Sustainable development: where do hotels and restaurants stand?

How are environmental changes affecting the hotel and restaurant industry? CSR (for Corporate Social Responsibility) is a major current issue in all sectors of activity. And the hotel and restaurant industry, and more widely tourism, is no exception.

Gastronomy, "sustainable" restaurants and the Michelin Green Star

The famous Michelin Guide unveiled its winners on Monday 6 March and, in addition to the now well-known 3 stars, the Green Star has made its mark. It was first introduced in 2020, and will only be granted for the 4th time in 2023. The approach is simple: to emphasise sustainable gastronomy and to encourage initiatives in this direction. Sustainable catering, short circuits, fresh and seasonal products, plant-based cuisine, all these criteria are aimed at offering something good. Good for the taste buds, good for the body, good for the planet, this is the common thread of the Green Star. More and more restaurants are concerned about their impact, far from the rustic and traditional cuisine that we knew a short time ago. Now, everything is reused, everything is transformed. And the Michelin guide has made no mistake in rewarding establishments that set up a virtuous circle that benefits everyone. To be rewarded, you don't necessarily have to meet all the conditions, but one or more of those mentioned by the guide: caring about the origin of your products, respecting seasonality, having a good management of waste or of the restaurant's resources. The guide states that it wants to reward "the creativity shown by restaurateurs when they come up with new ways of doing things on a daily basis." By 2022, only 350 of the 15,000 establishments in the guide had the Green Star. This is a real landmark for future customers of these restaurants. You will eat good, healthy and responsible. On Monday 6 March 2023, 8 new establishments were rewarded for their efforts in terms of sustainable development and were awarded the Green Star.

Sustainable development at the heart of Relais & Châteaux

The hotel and hospitality industry is not left behind in terms of CSR. The Relais & Châteaux association has been including sustainable development in its specifications for a long time. Its motto is the quest for a better world through food and hospitality. The term "better world" includes a cleaner, healthier, greener world that respects nature. Many initiatives are taken by the group, both at its headquarters and at each of the member properties. There are three main reasons for Relais & Château's environmental approach: environmental protection, sustainable cooking and the association's social and societal responsibilities. These can take different forms in the field, such as favouring local, organic and seasonal products in its restaurants, reducing the use of cut flowers in favour of potted plants, proposing responsible and organic products in the spas, or promoting gender equality within its teams. In short, for guests, choosing a Relais & Châteaux establishment is to ensure that they enjoy a stay in a sustainable and environmentally friendly environment that focuses as much on its guests as on the impact that its establishment may have. A choice stay where the refinement and comfort offered have the least possible impact on the environment. Eliophot is a strong supporter of such initiatives. We work alongside several Relais & Châteaux establishments and support them on a daily basis in promoting these initiatives. Château de Berne, Hotel La Signoria, La Bastide Saint-Antoine and Les Étangs de Corot all rely on Eliophot to promote their brand and, by extension, highlight their eco-responsible actions.

Fairmoove: travel agency 3.0

Fairmoove is a recently launched online booking platform and a new kind of travel agency. The kind of agency that combines tourism and ethics, that promotes virtuous tourism as a new way of consuming tourism. For Fairmoove, the objective is not to prevent tourism or to restrain it, but to change it, to make it evolve and to change mentalities with it. Fairmoove starts from the principle that responsible tourism results in responsible tourists, because they are empowered. To achieve this, Fairmoove strictly selects its hotel partners according to specific criteria, with ecology and ethics playing an important role among the hotels on the platform. The choice of transport, water and waste treatment, respect for biodiversity and eco-built infrastructures are all key points for this new type of online travel agency. Fairmoove is about sustainable, respectful and comfortable travel, because ecology and high quality can perfectly go together.