Dear Insiders,
Biodiversity is more than the protection of wild flowers, endangered honey bees and others insects. It is also about the deliberate destruction of forests and the erosion of mountain slopes as well as about the hotelier's responsibility for nature on their doorstep. Resorts, in particular, will need to address this. Those who don't will soon find themselves in trouble with the law and face penalties as well.
Many lawyers are already preparing for such an occurrence. The issue has given rise to a new specialty field for them closely linked with sustainability, e.g. Climate Risk Lawyers. The young Cambridge graduate Zaneta Sedilekova has become such an expert, and at our Think Tank in June she was able to set out crystal-clear, with youthful verve, great passion and enormous detailed knowledge, what awaits us. Her presentation was a "wake-up call", not only for HITT executives, but hopefully for you today. And I mean that in the most positive sense.
Those who begin to think about these issues early on will recognise that biodiversity is an area of "low-hanging fruit." Things that most hoteliers have cherished for a long time as a matter of course, but do not know how much this will help them in their ESG balance sheet in the future. Sarah Douag interviewed Zaneta again after her talk and well-deserved summer vacation - a great, understandable article for Biodiversity Newbees.
The other big topic today seems far drier than biodiversity. But with USALI, even that has its justification. In 2025, the next new (12th) edition will be available; Macy Marvel has summarised the upcoming changes tothe standardised accounting framework for the industry, in particular with regard to the headings ESG criteria, services, loyalty programmes and balance sheet accounts.
Speaking of resorts: A glut of capital is about to flood this segment. Spanish investment giant Azora is just launching a €2 billion resort fund - focused on the Mediterranean and targeting Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, but also Germany and Belgium.
I was wondering while editing this message: How will these resorts be built, how will they be geared to climate change, sustainability and changing tourist flows? Or will it just be another concrete block, trimmed for maximum profit per square meter? Where is the responsibility of the investors? Before Corona, resorts were still considered highly toxic.
In Germany, insolvencies are now increasing massively across all sectors. Of the nearly 120,000 establishments analysed, 11.9% (in absolute terms: 14,219) of all restaurants, pubs, snack bars and cafés are classified as at risk of insolvency. Equally frustrating: Tourist destinations are strikingly weak in their digital marketing. And even more drastic: Ghosting is on the rise. More and more applicants simply do not turn up for work despite signing a contract or otherwise quit during the training phase.
Today's mix of motivation and head-shaking continues in market news and personnel. Finally, I would like to motivate you to take another look at our additional content on our public pages Marketplace and today especially on the Expo Real page (both in new web design): There, you will find two short interviews, which we conducted with our BRICKS & BRAINS sponsors Adina and KN General Agency.
Likewise, you will find the programme of the Expo Real conference "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" in a news item, which for the first time is included under a single focus: sustainability! You will find a number of unknown names in the five panels - and it is precisely these that you should get to know, because they have greatest influence in the interplay between politics and the industry.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
