INTERREG DUET

Sustainable development strategy in the hotel industry

The hotel industry and tourism in general play a very important role in the Franco-Swiss cross-border economy. France is the top destination in terms of number of arrivals and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand-Est regions alone account for almost a quarter of the nights recorded in 2016.

As in France, the accommodation sector in Switzerland is one of the economic pillars of tourism. A large number of actors (customers, hotel operators, product producers and suppliers, service providers and employees) therefore interact on both sides of the border, generating significant cross-border flows.

The environmental, social and economic footprints – direct and / or indirect – associated with tourism and hotel activity and cross-border flows are therefore significant. At the same time, the consumer-tourist is increasingly demanding with regard to the impact of their actions and their choices. Residents and local institutions seek to optimize the impact of tourism activities. Standards, labels, methods and practices exist, but the approaches identified are not sufficiently shared or optimized as a whole for the local cross-border reality. Indeed, the Lake Geneva ecosystem is not taken into account. This project is part of the identification, research, development and communication of innovative, efficient and sustainable solutions for the hotel industry. This aims to develop a sustainable development action plan for the hotel industry, giving it a strategic advantage in the cross-border context.

This action plan will consist of the definition, organization and implementation of a set of means to achieve objectives. The action plan is aimed at all types of hotels without distinction, whether business or leisure. This framework will allow, through a set of actions of different natures (for example: the drafting of a charter, training modules, a water recovery system, support for the implementation of new solutions, advice in terms of renovation of buildings, etc.), to better position market players in the area of ​​sustainable development, to enhance their environmental protection actions, to reduce their consumption of resources and to encourage cross-border trade. It will also better meet the growing expectations of a clientele concerned about its ecological footprint and encourage the adoption of more sustainable behavior by hoteliers. The long-term objective is to maintain and promote cross-border hotel activity so that it cannot only be more profitable for those involved in the hotel industry (in terms of resource consumption and economic performance), but also more sustainable (in terms of preserving the environment).

This 3-year project was approved in December 2019 as part of the INTERREG 2014-2020 program. It is jointly worn by Lydie Bonnefoy-Claudet (IREGE, IAE Savoie Mont Blanc) and Ricardo Lima (HEPIA). It brings together a large and diverse set of players: academic players in the field of building engineering, marketing and business strategy, regional players and market players (hotels, federations).