Responses from: Victor Abou-Ghanem, CEO, STORY Hospitality
Has sustainability moved from lip service to truly impactful, long-term, tangible measures?
Over the last decade, sustainability has shifted from marketing slide to management agenda, but we are still in a transition phase. Travel and tourism account for around 8–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions – so regulators, investors, and guests are rightly demanding more than slogans. In advanced markets, you can already see this in green building codes, RFP requirements, and access to green finance.
At the same time, there is still too much activity that is performative rather than transformative.
For hotels, the real change happens when sustainability sits inside the P&L and the asset strategy, not only in the CSR report. At STORY Hospitality, for example, plastic-free policies, energy optimisation systems, onsite water bottling, and waste reduction technologies are embedded in our operating playbook in all our properties. They help our hotels secure and maintain certifications like Green Key and awards for sustainable performance, but more importantly, they lower risk, reduce cost, and build asset resilience over time.
Systems thinking requires seeing sustainability as an interconnected whole. How can hotel groups move beyond isolated efforts and build sustainability models that function like living ecosystems?
A rainforest works because everything is interconnected: water, nutrients, species, and climate form one feedback system. Hotels need to treat sustainability the same way.
Water, energy, waste, procurement, culture, and also guest behaviour cannot be managed in silos; they must sit in one integrated framework with shared data and shared accountability.
In practice, this means designing flows rather than standalone projects. For example, water use should be linked to laundry processes, linen policies, landscaping choices, and guest communication. Food procurement should be linked to menu engineering, portion design, waste streams, and local sourcing. Or energy performance should be connected to building design, smart sensors, and the way teams are trained to use spaces.
When we put everything on a single dashboard and review it regularly at both corporate and property level, the connections become visible and decisions improve. That is how a group starts to behave more like a living ecosystem than a collection of departments.
If we agree a rainforest is self-sustaining because every element reinforces another, what might a “regenerative hotel ecosystem” look like in practice, and how could hotels design operations that continuously replenish resources rather than merely reduce harm?
A regenerative hotel does not only do less harm, but it also leaves its place better than it was found. In our sector, that means restoring natural systems, strengthening local communities, and improving the long-term productivity of the asset and its surroundings.
Imagine a hotel where water is captured, treated, and reused on site, where native landscaping supports biodiversity, and where food systems are built around local farmers, fisheries, and seasonal products. Waste becomes a resource through composting, biodigesters, and material recovery, feeding back into gardens, energy production, or community programs. Staff development, apprenticeships, and local procurement create an economic multiplier for the neighbourhood, not just the hotel owner.
Some of our properties like STORY Seychelles are already moving in this direction with onsite water bottling, elimination of single use plastics, and systems that reduce food waste while supporting local suppliers. The next step for the industry is to design for regeneration from day one of a project, rather than adding initiatives once the hotel is already built.
Can you suggest what organisational structures and mindset shifts are needed for hotels to become self-correcting systems — where inefficiencies, waste streams, or environmental risks are identified early and improved continuously?
To be self-correcting, a hotel group needs three things: clear governance, real-time data, and a culture of continuous improvement. First, sustainability must be anchored at board and executive level, not only at property level. That means defined ESG committees, clear policies, and targets that are integrated into performance reviews and incentive schemes.
Second, we need to treat environmental indicators the same way we treat RevPAR or GOP, as non-negotiable KPIs. Energy, water, waste, and carbon intensity should be tracked monthly and discussed in regular business reviews. Digital tools, IoT meters, and AI analytics are already helping hotel operators identify anomalies early and act before waste becomes systemic.
Finally, the mindset shift is from compliance to curiosity. Teams should feel empowered to test new ideas, learn from failures, and share best practices across the portfolio.
At STORY Hospitality for example, we see far better results when engineers, F&B, housekeeping, and front office collaborate on joint sustainability goals instead of working in isolation. When people understand that every decision, from menu design to procurement terms, affects the system, they naturally become part of the correction mechanism.
How can systems thinking help shift hotels toward circular and regenerative models, where waste becomes input, and supply chains become value-creating ecosystems rather than extractive ones?
Circularity is about turning linear “take, make, waste” chains into loops where materials and value stay in the system as long as possible. In hospitality, that means rethinking how we source, use, and recover everything from food and furniture to amenities and building systems.
With a systems lens, waste streams become design inputs. Food waste can be reduced through smarter forecasting and menu engineering, then valorised via composting or biodigesters.
Water can be captured, treated, and reused for irrigation or technical systems. Guest amenities can shift to refillable formats with suppliers who offer take back or recycling schemes. Furniture and equipment can be purchased with refurbishment and second life options built into contracts.
Technology is a powerful enabler. Data platforms can map resource flows across a portfolio, identify hotspots, and simulate the business impact of different interventions. Supplier portals can track certifications, emissions factors, and circular commitments, turning the supply chain into a value creating ecosystem rather than an extractive one. Over time, this approach reduces operating costs, improves resilience to regulation and price shocks, and creates a more compelling proposition for guests and investors who increasingly expect circular and regenerative thinking from the brands they support.
