The hospitality industry is a unique melting pot of cultural diversity, both in terms of the workforce and its customers, with people from all over the world coming together. But while diversity brings great opportunities and is something to celebrate, it also creates significant challenges. Hospitality staff must be intimately aware of cultural differences when dealing with customers and colleagues from different backgrounds. Likewise, while a more culturally diverse workforce can bring fresh perspectives and create unique customer experiences, hotel managers and HR teams must look after their staff carefully to ensure efficient collaboration. In this article, we’ll explore some of...

Looking at the hospitality industry across the U.S., properties are constantly working on ways to improve their water management processes. In many cases, an important part of this puzzle is optimizing water conservation efforts to save money and resources, make progress on sustainability goals and more. With this in mind, we saw properties make positive strides in 2024 towards embracing and implementing water-saving techniques—especially those that leverage technologies like predictive analytics, smart sensors and AI. Overall, this trend will certainly impact how industry players enter 2025. Let’s dive in. Common Challenges and Barriers There have been a few consistent challenges over the years...

The hospitality industry’s green trends are being reflected in an affiliated sector: That of travel sports, one of the fastest growing and prosperous industries. The numbers don’t lie. In 2023, Americans took a record 204.9 million trips related to sporting events, contributing $52.2 billion in direct spending, 757,600 jobs, and $20.1 billion in tax revenues. There are strong indicators that events displaying increased measures of eco-sensitivity are becoming more attractive to traveling families. For that reason, event owners and rights holders are seeking out hotels with eco-friendly practices that include the following: Partnerships with Clean the World, which collects partially used...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is penetrating every segment of the commercial property industry, and the hospitality sector is no exception. With hotels, resorts and businesses in the lodging industry implementing this technology to improve operations and solve persistent challenges, the benefits to owners, operators and staff are becoming evident. One way AI is making a difference for these properties is by improving water management practices. Many establishments in the lodging space now leverage AI to better detect leaks, mitigate water damage and conserve water, all with the goal of providing excellent—and uninterrupted—customer service to their guests. Considering that water damage from broken...

More consumers are prioritizing social values, the environment, and health and wellness in their purchasing decisions than ever before—and travelers are no exception. To stay competitive, hotels not only need to make these values a priority but also ensure that their claims can be substantiated by real actions and evidence. For hoteliers, this often means supporting local economies, reducing environmental footprints, committing to diversity and inclusion, and providing more amenities supporting mental and physical well-being. Procurement operations are key to addressing these demands. What hotels source—and where they source it from—will determine where your hotel stands when it comes to...

Identifying the final dollars in a capital stack is a common challenge for hotel developers. Instead of high-interest rate mezzanine loans, savvy hotel developers are using C-PACE financing (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) as a means to capture financing benefits and be rewarded for building efficient buildings. A historic redevelopment along the Florida coastline recently financed 27 percent of its capital stack with C-PACE financing. A new downtown Las Vegas hotel completed its capital stack with $40 million in C-PACE financing, making it the largest Nevada C-PACE project in history. These hotel developments not only secured the low-cost, non-recourse, fixed-rate,...

NATIONAL REPORT—Embracing sustainability is imperative to hotels as the world adapts to the low-carbon economy. About 90 percent of travelers look for sustainable accommodations, investors want to know a business’s long-term viability, and local and federal governments increasingly require environmental reporting and credible paths to decarbonization. Hotels must respond to this pressure by measuring and reducing their carbon emissions. Environmental sustainability translates to better business performance. Hotels that signed the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge saw a nearly 25 percent increase in week-over-week bookings in 2022, compared to a 15 percent increase for non-pledged hotels. Hotels produce about 1 percent of global carbon emissions annually—the equivalent of nearly 46 million...

Travel, tourism and hospitality (TTH) industry firms are accountable and must take the changes taking place seriously, from Greta Thunberg’s movement to new priorities in the World Economic Forum´s agenda or the ever-growing list of world moguls taking on a leading role in the fight against climate change. For that reason, we have identified 10 sustainable tourism trends that will influence business strategies right now and the best practices that can be implemented. Each trend is an opportunity for TTH firms to provide services that align with consumer values, the Sustainability Development Goals agreed by the Member States of the United Nations as part of the...

HVAC systems have changed dramatically since their inception. The first furnaces were built in the 1700s and the room-sized cooling units of the early 1900s pale in comparison to the residential and commercial units used today. And now, HVAC technologies are poised to make another sizable leap by integrating artificial intelligence. AI will be integral to optimizing future heating and cooling systems by creating comfortable and sustainable living spaces while minimizing environmental impact and energy consumption. Models already in use by companies like KOVA can predict users’ heating and cooling needs and optimize output to save up to 30 percent...

Who stayed in your hotel last night? Were they already sick, or had they been exposed to possible illness? Did the room attendant thoroughly clean the rooms? Hotel managers never know if a hotel room has been exposed to airborne or surface germs, but there are precautions that hoteliers take that can help hotel guests leave their stays unscathed by germs. Hotel guests increasingly care about health and wellness. For instance, before booking a hotel, I always check the reviews for comments about cleanliness and housekeeping. And the very first thing I do upon entering a hotel is wash my hands....