“A world in harmony is my inspiration because when one of the systems within that world is out of synch all the other systems are affected too.” Xenia Hohenlohe is a Partner and Director of Marketing at Considerate Hoteliers.
Considerate Hoteliers is the leading service company within the hotel sector offering responsible business solutions, ranging from Consultancy to Membership for Hoteliers as well as Suppliers, and an on-line business platform, which measures, targets and reduces operating costs.
THC: What inspires you and why?
XH: Clean rivers, a pristine environment, healthy oceans full of fish, cattle grazing fields, farmers earning fair wages for their world; a world in harmony is my inspiration because when one of the systems within that world is out of synch all the other systems are affected too; and in the end our own human future is jeopardised by our own actions. We need to learn to be aware that everything we do has a footprint and a consequence and therefore consider those before every major step we take.
THC: How did you get into your business?
XH: Our family business is forestry, therefore I grew up learning that you can only take out as many trees as will grow back again to maintain a healthy forest. I apply these principles to all areas of my life. Having developed a passion for travel and therefore worked with and in hotels for nearly 20 years now, I have merged these two areas of knowledge and expertise to be able to offer hoteliers sound and well founded advice on all matters related to sustainability.
THC: What are you working on right now?
XH: Establishing Con-Serve, Considerate Hoteliers’ responsible business online platform for the hospitality industry as THE default platform for hotels to track and record all their resource use, therefore identifying saving opportunities, and offering guest the possibility of knowing their CO2 footprint per room night. This will in turn create further, much-needed, benchmarking and transparency within the industry.
THC: How do you see your space evolving?
XH: There will be ever increasing need for energy efficiency, water & waste management as our natural resources get more expensive and harder to get to. Additionally governments will make CO2 reporting mandatory in all industries and will start raising taxes on the carbon footprint of a business, a reality which is already being implemented by law in Switzerland and they are usually the ones to lead on environmental issues.
THC: Who’s your hero or icon?
XH: Heroes for me are those people that speak up passionately for their beliefs and defend them without violence nor fear. There are many people I admire, but the ones on my list all share the common denominator ‘a passion for nature and our environment’: HRH The Prince of Wales, Jane Goodall, Satish Kumar (Schumacher College, The Ecologist) and all the other thousands of people working relentlessly to promote Responsible Tourism.
THC: Where’s your favourite spot around the world?
XH: The Hacienda de San Antonio in Mexico and one of the Dodecanese Islands in Greece, because that is where I feel most connected to nature. The Hacienda is at the foot of the Vulcan del Fuego where one can feel the mere force of nature coming from within our planet and the other is being at the heart of the Aegean Sea, the most beautiful bit of the Mediterranean Ocean for me.
THC: What’s your favourite injection of culture into a brand?
XH: Slow Food – it might not be a brand selling a product but it is a brand which epitomises the joy nature has in store for us in the form of delicious food and products and how celebrating those in a dignified and civilised meal brings us closer together as humans beings.
