The 5th HospitalityInside Think Tank (HITT) on 27/28 June 2022 is just as “purpose-driven” as the young people who already choose their employers according to value criteria today. Or like the investors who want to add value to their real estate in the future. Our values aim to provide honest, factual and high-calibre information on the sustainability issues of our time. Come aboard in Berlin to exchange knowledge with colleagues and experts on a solar-powered event ship. Today we introduce you to the latest top impulse providers – including Wyndham, Hyatt and the Association of Pfandbrief Banks.

The names of the impulse providers for the discussion rounds during the Think Tank seem motley, but in the end everyone and everything fits together. Each round is scheduled for two hours and moves very quickly from a competent impulse (entrée) into the group discussion. This worked in our limited circle with off-the-record character from the first time.

Value enhancement from a financial perspective

In the future, there will no longer be hotels without sustainability certification – neither for new buildings nor for existing properties. The uncertainty about what the EU taxonomy will bring in terms of requirements is great everywhere. Even Sascha Kullig, member of the Executive Board and coordinator of Sustainable Finance at the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp), can confirm this. But this much is already clear: in the end, credit institutions will need data just as much as investors/owners and hotel operators. Data that describe the condition of the property as well as the performance level of the business. Those who operate sustainably get better financing.

Many plans, drafts and even initial decisions still have the character of a crystal ball. Meanwhile, a term is doing the rounds in the investment world: risk! How much risk does the sustainably interested investor have to take? When will he make money, when must he dare to exit?

These are just a few key words that Sascha Kullig, as the voice of the Pfandbriefbank world, can ante up. Ross Petar, Head of EMEA Hotel Valuation Advisory at JLL London, continues his thoughts. He thinks out loud about the achievable increase in value of a sustainable (hotel) property and puts himself in the shoes of different types of investors (we already reported on him and his HITT appearance in March 2022).

Impulse generators are:

• Sascha Kullig, Member of the Management Board and Coordinator Sustainable Finance,
  Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp)
• Ross Petar, Head of EMEA Hotel Valuation Advisory, JLL London

Join us to discuss the new developments in the world of finance and hotel real estate under the title “Sustainable Finance & New Ways to ROI. Where’s the hoteliers’ access to monetary resources?”

Emplyees: The social form of value enhancement

However, every hotel property only increases in value through the appreciation of the hotel employees. Hotels without employees do not generate turnover, the building remains empty, attractiveness and value decline. This will not change even in sustainably built hotels. By now, everyone knows: the employee market is empty. Corona has outed the weaknesses of the industry (poor pay, little appreciation, etc.) The trend reversal must now already be a turnaround: And the opportunity lies in the “S”, the “social” aspect of ESG goals.

A mega topic on which three practitioners report from the hotel world at HITT and seek exchange with the HITT guests.

Impulse generators are:

• Katrin Melle, Regional Vice President Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Talent EAME/SWA, Hyatt International
• Carmen Castillo Lopez, Head of People, Upday
• Garry Levin, Founder & CEO, LHC International Recruitment Consulting

Katrin Melle now looks after the talent management of over 120 hotels in 30 countries in her region and is thus confronted with all the current needs – from talent search and support to workplace conditions, fair pay and equality. Through “she interviews” in her own blog “konnexionen”, she herself specifically promotes women on their way to the management floors.

“In a hotel, employees keep everything going,” she clarifies in the preliminary talk on this red-hot HITT topic. Their skills control success – sustainably! That is why the industry has to act more flexibly and respond to the individual life frame of an employee. The experienced employee manager allows a look into her – global – wealth of experience.

The Spaniard Carmen Castillo Lopez worked as HR Manager for a finance and hospitality company (numa) and knows how challenging the acquisition of employees alone is today – also from the point of view of the employers, who are themselves under high cost pressure (among other things, also currently due to the strong wage increases). But she also learned how to use technology tools and AI in HR management in a meaningful way. “HR is also scalable,” she says.

To what extent the challenges in the hospitality industry overlap or differ with those in other industries is something Garry Levin can describe. His recruitment company, LHC, has been brokering across industries for years. “A number of companies have included ESG as a sincere goal in their strategy paper, but for most, dealing with the area of ‘social’ is just the sober means to an end,” he has observed.

Join the discussion on “Social, the ‘S’ in ESG. The importance of social sustainability for corporate structures. Talk labour mobility, search for talent, working conditions, fair compensations and equality.”

The value chain in the background: franchise and supply chain

Today, hotel groups are expanding very strongly through franchises. Philip Halanen, Head of Sourcing & Sustainability EMEA at the world’s largest franchisor, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, will explain how this business model challenges the implementation of ESG goals. How do you convince nearly 8,000 tenants and franchisees to implement sustainable goals in every hotel? Through its logo on the hotel roof, Wyndham makes a brand promise, especially to travellers/guests, also in terms of sustainability – but how does the franchisor control this?

And this brings us to another definition of values, which are also lived differently in each culture. Phil Halanen knows from the hotels in his region: 90% are on Wyndham’s “sustainable journey”; the chain started this journey in February 2021.
Halanen also provides further insights into the value chain, the supply chain. How do you ensure that the products you buy are produced and transported sustainably? And above all: where does the responsibility of a franchisor or an operator end in this supply chain?

By the way, travellers (guests) already expect full transparency from the hotels on the website, down to the depths of the supply chain. Especially the younger ones want to know what the respective hotel is doing in terms of sustainability before booking. In facts, figures and stories. Or they book somewhere else.

That’s why Philip Halanen is appearing in this session with Crispian Tarrant, CEO of the international research company BVA-BDRC.

Impulse generators are:

• Crispian Tarrant, CEO, BVA-BDRC Consumer Research
• Philip Halanen, Head of Sourcing & Sustainability EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
• Best Practice: Ulrike Rabmer-Koller, Managing Partner, Rabmer Gruppe

Join in and register. The other impulse generators will also bring a lot of know-how with them and look forward to exchanging ideas with you!

Teaser image: adobe stock DisobeyArt