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Community Partnerships
1 | Starting
Corporate Office
Measure and mitigate negative impacts
Outcomes
By the end of this stage you will have achieved the following outcomes from the Pathway Framework:
Assessment of community impact and increase in impactful community projects.
- Guests are offered the opportunity to participate through volunteering or contribution.
- Information/interpretation material about the natural and cultural heritage of the local area is available and provided to customers.
- Information is provided to customers about appropriate behaviour in the local area.
- The proportion of total employment from persons already residing in the local community is measured and managed.
- Local access to livelihoods is considered in decisions about development and operations.
- Contribution to community impact projects at least once a year. [WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics]
- The organisation makes and records monetary contributions to the protection of cultural heritage.
- Local art/craft is reflected in design and furnishings. [WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics]
- Local artists are offered a platform to display their talents, and tours and activities organised by local guides and businesses are offered. [WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics]
- Any use of artefacts is transparent and/or documented and reported.
- The organisation demonstrates awareness of, and compliance with, existing international, national and local good practice and guidance for tourist visits to cultural sites and indigenous. [WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics]
Setting up for success
Take ownership
Designate a lead person or team for each activity and ensure other relevant employees are aware of their roles
Review legislation related to the portfolio
Include senior leadership to make sure there is ownership and buy-in from the top-level
Raise awareness among internal stakeholders by introducing environmental and social sustainability training
Review the possibility for a monitoring system to track all environmental and social data in one location and monitor progress
Review and update governance procedures
Engage stakeholders
Conduct a stakeholder mapping to identify relevant stakeholders, and engage key stakeholders to understand their priorities
Find other brands and management companies you can learn from
Set up a process to regularly engage with hotels, to understand challenges, identify priorities, inform them of central programmes and share solutions
Understand impact & dependencies
1. Gather available data on current or past community partnerships, including monetary contributions
2. Review or develop guidelines for hotels to engage with local communities and represent local culture and heritage
3. Collect information on initiatives hotels may be taking locally to engage with local communities
4. Incorporate best practices from hotels into guidelines
5. Share guidelines and best practices with all properties for their feedback and input
Set targets
6. Based on review, set your targets for improvement
Resource: Net Positive Action Planner
Take action
7. Engage or partner with arts, culture and heritage organisations in key destinations
8. Update information on website and brochures
Resource: Sustainable Hospitality Alliance Resource Directory
9. Partner with social and environmental organisations to support community projects
10. When furnishing new builds or replacing FF&E consider representation of local art and crafts, and sourcing from local suppliers, craftsmen and artists
Reviewing & Reporting Progress
Monitor & Report
Review progress by comparing against previous performance and industry benchmarks where available (such as CHSB). Repeat on a regular basis (e.g. monthly/quarterly)
Review benefits seen through actions
Review challenges encountered along the way and plan solutions to implement
Update leadership on progress
Inform corporate customers and investors of performance and activities by including information in communications and meetings
Share your case studies with us!
As hospitality companies progress towards Net Positive Hospitality, the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance is keen to share good news and best practice from across the industry. Our Net Positive case studies are shared across our website and LinkedIn, acting as a positive space to celebrate these actions, achievements, and commitments.
We invite hotels to get involved by sending case studies to press@sustainablehospitalityalliance.org and / or tagging @Net Positive Hospitality and @Sustainable Hospitality Alliance within LinkedIn posts relating to environmental sustainability or social responsibility.
Community Partnerships - PDF Checklist
Download checklist
Click the link below to access a PDF checklist to use offline.
View our accompanying factsheets
Find out more and enquire
Test the outcomes of ESG solutions
The Net Positive Hospitality Simulation brings the Pathway to life, helping users understand the impacts of their decisions, test sustainability actions and create a tailored sustainability action plan.
2 | Advancing - Minimise negative impacts and initiate positive impacts
Ready to move onto the next stage?
Once you have completed Community Partnerships – 1 | Starting, you are ready to move on to 2 | Advancing.
