Hospitality tops environmental sustainability poll

Some 70% of hospitality and leisure respondents rated it as ‘extremely important’.

The sector is said to be 'achieving a strong balance between investing in environmental sustainability while continuing to maximise financial performance'.

Barclays research found that 93% of businesses in the sector believe financial performance is extremely important to them – among the highest of any sector surveyed.

The research went on to show that an increasing focus on environmental sustainability is being driven by all corners of the industry, with 60% of hospitality and leisure bosses saying sustainability is very important to their investors and shareholders, the highest response across any industry. Meanwhile, 70% of hospitality and leisure respondents say it’s very important to their customers, and 63% say it’s very important to their suppliers.

Of those that said it is important, 60% said it enabled them to set themselves apart from their competitors.

Some 88% of respondents in the hospitality and leisure sector said they believed they would be subjected to greater environmental rules over the next five years, a response rate that was far higher than any other sector.

In July of this year, the hospitality industry was heralded by the Government for the progress it is making in reducing its carbon consumption. In the Hospitality Strategy from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the industry was praised for the ‘big strides’ it is making towards a net zero strategy.

Marco DeBenedictis, head of sustainable and transition finance at Barclays, commented: “It’s very encouraging to see industries aware of the changing landscape they are operating in. Tighter rules and regulations around sustainability are to be expected over the coming years as we work towards greener solutions to reduce emissions across all industries.”