The hotel industry should take a larger leadership role in addressing climate change issues, said director of AlphaBeta (SG) Dr Fraser Thompson, one of the key speakers at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) Update in Singapore next week.
“I don’t think the hotel industry is taking enough of a leadership role in climate change issues. Globally, only 20% of hotels are maximising their potential for climate-friendly operations. A lot more can be done,” said Thompson (pictured left).
He said hotels stand to lose big from climate change. The one issue he highlighted is the rise of sea levels. Closer to home, the countries around the equator, he said, will be impacted greatly. According to estimates, loss of land value from floods due to sea level rise in Singapore is estimated at US$2 billion by 2100.
Seaside resorts in the region, for example, will have to consider seriously, and quickly, how any rise in the sea levels will adversely impact their properties.
“Hotels should be campaigning more with the government and authorities with regards climate change management,” said Thompson. He added that within hotels now, top level management, right up to the CEO, need to take charge and make climate change issues a priority.
While climate change is the one key point that Thompson hopes participants at the conference will take home, there are also a few others that he will address next week.
China will be central to discussions for a long while
China will continue to be central to discussions for a long time yet. Some 120 million mainland Chinese now have passports, with as many as 30 millionmore being issued in 2019. Yet, all of that is still a “drop in the bucket” and represents less than 10 percent of China’s total population.
Thompson said Chinese consumers won’t be going away, but noted they are very different from those of elsewhere, and the geo-political context in which they exist means that the government is able to direct their consumers as it wants.
Presently, Thompson feels too much discussion has been assigned to the impact of the US-China trade disputes. He said China’s exposure to the world has shrunk quite significantly, while the world’s exposure to China has grown. It is estimated the current trade disputes will reduce China’s GDP by just 0.1 to 0.8 percent in 2019, and in the US by 0.1 to 0.4% in the US.
These trade disruptions will merely cause a shift in business interest and activity to other regions. Some likely winners are Japan and South east Asia. Business travel between these countries and China therefore will increase, he said.
AI in the house: recalibration of education required
Another issue and myth he will address is that “we are all going to lose our jobs to robots”. Thompson acknowledges although AI is not yet been perfected, the rate of progress and improvement is “staggering”. But he remains steadfast in his belief that AI has to be fused with human skills, and the discussions will instead be about that balance between the two.
But more importantly, the focus should now be on the recalibration of education. Today, only 19 percent of education happens after age 21; in 2040, this will go up to 41 percent. The number of hours dedicated to education and training that is done “on the job” will increase from 25,000 hours per year, to 32,000 hours per year.
“Hotels will be well positioned to make this happen because they come from a culture of apprenticeship,” Thompson said. However, today’s education model will be somewhat different – it has to be focused on lifelong learning. “Every members of the team should be learning new skills every year,” he suggested.
Family-owned businesses’ rising importance
Thompson will also address the growing importance of family-owned businesses in Asia. He urges hotels and companies to look for opportunities to partner with family-owned businesses. “Many of the family-owned businesses in Asia are going through a transition period, where first-generation owners are making way for the second generation to take over,” said Thompson.
He said that’s where opportunities abound as the second generation, with their better education and ambitions to do things differently, strive to restructure their family businesses. “There will be a lot of M&A opportunities that were not there previously,” said Thompson.
Middleweights will be heavyweights
The biggest ASEAN consumer markets today are going to be driven from middle weight cities and regions that may not currently be in the scope of awareness for companies. He named cities such as Cebu, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Negros Occidental, Rayong, Chonburi as some middle weight cities, among others, to note.
Featured image credit: Getty Images
