Tourism and hospitality are entering a period defined by rapid change. Climate volatility, evolving traveler expectations, workforce transitions and accelerating digitalization are challenging long-established models. In November 2025, EHL Hospitality Business School convened international researchers and industry leaders for a two-day workshop—Imagining the Future in Dark Times—to reflect on how the tourism and hospitality sector can adapt and prepare for the decade ahead. Across discussions, a shared insight emerged: the future of tourism will depend less on isolated solutions and more on the sector’s ability to navigate complexity, manage systemic risks while building resilient, equitable and low-impact systems. To support this effort,...

Hotels spend considerable resources on the guest experience. They’ll put money into thread counts, lobby aesthetics, spa amenities, and dedicate meticulous attention to even the smallest detail to ensure guests feel comfortable, safe and catered to. And yet, despite all this care, water rarely makes the list, even though guests drink it, bathe in it, cook with it, and breathe it in through steam. For most properties, water quality is treated as a utility concern rather than a hospitality one, and that can create serious problems. The Problem with What's Coming Out of the Tap Municipal water supplies in the United...

Sustainability in hospitality has evolved beyond small gestures and broad promises. Guests expect visible action. Owners, brands and procurement teams expect measurable progress that holds up in reporting. Hotels, resorts and restaurants are being asked to prove that sustainability is real, repeatable and built into daily operations. One of the most practical places to deliver that kind of progress is also one of the most overlooked: the restroom. Sustainability That Shows Up in Everyday Moments Hospitality lives in the details. A guest may not tour a building’s mechanical room, but they will notice what happens in high-traffic spaces like lobbies, conference areas...

Sustainability in hospitality has come a long way. Energy use, water savings, and green certifications are now standard parts of hotel development. But there’s one system that still surprisingly gets far less attention than it deserves. Often overlooked, yet one of the most influential systems affecting guest comfort, wellness, and energy performance is the in-room HVAC system. For most hotel guests, the room is where sustainability becomes personal. It’s where they sleep, breathe, and recover. And no matter how much lobbies and public spaces showcase a property’s green credentials, guests will remember (and will comment on) if the room is...

In hospitality environments, cleanliness is inseparable from comfort. While the visible cleanliness of fabrics (linens, towels, upholstery, and staff uniforms) often attracts the most attention, microscopic contaminants invisible to the naked eye may play a more important role for the health and wellbeing of guests and employees. Increasingly, hotels are recognizing that allergens and chemical residues in textiles can undermine indoor environmental quality and contribute to discomfort, particularly for individuals with asthma, allergies, or chemical sensitivities. Fabrics as an Allergen Reservoir Soft furnishings and textiles act as reservoirs for allergens such as dust mite debris, pet dander, and pollen. Through everyday...

As temperatures rise, pests such as ants and termites become more active as their populations accumulate heat. This predictable spike in pest activity is a cornerstone of swarm season and when hospitality professionals wait to react, small issues can grow fast and disrupt operations. Sustainable pest prevention strategies focus on stopping pests before they become a problem by using Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which combines proactive monitoring, sanitation practices, exclusion and treatments when necessary. These methods help lodging and hospitality properties identify swarm season early. Early detection enables the use of appropriate management tactics based on the lowest possible impact....

Sustainability in hospitality has entered a new era: one where good intention is no longer enough. Hotels are increasingly expected to measure, document, and prove environmental progress—both to guests and to stakeholders. Yet while the underlying goals may look similar, the way hotels approach sustainability measurement and implementation still differs notably between Europe and the United States. These differences matter because measurement shapes action. What hotels measure consistently is what gets managed—and what gets prioritized in procurement, renovation planning, and the guest experience. One topic shows this especially well: plastic waste reduction. Sustainability Is Now a KPI—But Measurement Models Differ Across hotel...

Most hotels don’t struggle because they lack good intentions. They struggle because too many well-intended decisions are made in isolation. Engineering teams focus on efficiency and cost control, disconnected from guest wellness. Procurement prioritizes unit price without visibility into waste, labor hours, or staff morale. Housekeeping manages turnover pressure without being looped into material durability or chemical safety. Food and Beverage build menus without fully understanding their role in local economic or ecological resilience. The result is a familiar pattern across the industry: siloed decision-making that creates friction, inconsistency, and missed opportunities—most visibly in the guest experience. Guest experience is now the...

What is the best way for hotels to reduce pests during the off-season? Hotels can reduce pest risk most effectively during the slower season by focusing on comprehensive inspections during times of lower guest occupancy as well as exclusion, early detection, and documentation. All of this is part of a hotel’s comprehensive integrated pest management (IPM) plan. With fewer guests on property, hotel teams have an opportunity to identify vulnerabilities, reinforce protocols and implement sustainable pest prevention strategies that help protect guest experience and property conditions year-round. In hospitality, the best guest experiences are seamless—the kind where nothing distracts from comfort,...

Who slept in your hotel room last night? Or sat at your dining room table? Were they sick? Whether you are staying for pleasure or business, getting sick while traveling stinks. In the hospitality industry, providing a safe, comfortable, and positive experience is key. While factors such as service quality, aesthetics, and amenities are commonly emphasized, indoor air quality (IAQ) is often overlooked despite its critical impact on guest satisfaction, staff well-being, and operational success. IAQ, an afterthought before the Covid pandemic, has increasingly become a priority in hospitality for health, wellness and sustainability. Major brands like Hilton, Marriot, Sheraton, and Hard...