LODGING LEADERS
190 | Responsible Luxury and Sustainability with Franck Droin
LODGING LEADERS
Franck Droin is the hotel manager at The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, and his 19 years of hospitality industry experience includes working with big brand hotel chains across various destinations in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Franck is passionate about promoting the concept of responsible luxury and has fueled ground-breaking conversations and initiatives. Some of the successful projects he is leading with his team include giving back to local communities, and ending the plastic waste catastrophe that the country is facing.
Franck believes education, technology and the right mentorship is what luxury brands need to reduce waste, become eco-friendly, and to empower employees to create a more sustainable future.
In This Episode, Franck reveals …
- What terms like responsible luxury, sustainable luxury and sustainable tourism mean, and the business case for why they’re important.
- How hotels can combine luxury and sustainability without compromising on quality or value from the guest’s perspective, as well as their profitability.
- What to do when implementing sustainability programs, including how to get everyone’s “buy-in.”
- Why giving back to local communities is important, and how to go about getting started.
Resources & Links
Franck Droin
LODGING LEADERS
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295 | Doing Well: Coronavirus pandemic advances wellness design and programs in hotels
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing the lodging industry to rethink health and wellness. Designers such as Blanche Garcia of B. Garcia Designs see this as an opportunity for hotels to revise their messaging beyond clean and safe by introducing wellness products and programs they can market and attract guests who want to feel good during their stay and return home feeling better than when they left. Those who promote healthy buildings as well as safe travel are exploring how implementing elements of wellness can be a cure for hotel businesses struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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294 | She is a Hotel Investor: What She Has a Deal can teach every hotel investor
She Has a Deal, a program that promotes women as hotel owners, last month minted several new investors through its inaugural pitch competition. Long Live Lodging examines what it took for the three women who comprise the team called Datcher to win the top prize of $50,000 in equity in a fund that would include their $27.4 million project proposed for downtown Detroit. Two additional projects proposed during the competition were selected to benefit from She Has a Deal’s first investment fund. Datcher’s winning formula as well as the other project proposals can be emulated as hotel developers and investors search for ways to fund upcoming projects that reduce investors’ risk while delivering a healthy return as the lodging industry navigates its way through the business downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.