HOSP-ECO, Sustainability Leadership in Hospitality

Effective measures are needed to accelerate the green and digital transitions and improve the resilience of the tourism ecosystem. This is an effort in which all groups and stakeholders, in the tourism ecosystem, have a role to play. Hospitality, as part of this ecosystem, leaves a heavy environmental footprint on a daily basis. Although there are many environmental management systems in place to control and monitor ecological performance, hospitality lacks Sustainability Leadership. The COVID-19 pandemic even though has stressed the importance of digital interventions to benefit the environment, it has shifted the priorities of the market to other directions. This dictates the need for immediate actions to accelerate the green and digital transitions and consequently increase the resilience of the EU industrial ecosystems. The tourism ecosystem was the hardest hit by the pandemic and therefore, it faces major challenges to achieve the twin transition. To expedite this twin transition, VET will have a critical role in changing the Leadership model of the industry, shifting from traditional Leadership to Sustainability Leadership. VET can deploy innovative training, including e-tools to allow the successful implementation of sustainability principles in order to make hospitality more competitive. HOSP-ECO project aims at changing the way Hospitality Management thinks and behaves. If sustainability is placed at the core of Hospitality Management’s business thinking and business deciding, then in a few years Hospitality’s ecological footprint will start to shrink. HOSP-ECO will deploy a VET methodology to help Hospitality Management acquire Sustainability Leadership skills by developing a training course and e-tools to facilitate sustainability culture change.