Big interview
The Radisson Collection Hotel, Wuxi recently opened in the Xishan District of Eastern China.
Arabia will take time to get there,” he says. “Having said that, it is on the track. The level of conservatism has significantly adjusted over the last three to five years. I mean, it’s basic stuff, you couldn’t have movie theatres in Saudi Arabia ten years ago and women couldn’t drive there.”
“I think we as people living in the West take for granted the social liberties that we have here. Saudi Arabia will take time.”
30%
by 2025. Radisson Hotels
18
RHG aims to reduce its carbon and water footprint by this percentage
With its ambitious focus on sustainable tourism, Saudi Arabia is developing several major ecological tourism projects, including an outlandish Red Sea Project comprising an archipelago of 90 islands, mountains, sand dunes and dormant volcanoes with guests ferried around via a transport infrastructure powered by renewable energy. The project chimes with Radisson Hotel Group’s eco-focused initiatives. Indeed, RHG has been vocal about its mission to reduce its carbon and water footprint by 30% by 2025. To do so RHG is increasing the number of green hotels in its portfolio with recent additions like Radisson Collection Hotel, Magdalena Plaza Sevilla, which is Spain’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Hospitality Gold certified hotel. “It starts with us,” Younes says, gesticulating towards
me. “Then as a company, we have to be mindful as well, because guests will hold us responsible. We are becoming increasingly mindful that your sustainability [credentials] and carbon footprint are going to become something that will go on social
media, and the guests will eventually choose whether they want to stay with you based on that.” That is all well and good, but hasn’t the climate agenda only reinforced an urge to build more eco-resorts and appeal to guests’ instincts to enhance the bottom line? “This is not the way to create competitive advantage
in my view, or try to be smart to incubate an extra dollar in the business,” Younes responds. “I get it that we all want to make money in this specific area, but must try to reduce the selfishness, to work as a coalition as an industry to try and address that.” To progress sustainability initiatives further,
Radisson Hotel Group has been working in collaboration with the World Travel & Tourism Council, the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and leading hotel companies to develop an industry framework of goals and best practices to ensure all hotels work towards the Cop21 Paris Agreement – the basic sustainability framework. “Getting to net zero by 2050 seems very far away.
But every long journey starts with the first step,” Younes says. “We need to start these steps today.” As for the future of hospitality, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Younes remains defiantly upbeat, despite unprecedented challenges. “Eventually this virus has to go, and people will want to travel, and travel will come back with a vengeance,” he says with a smile. “And we’ve seen it this summer, as soon as things opened up, our hotels were packed with people who were willing to pay more than before, so this will happen and it will happen again.” Make no mistake, in this moment of adversity, Elie Younes – and Radisson Hotel Group – are sitting on the side of angels. ●
Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
Radisson Hotel Group
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