Inside Regenerative Hospitality: Real Stories Shaping the Future

This panel session at ITB Berlin, titled 'Inside Regenerative Hospitality: Real Stories Shaping the Future,' brought together four hospitality leaders to explore what regenerative hospitality looks like in practice — moving from theoretical frameworks to on-the-ground implementation. The session was moderated by Yasemin Oruc, Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at Hotelschool The Hague and President of Anicha Consultancy.

Jean-Yves Minet, Global Brand President for Accor's Midscale and Economy division, opened the spotlight conversation by framing the industry's core challenge: 95% of global travelers visit just 5% of the planet's surface — a statistic he cited as 'quite alarming' and a driver of over-tourism. He argued the industry must shift from sustainability (reducing negative impact) to regeneration (creating positive impact), drawing a conceptual distinction: 'Sustainability is our legitimacy today to operate, versus regenerative hospitality is our legitimacy to grow.' Minet, who oversees more than 4,600 hotels representing over 70% of Accor's global portfolio, credited COVID-19 as the turning point that revealed the regenerative potential of ecosystems when left alone. He described Accor's regenerative approach across four pillars: (1) Stop the Harm — reducing carbon emissions, the 'level zero'; (2) Cultivate — treating destinations as gardens, 'bringing more than what we get,' including money, time, and knowledge to local communities, citing the Mercure brand as an example; (3) People Intelligence — educating guests and teams on regenerative necessity; and (4) Invest — partnering with NGOs and associations, citing Accor's partnerships with WWF for ocean preservation and Reef (an organization that rebuilds destroyed coral reefs). He emphasized that no single actor can achieve regeneration alone and that collective investment is essential.

Willem van Emden, Managing Director of De Plesman, which celebrated its first year of operation during the session, focused on the gap between stated brand values and lived culture. He pointed to the stark contrast between luxury hotels' front-of-house quality and their back-of-house staff canteens as a concrete indicator of whether organizations genuinely value their people: 'We built these multi-million dollar properties with beautiful beds and design and art... and it comes to the canteen and it's clearly we ran out of budget.' He argued true regenerative culture begins by treating staff the same way guests are treated, noting that at De Plesman the canteen itself reflects front-of-house brand values. His biggest indicator of cultural success after one year: team members saying 'that's really on brand' organically, showing the values had moved from paper to practice.

Noor Krooshoop, Hotel Manager at Amsterdam Canal Hotels (part of Excite Hotels), emphasized that regenerative transformation starts with people feeling 'safe, seen and empowered.' She drew on her thesis research to argue that long-term cultural investment — explaining the why and how of transformation until employees feel genuine ownership — does not generate immediate profit but is essential for sustainable regenerative culture. She articulated the key leadership task as ensuring employees understand 'what the new goal is or the transformation you want to make' so they feel ownership over the purpose.

Aydin Yasayacak, Founder and Navigator-in-Chief of Ad Astra Travel, gave the most personal testimony. Having spent almost 10 years at what he described as 'the second biggest mass tour operator in the world,' he described witnessing the human cost of extractive tourism firsthand in Zanzibar just after COVID — observing local people struggling to survive while his former employer was focused purely on short-term charter profit. That experience led him to leave the company and found Ad Astra, built explicitly around values, long-term thinking, and community impact. He also spoke candidly about the ongoing tension in the Middle East affecting his team based in the UAE, framing it as a renewed clarification of why regenerative hospitality and human-centered values matter.

The session closed with a 'Wish Wall' interactive moment — a QR-code-based community-building exercise led jointly by Yasemin Oruc, Valentina Clare, and Alessandra, inviting participants to share what they would take forward and leave behind, as part of building a movement of regenerative hospitality professionals.