Five-star hotels struggle with sustainability
Published: Friday, Jan 12th 2024, 11:10
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Swiss luxury hotels want to become more sustainable. Some have taken measures to achieve this. According to experts, these do not go far enough - and guests often have different ideas.
Wake up in fresh comforters, take a quick dip in the bubble bath and then enjoy an extensive breakfast buffet - and all for great money. Luxury at the expense of the environment? Not necessarily, according to Swiss five-star hotels, as long as certain strategies are implemented.
The news agency AWP spoke to around a dozen well-known luxury companies. They all cooperate with environmental organizations and have sustainability officers. One thing is clear: there is a lack of cross-industry standards.
"We are not sustainable," says Jasmina Kühne, Sustainability Manager at the luxury hotel The Alpina Gstaad, for example. But her business is trying to become more sustainable.
As usual, most emissions are generated outside the hotel, for example during the transportation of products and guests or during the production of food. Like other establishments, The Alpina Gstaad therefore tries to rely on local producers wherever possible.
For example, it only sources around 3 percent of its products from foreign suppliers. However, just because something comes from the local area does not automatically make it environmentally friendly. For example, when seasonal food is in demand. "You have to find a balance everywhere," says Kühne.
Most emissions outsourced
The hotel in Gstaad is one of the few luxury hotels to record and publish its CO2 emissions. In the current year, these were calculated at around 5800 tons.
The Alpina Gstaad's operational activities and electricity consumption, listed in technical jargon under "Scope 1" and "Scope 2", account for less than 4 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions. The rest is caused by outsourced emissions in "Scope 3".
By way of comparison, the Dolder Grand in Zurich has its annual emissions calculated by the climate protection organization Myclimate at just under 3,000 tonnes, which according to Myclimate is at the lower end of the industry.
Meanwhile, the Dolder's own emissions are 12 percent higher than those of The Alpina Gstaad in Bern. In order to reduce these, the Zurich hotel is trying to make its heating and cooling performance as well as its bathing and hot water treatment more efficient.
Unlike the luxury hotel in Gstaad, the Dolder also relies on compensation payments to offset its carbon footprint. The Cervo Mountain Resort in Zermatt also pursues this strategy, paying a five-figure sum per year to Myclimate and donating 10 percent of its water revenue to the construction of wells in India.
However, when it comes to reducing emissions, for example by removing exotic dishes from the menu or reducing the portions at the buffet, hotels often encounter resistance: "Many people don't want to restrict themselves on vacation." The sustainability managers also see the major challenge in finding a balance between abundance and sustainability.
Luxury companies have more potential
According to the industry association Hotelleriesuisse, however, luxury hotels have decisive advantages: Because their guests generally emit more emissions than the average, an establishment can in principle save more per room and guest. And the high income means that investments can be "implemented more quickly".
Urs Wagenseil, tourism expert at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, also emphasizes this: "In principle, every hotel can be sustainable." A global set of rules for the hotel industry has already existed for 15 years. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), which was founded by UN organizations and others, created systematic sustainability standards for hotels back in 2008. Nevertheless, only a fraction of local businesses work with such standards.
According to Wagenseil, however, the pressure on hotels is increasing: since 2021, sustainability has been a key development goal in the federal government's tourism strategy.
In addition, the "Swisstainable" initiative is driving the sustainability efforts of all Swiss tourism representatives. This means that "standing on the sidelines" is likely to have more noticeable consequences for businesses in the future than before.
It is true that participation in the "Swisstainable" program is also open to companies that "want to start on the path towards more sustainable development". However, as Wagenseil emphasizes: "The will to be sustainable alone is not proof of sustainability. It requires effective performance and proof through qualified certificates."
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