Initiative eco-responsable et RSE

📍 Goodwings, a Danish TMC focused on eco-friendly business travel, completed a €2.6 million funding round led by Arve Andresen, Anders Colding Friis, Christina Topsøe, Nicholas Hammeken, and Global Cleantech Capital. New investors Patrick Diemer and Lars Thuesen joined the effort. The company aims to give businesses greater control over travel emissions while maintaining high standards in booking experiences, software, and service. Goodwings now incorporates UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain rail services, as well as NDC for airlines including EasyJet, Ryanair, and Wizzair. The funds are earmarked for international growth.

🏢 Kempinski Hotels appoints Hoda Tahoun as Chief Talent Officer effective April 14, 2025. Hoda will oversee global talent strategy, focusing on talent attraction, development, and retention to support Kempinski's growth and transformation, under CEO Barbara Muckermann's oversight. Reporting to Karin Raguin, Chief Human Resources Officer, Hoda's charge is defining recruitment, development, and organizational strategies. Kempinski aims to enhance talent management processes and develop its leadership pipeline while tackling the competitive recruitment context and workforce shortages.

🏨 Meliá Hotels International appoints Montserrat Trapé Viladomat and Cristina Aldámiz-Echevarría González de Durana as vice-presidents, effective after shareholders' meeting on May 8-9, 2025, in Palma de Majorque. Trapé, a board member since 2022 with 40 years of legal experience, chairs the audit and compliance committee and is involved with Europastry and Cellnex Telecom. Aldámiz-Echevarría, with ACS since 2002, is the director of operations, investments, and sustainable development, with a background at Merrill Lynch and other financial institutions. The appointments reinforce Meliá's leadership and governance.

✈ Airbus updates its ZEROe project roadmap, aiming to conduct trials in 2027 for an all-electric hydrogen-fueled aircraft, with commercialization expected in the late 2030s. The European aerospace consortium's third Airbus Summit on March 24 and 25, 2023, reveals the plane will have four 2-megawatt electric motors powered by fuel cells converting hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, supplied by two liquid hydrogen tanks. Ground tests are slated for Munich, Germany, in 2027. Initially planned for 2035, technological maturity issues led to a 25% funding cut, but Airbus remains committed to hydrogen as a key to decarbonizing aviation. The ZEROe project, announced in 2020 and now focusing on a fully electric solution, anticipates supportive technological and regulatory environments.

🏡 L’Hôtel Le Germain Vancouver, located in the prestigious Coal Harbour neighborhood near the Vancouver Convention Centre, will feature views of the North Shore mountains and waterfront. The design by LemayMichaud, a longtime partner of Germain Hôtels, will showcase local influences and Canadian art. Germain Hôtels has been providing refined hospitality for over 35 years, while Reliance Properties has shaped Vancouver's urban landscape for over 70 years. This project is a long-term investment in Vancouver's future, catering to the growing demand for premium accommodations.

🛒 AccorInvest launched Think Circular, a future-oriented renovation model based on circular economy principles, targeting sustainability, adaptability, and long-term performance. The concept boasts 80% waste reduction, 50% carbon emissions cut, 80% better air quality, and flexible design. Initiated in ibis hotels in 2019, it’s applied to over 2,500 rooms between 2021 and 2024 across France, Germany, the UK, Spain, and Portugal. Franck Bermond, Director of Construction & ESG at AccorInvest, highlights the alignment of operational efficiency, aesthetic, and environmental sustainability.

💸 Coline Pont will become the Chief Sustainability Officer at Accor starting July 1, bringing her 6 years of prior experience with the group and expertise from AXA as the current Director of Procurement. With over 15 years in purchasing management and business model transformation focused on technology, she has led significant ESG projects, including decarbonization and carbon compensation initiatives, local and inclusive sourcing, and reducing plastic use to promote sustainable outsourcing. During her tenure at Accor, Pont managed a €1.4 billion procurement portfolio and launched a global B2B market for independent hoteliers and large chains.

🏨 Brylynn Swayzer from CBRE Hotels Valuation & Advisory highlights the historical roots of black and Latino hotel ownership, dating back to segregation-era figures like George Thomas Downing and establishments like Pio Pico's Pico House in Los Angeles. Despite a rich heritage, black Americans own less than 2% of U.S. hotels, and Latinos 9.1%, even with considerable economic influence. The "Green Book" was an annual travel guide for African Americans published from 1936 to 1966 by New Yorker Victor Hugo Green, during racial segregation.

🏨 BWH Hotels hosted its first Pan-European Convention in Palma de Majorca, where 1,200 participants from around the world discussed the hotel industry's challenges and opportunities. The event, themed "Unique and United," featured conferences on cybersecurity, digital marketing, and hospitality well-being. CEO Larry Cuculic emphasized the group's commitment to unique experiences, while leaders like Ron Pohl shared strategies for expanding the global network through collaboration among European members.

💸 Brune Poirson, Chief Sustainability Officer at Accor for four years, announced her departure, acknowledging the group's commitment to sustainable hospitality. She praised Accor, the top European hotel group, for integrating sustainability into its core activities and recognized CEO Sébastien Bazin's trust. Poirson emphasized the critical role of climate and social challenges for the hotel industry's future and expressed gratitude to Accor partners and civil society for their impactful contributions. She wished success to her successor and the company.