Following on from our first insight from Rob Hughes of Pod Point the second in our series is from the Managing Director of the Deer Park, Mark Godfrey who shares his thoughts on sustainability in the luxury tourism market.
In a world that is experiencing huge extremes in weather conditions from severe flooding in the UK to the scariest bush fires in California and Australia its clear that the planet isn’t happy but how can we influence our guests mind set to change their down time “luxury” to a more sustainable eco break…?The global temperature of our planet is rising, its proven and its man made. So each and everyone of us has to do more to help the situation, however after the effort of separating waste for recycling, eating less meat, driving an electric car are we happy to give up our well earned piece of luxury for a well earned break in this busy busy world?
But how far can we push the Eco break? We all love a warm fluffy bathrobe and indulging in the finer things in life, should hoteliers be bold and create the eco version of Luxury or allow guests to have a break from the daily grind.
At Deer Park we believe we have a responsibility to give our guests the choice whilst at the same time doing everything we can to contribute to reversing the issues.
The term “Eco Hotel” is growing fast and there are many awards that can be won for conscious hoteliers searching for a new untapped market segment whilst doing the right thing.
We also believe that more and more guests want to participate in the good practises to help us along, and are becoming much more discerning when choosing where to spend their money.
Sustainability is a well-trodden subject in the hospitality sector and a conversation that will never abate thanks to dramatic footage from TV programmes such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet and the realisation that we can all make a difference. And while our actions to counter our impact may seem marginal, even minuscule in comparison to what’s happened before, we all have a collective responsibility to address sustainability.
