and in turn, implementing and scaling them across the broadest possible range of travel service providers.