Global Hospitality Workshop Series: How Green Can We Go?

[Francesca Birks]

In the last three weeks Arup Global Hotels and Leisure hosted two Hotels of the Future workshops in Amsterdam and Montenegro. The Amsterdam workshop was a collaboration between Global Hotels and Leisure Director Greg Chikaher, Arup Amsterdam Director Rogier Van der Heide, and facilitated by Arup Director for Global Foresight & Innovation Chris Luebkeman and his colleagues Francesca Birks and Karin Giefer.

A range of stakeholders from the hospitality supply chain was invited to take part in the full day interactive work. Major global hospitality brands IHG and Marriott International Inc. were in attendance along with international architecture agency UN Studio and design company Philips. Conversations focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with the industry moving towards more sustainable design and operations.

The workshop in Montenegro hosted by Arup Hotels and Leisure and Arup Foresight focused more on the regional imperative to integrate sustainability into tourism and hospitality practices and the need for government to play a more active role in regulating the shift towards sustainability.

[Rogier van der Heide]

Indeed this was an inspiring and learningful workshop for all attendants. What was great is that many of the discussions focused on how hotel operators and designers can make the sustainable efforts more visible, and therefore elevate their effect from energy saving / CO2 reducing to brand parameters that add commercial value to the hotel identity. Thanks, Francesca, for posting, and I hope many participants will drop their feedback here! Regards, Rogier.