GREEN INDULGENCE

Could Southeast Asia's burgeoning luxury hospitality sector spearhead sustainability in the face of a slew of challenges? The answer is a resounding yes.

- CEDRIC TAN

Without a doubt, the hospitality sector continues to leave a monstrous carbon footprint in the world today. While there are officially no figures on the number of hotels operating in the region, there are over 430 properties proffering more than 70,000 rooms in Singapore alone based on figures released by the Singapore Tourism Board this year. If we project this figure onto the wider geographical context of Southeast Asia, the amount of energy, water and materials expended is likely mind-boggling.

While every hotel is bound to generate waste, it is troubling to consider how much more waste luxury-class hotels are likely to create. For a business so inextricably tied to the promises of excess, a five-star hotel is traditionally tied to sky-high expectations that some sustainable practices can be perceived as counter-luxury.

A classic case-in-point: After years of urging guests to reuse towels by hanging them up, the used ones are sometimes still replaced by housekeeping.

Olivier Lenoir, general manager of Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, reasons that it all boils down to the guest: “Sometimes guests who hang the towels still expect them to be changed. So after way too many complaints, housekeeping staff simply replace all the towels to avoid getting into trouble. Despite our best efforts, our failure to influence a change of mindset in the right direction can be frustrating.”

Although it remains extremely challenging to change generational mindsets en masse and a pronto, it should be alarming to note that 9.6 million cubic metres of wastewater is generated annually in Thailand alone (according to an Asean Business Partners paper), of which a quarter of that is contributed by the hotel industry. However, the good news: Many luxury hotel management teams have started to combat wastage collectively in the region.