Marlene, thank you for taking the time to speak with us! As a start, can you please tell us a bit more about you? Where does your passion for sustainability and hospitality come from?

Like so many in my generation I came to a point where I could not accept that sustainability was something left to be cared for by others, I just wanted to make an impact myself!

For as long as I can remember I enjoyed travelling and discovering new destinations. With the feeling that a community of travellers with a conscious approach, such as myself, was increasing, I developed the idea of eco suites and just went through with it.

Can you tell our readers a bit more about eco suites? Why did you feel compelled to start the company and what’s your purpose?

ecosuites.travel is an online platform designed to present premium accommodations with a sustainable approach. We aim to support the eco conscious traveller in searching for a fitting hotel and shed light on accommodations that act sustainably. We carefully curate our collection of conscious hotels and are proud of presenting them to our community!

Personally, I aimed to take responsibility for contributing to a sustainable future. Once I had the idea for eco suites, I completely dove into it and wanted to bring it to life! I was convinced that luxury travel can be sustainable. Our purpose is to bring together the eco-conscious traveller with outstanding accommodations that share our approach and values.

eco suites has an impressive portfolio of hotels that are both stylish and sustainable. What makes your hotels “eco suites?”

We are proud to present hotels that are special in every way. Whether it is the design, the concept, the facilities or the team – our eco suites make luxury vacation dreams come true. The huge difference to many other hotels around the world is that they follow a highly sustainable approach and are committed to define modern travel. It is the combination of both aspects that makes them our “eco suites.”

To become an eco suite, what specific criteria and standards are you looking at? What is your process for selection?

We carefully choose every accommodation on ecosuites.travel. All accommodations featured on our platform meet at least five out of ten criteria that have been established as our eco suites standard. After careful consideration, our eco suites criteria have been adapted from internationally acknowledged standards for preserving the environment. It mattered greatly to us to also include criteria like “Female empowerment” or “Social impact”, to show the full range of what we believe sustainability implies.

At MAp, we too believe sustainability is the future. What are your hopes for the hospitality industry as it relates to sustainability in the short- and long-term?

My hopes for the foreseeable future are that the hospitality industry will continue to focus on implementing a wide range of eco-friendly measures, from saving resources to using clean energy. Many short-term solutions can be installed quickly and would have a huge impact on the environment. Speaking of long-term expectations, I hope that travel choices will be made carefully and will increase to focus on slow tourism, on getting to know the destination, its people and its culture.

As many of our readers are hoteliers: what are the 3 most important measures hotels should implement on the road to sustainability?

While every hotel and its guests are different, we do know what our community of responsible travellers is mostly looking for. In our experience, the measure with the highest direct impact on guests is the careful selection of food & drinks. Most exclusive travellers are keen on being offered local, seasonal and organic choices when it comes their catering. They are well informed and try to reduce their footprint with their shopping choices in their everyday lives and do expect the same from their accommodation.

Another measure that directly relates to the guest is the effort to reduce and carefully recycle waste. Many hotels are implementing recycling opportunities in each room or easily accessible in the common areas, and many guests are delighted to see the measures they are used to at home as an option in their hotel as well. Products without packaging are in high demand, and careful sourcing and recycling “behind the scenes” is mandatory.

We do strongly believe that happy employees are key to provide a unique and exceptional experience for their guests. A modern work environment needs to be implemented to include all aspects that sustainability contains. Fair working conditions, diverse perspectives and safety therefore should always be a priority. This is certainly the third measure I would recommend on the path to sustainability.

As always, our final MAp meets question is related to our core business, as we’re specialised in crafting innovative hotel concepts and brands: what makes a hotel experience a truly outstanding one for you personally?

A truly outstanding hotel experience for me comes with the people. Feeling at home away from home is what I am looking for, and that comes with attentive service. I love exploring innovative concepts, hotels that are brave enough to try something new and follow a unique path.

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We all agree that in today’s highly competitive hospitality market, a unique, innovative and sustainable hotel concept is fundamental to the long-term success of a hotel venture.

At MAp Boutique Consultancy, we define a hotel concept as a strategic and creative outline on how to realise a hotel venture. It pieces together various elements (soft and hard facts) and gives strategic guidance, as well as comprehensive and detailed information. It outlines to all stakeholders HOW the hotel should look and feel, and WHY, based on defined brand values and characteristics. 

Whenever we, MAp, create a hotel concept, we also put sustainability at the heart of it, incorporating our sustainability framework - MAp's 4Ps of Sustainability - to increase revenue, decrease costs and leave a positive impact on the world. 

But why does your hotel concept need to be sustainable? Operating sustainably is becoming a standard practice and a new quality standard for hotels, as hotel guests and other stakeholders, such as employees and business partners, are increasingly becoming more conscious of their impact. 

The definition of sustainability is not as simple as it might seem, however. It is not only about eco-friendly, “green” hotel practices (like water and energy conservation), it's much more holistic than that, touching on social and economic dimensions too. That's where MAp's 4Ps of Sustainability comes in, inspired by the United Nations SDGs and providing a holistic approach to sustainability:

• People - Social Sustainability: The impact your hotel has on People, including your guests, employees, partners and local community members. At the cornerstone of social sustainability is protecting human rights, addressing issues that affect your People, and uplifting and empowering them.
• Planet - Environmental Sustainability: The impact your hotel has on the Planet, ensuring that you protect the world's ecosystems and conserve natural resources for the health and wellbeing of all - now and in the future.
• Profit - Economic Sustainability: The impact your hotel has on economic growth, without negatively impacting the social and environmental aspects of the community – while driving profitability for your hotel.
• Purpose: While it’s not officially one of the pillars of sustainability, Purpose stands at the core of MAp’s sustainability framework. The definition is simple: Purpose is the WHY that drives you to do what you do – and love it!

While most think being a green hotel is enough, it's important to know that the economic and social aspects of sustainability are becoming increasingly important. A great example of social sustainability is Marriott, which successfully trained half a million staff to recognise and respond to signs of human trafficking. Their multi-language online and classroom-based training programme tailored to front office, F&B and housekeeping staff led to a number of young people being removed from compromising situations, since the programme’s inception in 2017. 

We at MAp believe that there are so many benefits for your hotel in implementing sustainability into your operations. Therefore below we share with you our…

• You use your resources more effectively, thereby increasing productivity and lowering costs. Utilities, labour and operational costs are the largest cost contributors for most hotels, and a sustainable operation often helps to address all three – e. g. new environmental technologies can have a positive influence on your guests’ experience (think LED lighting, natural furnishing and natural ventilation).
• You improve your employee morale, motivation and satisfaction. Younger employees, especially, are eager to work for hotel businesses that look past profitability and want to make a real difference.
• You open a dialogue with the wider community and create synergies that benefit both your hotel guests and those who inhabit your surroundings.
• You attract new and more loyal hotel guests, and by communicating sustainability performance indicators, you engage your future guests at the time of booking.
• You improve your brand image, which offers better profits in the long run. In fact, hotel properties that have achieved the TripAdvisor Green Leader status are actually rated 20% higher than other properties, as per Jenny Rushmore, TripAdvisor’s Director of Responsible Travel.

And… the great thing about sustainability is that it’s an evolving process. Step by step, as we like to say at MAp, the best sustainability policies are ongoing ones – therefore enjoy your sustainability journey ;-)