As for any other business, our collective challenge to realize sustainable development requires hotels to incorporate the principles of sustainability in their operations and to simultaneously create economic, social and environmental value. Although hotels are increasingly engaged with specific aspects of sustainability, many if not most hospitality professionals still seem to assume that guests are predominantly driven by hedonic and gain motives, view sustainable measures as a threat to their hospitality experience, and are therefore not willing to accept more progressive sustainability measures. This article explores whether this assumption is correct and whether guests are willing and able to focus on sustainability related (normative) values during their stay in a hotel, and thus accept an adjustment to the current host-guest relationship in hotels. By reviewing relevant literature and analysing the results of interviews with hotel guests, this article concludes that as far as the guest is concerned, the host-guest relationship within hotels need not be limited to a purely economic transaction but actually offers room for an open and informed discussion between host and guest on ways to transform this relationship to one that actually supports sustainable development of the hotel sector and wider society. This conclusion will hopefully inform a more mature approach by hotels to the integration of sustainability in their strategy and operations, and a more unreserved and collaborative dialogue with guests about current and future sustainability measures.
In this publication you will find:Hosting the hybrid cityThis is a text in which Hermen Maat and Karen Lancel provide insights into the meaning of the word ‘role’ and into the position of the role of the ‘host’ in their own artistic practice. Their artistic research into this role was the starting point for both research modulesThe artist as host: on theories and interactive networked mushrooms.In the second text Hermen Maat clarifies how he translated this concept into two teaching modules. He explains how in one module the focus of the search was interesting examples of artist’s roles, and how in the other module technical issues shed a different light on the relationship between artist and audience.Student researchAfter this, you will find the work of students, introduced by Hermen Maat. Contributions from the theme class:Anna Weyer, Germany; Chan Lai Kuen, Malaysia; Katrina Jongsma, Canada; Rosemarie Pringle, Germany; Angie Daniels, South Africa/Germany; Niya Konstantinova, Bulgaria; Gothards Prieditis, Latvia; Ruben Jager,Netherlands. Contributions from the interactive media class: Helena Van Zuylen, Netherlands; Suzanne Vellema, Netherlands; Vanina Tsvetkova, Bulgaria; Jorine Homan, Netherlands; Cindy Wegner, Germany; Lotte Middendorp, Netherlands; Sander Bos, Netherlands; Chan Lai Kuen, Malaysia; Iris Leenknegt, Netherlands.The urgency of the role of the host In the afterword Anke Coumans, professor of the research group Image in Context, talks about the importance of this research for the work of the Centre of Applied Research and Innovation Art & Society into the new roles of artists and designers in society.
In this article, Isaac argues that since 1948, Israel's control of water resources has been the result of military actions that forced between 700,000 and 800,000 Palestinians into exile and claimed the most fertile part of the disputed territory for the state. It thereby paved the way for subsequent military occupation. Isaac maintains that the Israeli occupation has violated the Palestinian right to the equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources. In his view, from the end of the 1967 war, Israel initiated its occupation of the territories of Palestine and quickly imposed military order with a view to achieving full control over land and water resources. To Isaac, these military orders served to dissolve the pre-1967 legal systems and which consisted of Ottoman, British, Jordanian (West Bank) and Egyptian (Gaza Strip) laws. This critical review article concentrates on the concept of justice tourism as a response to these assumed Israeli violations of Palestinian rights to equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources. The article sheds light on why and how justice tourism conceivably contributes to the Palestine host communities' transformation and hence to the development of higher level self-consciousness about their rights as "a sovereign nation".
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