‘Can the experience of travel be justified against its environmental impacts?’ And ‘Do your staff here understand what DE&I is and why it’s so important?’
These were just two of the questions posed by three university students at a session pitched as ‘Gen Z vs the Board’, hosted by Hotelplan UK, parent company of Inghams, Explore Worldwide, Inntravel and Santa’s Lapland.
As part of a sustainability-focused work experience placement, students Katharina, Beth and Elliott sat down with fellow ‘Gen Z’ members of the existing Hotelplan UK team to debate where the group is making great progress – and where there are still improvements to be made.
This was followed by an open forum at which the students posed questions to a panel comprised of Hotelplan UK CEO Joe Ponte, CFO Colin Parselle, IT director Craig Randell, HR director Nicky Lyle, sustainability director Prue Stone and Explore’s marketing director Jae Hopkins. Around 100 Hotelplan UK team members attended the session virtually and in person to see how the group’s People – Planet – Profit strategy would stand up to the scrutiny of its next generation of potential colleagues or customers.
Hotelplan UK sustainability director Prue Stone said: “Young people can bring inventive and inspiring solutions to the table, provided they’re given a seat there. We challenged our work experience students to unpick if we’re doing as much as we can to protect all our futures; and when given free reign to question our senior leadership, they were not afraid to raise tricky issues. This wasn’t a teaching exercise – it was an exchange of ideas; and it gave us valuable insight into the topics that matter most to them.”
These are some extracted questions and answers between ‘Gen Z’ and the Hotelplan UK leadership:
Gen Z: Can the experience of travel be justified against its environmental impacts?
Joe Ponte: Ending the travel industry isn’t realistic. It’s human nature to travel and explore, so people will always travel, whether they book it with us or someone else. I see it as our responsibility – not the traveller’s – to ensure people are travelling as responsibly as they can and we’re always pushing for better options. I’ll be happy when customers book with us and accidentally end up travelling more sustainably than they might have with a competitor because of decisions we’ve made.
Gen Z: Do you think staff here know about diversity, equality and inclusion – what it is and why it’s important?
Nicky Lyle: Would everyone accurately describe all the acronyms? Probably not. But does everyone show up with the right intention and attitude to learn? Yes, they do – and that’s something I’m very proud of within our culture. Of course there is a lot more to do, both with internal training and through our recruitment processes. This is a topic that will never close. We should never get to a point where we consider ‘that’s done’.
Gen Z: Are you moving fast enough for future generations, considering how much technology is part of their everyday lives?
Craig Randell: As the IT director, I will always say we’re not doing enough or spending enough on technology. But the reality is that with anything digital, you need to start with solid foundations, or everything will come crashing down. We’re focused on upskilling the team and becoming more agile to new opportunities. I would love to bring in a load of youngsters to look at what we can change from a technological perspective because I know they will throw ideas at us.
Gen Z: How far would you take sustainability in an industry that’s not necessarily very sustainable?
Colin Parselle: We’re pushing ourselves fairly hard at the minute. We are a small player within the industry, but if we can demonstrate the positive things we’re doing – things that are making a real difference to our business – that can encourage other people to make the same changes, which creates a far bigger impact that just what we can achieve alone.
Jae Hopkins: We’ve actively shared methodology with competitors on how we carbon rate trips, and we put out documents such as our ethical marketing guidelines publicly for other companies to use. When we have developments that make us better as a business, sharing them is really key, because if we can all be more ethical, it’s better for everyone.
Gen Z vs The Board was the culmination of a week-long work experience programme based at Hotelplan UK’s headquarters in Farnborough. The three students, from different universities studying different subjects connected to sustainability, spent time with the group’s sustainability leads as well as other functions within the group to gain broad perspectives into what it means to be a purpose-led business.
During the forum, one of the students remarked “Every single person we’ve spoken to is so interested in sustainability and [its connection to] people and places. Sometimes I’ve forgotten this is a travel company and not a sustainability consultancy”.
Another student fed back: “I could have never imagined it to be as good as it was and I learned so much about sustainability and generally how businesses operate. I’ve also found that I’ve never thought about my personal impact on the environment as much as I have this week.”
Hotelplan UK CEO Joe Ponte said: “These young people are passionate about building a better world. They completely grasp both the benefits and the destructive potential of tourism; and challenged us with great confidence on how we tip the balance towards positive impact. Listening to what they care about – making tourism more inclusive and accessible, for instance – is a reality check on the expectations of our future customer base; and they definitely gave me food for thought.”
Next month, some of Hotelplan UK’s Inntravel team in Yorkshire will participate in the Speakers for Schools initiative, giving local high school students insights into different careers with a sustainability theme.
To learn more about Hotelplan UK’s approach to sustainability, visit www.hotelplan.co.uk/sustainability.