At Bouteco, we love celebrating stories of sustainability from luxury travel: which is why we loved working with Mandarin Oriental on their 12th Sustainability Report, bringing their data to life in a way that really explains what they’re measuring and why it’s important. 

Check out the Mandarin Oriental 2022 Sustainability Report, published 2023

It takes a lot for Sustainability Reports to stand out these days. When it comes to hospitality, effective reporting outlines a business's overall agenda in the short, medium, and long term. At Bouteco, the reports with real credibility don't just use lots of lovey-dovey words with pretty pictures — they use data to bring impact to life, and they talk their walk in a way that also walks their talk. In a world awash with greenwash and a lot of noise around ESG, it’s important brands actively measure their sustainability and combine science with storytelling. 

Did you know sustainability disclosure is set to be mandatory in the EU? 

Good news! Since European Union rules will require listed companies to publish regular reports on the social and environmental risks they face, we’re seeing a lot more reporting since the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive entered into force. All the better if these reports are readable, digestible and explain the technicalities of sustainability in an interesting way. 

Stand for something — and stand out for it

Since the writers of this report, Juliet Kinsman and Shivya Nath, aren't here to help a company to virtue signal, but to give context to all the considerations in making hospitality take more responsibility, with the hope that publishing this also benchmarks better practice to the wider hotel sector. We love that Mandarin Oriental’s team was open to adding many climate facts with transparency, bold infographics, and explainers. Having pulled back the curtain and revealed lots of what makes their hotels tick more responsibly.

What we want to hear as potential hotel guests, travel agents or as the media, to win our hearts, is that a hotel group is making big strides in reducing their carbon, energy, and water intensity. These are the biggest topics needing attention. Regarding carbon, it was 30% down, 31% down for energy, and 16% less water. 'But what about Scope 3 emissions?' cry the experts who know their stuff. Reporting is still in progress, but the good news is Mandarin Oriental is collaborating with industry peers to contribute to developing a comprehensive framework – the Net Zero Methodology is a joint initiative between Greenview, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, the World Travel & Tourism Council and others. 'What even is Scope 3?’ you might wonder: check out the 'S’ section in the Glossary, in the full report.

A dedicated sustainability department

Introducing three full-time members (hey Iris, Florence, Angelica!) to support Group Director of Sustainability, Torsten van Dullemen, was a big move for Mandarin Oriental. Also impressive is their dedication to entering all data for all properties in the Greenview Portal, a robust sustainability data management system. Many hotels sign up for back-end tech — but it's one thing leading a horse to water, and another getting them actually to drink. It's a big deal when they do — plus Greenview aligns with the industry criteria the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) set. That's the real deal.

For more press information, about their report and their initiatives at 36 hotels and nine residences in 24 countries and territories, contact their corporate team or media agencies. And as we wanted to ensure it was a Sustainability Report that achieved impact, as well as articulating its digital footprint, we considered its visual and aural accessibility. An audio version of the report is also available, here.