Three Steps to Decarbonize Your Spa

By Rebecca Hawkins Managing Director, Responsible Hospitality

As I write on the day hospitality businesses once again open their doors to the public and do the thing they are best at: providing a generous and friendly welcome for guests. Having been deprived for so long of the opportunities to gather, there is a palpable sense of excitement that we can once again congregate (albeit outside and in small groups of six for the time being) in the hotels, community halls, pubs, cafes, and other venues that we take so much for granted in more normal times.

It is in our hospitality venues that communities come together and for many of us this reopening is about more than having additional choices of places to eat, sleep or drink. It is about rediscovering our communities, engaging in experiences and making memories.

A combination of common sense and sentiment surveys tell us that international visitors are unlikely to return in any volume to the UK at least until 2022 and hospitality venues will depend on their ability and so it is imperative for that they to attract visitors from closer to home. The basics for any hotel seeking to do this must be right (great facilities, excellent customer care and effective COVID safe processes).

To really stand out from the crowd, however, hoteliers will need something else, to delight customers who have been cooped up for the best part of a year and who are seeking opportunities to rediscover explore the a holiday offer where in which neither the weather nor novelty value of going somewhere they have never been before are on offer. The evidence indicates that the additional dimension to win over these consumers is providing meaningful experiences that encapsulate the essence of place, something that will be especially important for those seeking to attract the young:

"The value of human connection became acutely apparent in 2020, and this realization will not be lost on this generation of young people in the future. Having experienced the detriment of isolation and also witnessed the power of community, they will seek to strengthen their close ties and build meaningful new ones. They will seize the day they can come together again, sharing moments and building memories. They will also seek a deeper sense of belonging, gravitating to experiences that bring together people with shared values and facilitate more authentic and intimate connections". (Vivid Media Group - Make Contact - The ReEmergence of the Experience Economy, April 21)

This the trend towards favoring experiences over consumers goods is not new: in 2017, McKinsey stated "Faced with the choice of buying a trendy designer jacket or shiny new appliance or of attending a show, consumers increasingly opt for the show and more broadly experiences with their friends and family". However the pandemic has heightened demand, "remind[ing] the whole world that there is more to life than material possessions". In tourism in particular, we are now seeing consumers state a preference to place experiences that provide a real sense of place/authenticity over price when choosing where to go. How to Maximize on this Trend:

towel reuse cards when demonstrating sustainability credentials). Whether using local food on menus, local products in in-room facilities, or show casing local art and crafts, local products give a real sense that the hotel is embedded into its wider community.

Most local areas have a local food network and - if you need help to find yours the Sustain web site can point you in the right direction. There are also growing band of artisans crafting hand made soaps using local produced products, which can tap into the trend that runs parallel to experiential tourism: well-being.

2. Make Opportunities for Local Residents There is no substitute for insider knowledge when it comes to exploring all that is special about place. Local residents will know the hidden gems that have the potential to entice back customers who feel they are already familiar with the destination. Many are looking for work and offering them opportunities can help bring new talent into the sector as well as inviting them to share their local knowledge and recommendations with customers.

Other destinations have Ambassador programmes that help employees from further afield become familiar with the destination (The NCTA provide Ambassador training for some destinations. Over COVID, a number of resident groups have also provided emerged to help locals and visitors alike learn more about a place.

3. Make the Most of the Great Outdoors If anything good has come out of the pandemic, it is perhaps the fact that so many people have found the time to reconnect with nature. Whether located in a town centre or rural area, there are lots of opportunities to help guests explore more in the great outdoors (according the ONS, almost a third of urban area in Great Britain consists of natural land and green space so hotels in urban areas can find ways to maximise the value in their local parks). Partnering with a local cycle hire company (including promoting the use of electric bikes) can provide great opportunities for new experiences especially for customers anxious to avoid crowded public transport.

Almost all localities can offer local walks using apps such as GPSMyCity (which features tours of attractions), Route You (which features walking tours) or published guides such as Lonely Planet that provide easy access to routes for all levels of fitness. For young families, gaming apps such as Pokemon Go provide a novel way to engage children in walking and are available in a number of destinations.

4. Maximise the Local Value of Visitor Spend Tourism businesses can play an essential part in helping areas to recover economically, especially if hotels maximise the multiplier effect: the mystic force that converts the generosity of visitors into local impact. Strengthening local supply chains can go beyond the obvious product procurement to transform the nature of experience on offer and extend length of stay by supporting the development of new bookable products. Art and creative businesses can both create authenticity and a reason for customers to stay an extra night.

Activate in Dorset, for example, specialise in providing extraordinary events in places and host many of their performances in the great outdoors. Most local authorities have an organisation responsible for culture and they can connect you with your local creatives to support the development of 'packages' 5. Give Back Having reflected on the last year, nearly half of all of the British public say that they want post pandemic life to be different. The good news is that this means, spending more time away with loved ones, but it also means giving back themselves. Partnerships with volunteering organisations can provide new aspects to your offer as can engaging staff in volunteering opportunities.

The National Council for Volunteer Organisations (NCVO.org.uk) can match organisations with volunteering opportunities. If volunteering is for you, a number of destinations have customer giving schemes that will partner with hotels and allow customers to make a voluntary addition to their bill to support specific causes.

6. Do Your Bit As well as giving back many consumers are also keen to give their business to companies with good ethical credentials. So if your business is already managing its energy and water effectively (for those who aren't now might be a good time to look at these issues - savings of 10% are easily achievable for those who have not undertaken a review), now might be a time to communicate this.

To keep customers engaged, however, take care to avoid the greenwash. While an essential part of your 'green' armoury, energy and water reduction programmes alone are unlikely to cut the mustard for the new and sustainability savvy consumer. Local procurement will be important (see above) and a tangible difference can be made by keeping a careful eye on food waste. In fact managing food waste may be one of the biggest commitments that your business can make to conservation and to showing your customers that you are serious about sustainability.

70% of water globally is used by the agricultural sector; 25% of global warming gases are associated with forestry and agriculture and food production is the top threat for some 86% of the 28,000+ plant and animal species known to be at risk of extinction. Making conscious choices about the foods that you buy (choosing those that are local and ethically sourced) as well as making good use of food by preventing waste, therefore, can play a significant role in reducing environmental impacts. What's more, changing the processes in particular in hotels can reduce food procurement costs by 5% or more.

If your hotel wants to maximise on the value of the domestic market, therefore, it is time to really invest in developing memorable experiences and helping customer create memories … and the very best of these build on the unique characteristics of place. As such, they have the broadest possible interpretation of the term sustainability (economy, community and environment) at their core.

Dr. Hawkins Rebecca Hawkins is the Managing Director of RHP Ltd, a Research Fellow of Oxford Brookes University and Visiting Professor to the International Centre for Responsible Tourism at Leeds Metropolitan University. A resource management specialist, with training in ISO 14001 implementation, Dr. Hawkins has managed a number of projects that combine the need to deliver sustainability initiatives alongside cost savings. Dr. Hawkins regularly provides training within hotel businesses and offers strategic consultancy to help senior executives in the sector design effective responsible business programs.