PALMA, SPAIN—Meliá Hotels International has achieved the highest rating in the global travel industry in the latest S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), an assessment of the performance in sustainability of companies in 2022. S&P Global’s CSA is the world’s most comprehensive annual assessment of the sustainability performance of companies across all industries, focusing on economic, governance, social and environmental criteria, as well as on industry-specific criteria. Meliá has taken part since 2018, a year in which it was ranked third in the industry. From 2019 t0 2021 the company achieved the top position in the ranking in Spain and...

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLA.—A century is a long time to be wasting natural gas while cooking but entrepreneur and appliance industry veteran Ray Williams is beginning to put a stop to it. Ray Williams, CEO of VT Burner, along with Brenda Williams, President of the company, have developed a burner for ranges, woks, stock pots, griddles and charbroilers that is 60 percent more efficient than burners used today. The greater the F&B operation, the greater the potential for energy savings. Less gas burned is better for the environment and kitchens do not have to be cooled as much, adding further...

HOLLYWOOD, FLA.— Hard Rock International marked National Human Trafficking Awareness Day last month by expanding action to strengthen the industry’s role in combatting and preventing human trafficking. Human trafficking, which includes commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, is a complex challenge for the entire global hospitality industry because it intersects a range of organized criminal activities. For several years, Hard Rock has implemented comprehensive protocols to increase awareness of and prevent human trafficking, including training over 27,000 hotel and casino team members globally and collaborating with community partners and advocacy groups. In May 2022, the company signed the ECPAT Tourism Child-Protection Code...

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the urgency for companies and individuals to act to protect the wellbeing of the planet, their communities, their employees, and in the case of hotels, their guests. As such, environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives have accelerated. The hotel industry’s commitment to ESG initiatives, while somewhat nascent, is increasing. Rising energy costs, which have increased electricity costs by 10 percent since May 2021, are likely to accelerate the industry’s focus on sustainability, particularly given the shift in traveler preferences toward more sustainable tourism and green accommodations and the growing demand for disclosure around climate risk....

UNITED KINGDOM—Even before the support ends, businesses expect a 101 percent increase in energy bills this quarter, compared to the same period last year, according to the joint Q1 Hospitality Members Survey by UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and Hospitality Ulster. The startling figures were raised directly with politicians as UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls gave evidence to a BEIS Strategy Committee session on energy price support. The survey also bolsters concerns raised by the sector about the behavior of energy suppliers inflating quotes, without justification, with 56 percent reporting increased standing charges. The hike in bills is...

NORWAY—You get a real sense of hovering high above one of Norway’s most beautiful fjords. With its distinctive design and location by the Lysefjord, The Bolder has become one of Norway’s most remarkable places to stay. The three new cabins designed by architect firm Snøhetta are now ready to offer guests an experience of nature that is far beyond the ordinary. The weather is really wet and windy as we park the car at dusk on a winter’s day, a few dozen kilometers from Stavanger in Fjord Norway. The atmosphere becomes increasingly magical as we leave the car and walk...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The AHLA Foundation announced a $500,000 donation from IHG Hotels & Resorts to support the No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Survivor Fund as part of the hotel industry’s longstanding, united commitment to combat human trafficking. With this donation, the Survivor Fund will build upon the industry’s ongoing commitment and work to end human trafficking and support the economic stability of human trafficking survivors. By funding community-based organizations, the NRFT Survivor Fund supports survivors’ immediate needs and long-term stability that will empower and equip survivors and their families to help prevent revictimization, including but not limited to emergency housing and career...

CARLSBAD, CALIF.—Legoland California, Legoland Florida, and Legoland New York Resorts announced that all parks will become Certified Autism Centers (CAC) by spring 2023. The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) granted Legoland Florida and Legoland California with autism certification in 2022. Legoland Florida’s three onsite hotels, as well as Peppa Pig Theme Park, just steps away from Legoland, are also all Certified Autism Centers. IBCCES is the only credentialing organization providing this type of certification, which includes evidence-based training as well as the perspectives of autistic individuals. In addition, the organization provides resources such as onsite reviews and...

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Tom Standage, editor of The World Ahead 2023, has named ‘Revenge Tourism’ one of the ten trends to watch for 2023. This term is used to describe the current post-pandemic rebound in travel. Indeed, international tourism arrivals are already well underway to reaching pre-pandemic levels, which are expected to be nearly achieved in 2023. Does this mean that the hospitality and travel industry is finally over the hill of the pandemic? Nothing could be less certain as another crisis is in the process of rapidly overtaking Covid-19: the energy crisis. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the energy market...

AMSTELVEEN, THE NETHERLANDS—For quite a few years now, many hotels have incentivized guests to skip housekeeping in exchange for a financial reward of some type. Covid-19 certainly increased the number of hotels that don’t offer daily housekeeping—primarily due to staffing challenges—but many hotels around the world still offer it. For hotels that do that, Floris Licht, Chief Planting Officer for Hotels for Trees has a program that not only helps hotel owners but the environment as well. The Hotels for Trees concept is simple: One new tree is planted each time a guest chooses to skip daily room cleaning. The...