The global travel and hospitality industry has reached a critical crossroads in its relationship with environmental stewardship. For years, the term "sustainability" has served as the ultimate corporate shorthand for eco-consciousness, appearing in glossy brochures, corporate social responsibility reports, and marketing campaigns worldwide. However, as the vocabulary surrounding environmental protection becomes increasingly crowded and commercialized, leading voices in the luxury hospitality sector are warning that the word has lost its impact.
Speaking at the Skift Global Forum 2026, Ho Ren Yung, Deputy CEO of Banyan Group, delivered a candid assessment of how the hospitality industry communicates its environmental efforts. In her address, Ho revealed that Banyan Group is intentionally stepping away from the traditional lexicon of sustainability, choosing instead to focus on the tangible, active "contribution" the company makes to the environments and communities in which it operates.
“People’s eyes gloss over a little bit when you say sustainability and climate,” Ho observed during her presentation, capturing a sentiment that is quietly gaining traction among hospitality executives and consumers alike.
The decision to reframe the conversation comes at a time when travelers are increasingly skeptical of corporate greenwashing and are demanding more transparent, measurable, and localized action from the brands they support. By shifting its language and operational focus, Banyan Group aims to cut through the noise, re-engage weary consumers, and set a new standard for how luxury travel brands interact with the planet.
The Fatigue of the ‘S-Word’ and the Noise of Corporate Pledges
The critique voiced by Ho Ren Yung highlights a growing phenomenon within the global business community: sustainability fatigue. The term "sustainability" has become so ubiquitous that its definition has grown diluted, often encompassing everything from minor waste-reduction initiatives to sweeping, multi-decade carbon neutrality pledges.
This dilution is particularly evident during major global environmental events, such as Climate Week NYC, which took place concurrently with the Skift Global Forum. During such events, the public and the travel industry are inundated with a relentless stream of corporate announcements, panel discussions, and policy promises. While these initiatives are often well-intentioned, the sheer volume of jargon can create a sense of disconnect for the average consumer.
When every hotel brand claims to be sustainable, the word ceases to be a differentiator. Instead, it becomes background noise. For a brand like Banyan Group, which has built its entire identity on ecological and social responsibility, this desensitization poses a significant challenge. If consumers no longer register the word "sustainability," then continuing to use it risks obscuring the genuine, deep-rooted work the company is performing on the ground.
By acknowledging that "people’s eyes gloss over," Ho addressed a fundamental truth about modern consumer psychology. To rebuild trust and capture the attention of travelers, hospitality brands must move past abstract, high-level corporate jargon and speak in terms that are immediate, understandable, and visually demonstrable.
From ‘Doing Less Bad’ to Making an Active Contribution
To counteract this growing apathy, Banyan Group is reframing its entire approach to environmental and social governance. Rather than focusing solely on minimizing negative impacts—a concept often associated with traditional sustainability—the group is emphasizing the positive, active contributions its properties make to their host destinations.
While traditional sustainability metrics often focus on reduction—reducing water usage, reducing carbon emissions, reducing single-use plastics—the concept of "contribution" shifts the focus toward active creation and restoration. This aligns with the emerging philosophy of regenerative tourism, which posits that travel should leave a destination in a better state than it was found, rather than merely maintaining the status quo.
Though the industry has spent decades trying to establish standardized green certifications and carbon offset protocols, these systems can sometimes feel abstract to guests checking into a luxury resort. A traveler may appreciate a hotel’s LEED certification or its carbon-neutral status on paper, but those metrics rarely translate into a memorable or emotionally resonant guest experience.
By shifting the narrative to "contribution," Banyan Group is attempting to make its environmental work more tangible. Contribution is active; it implies a hands-on relationship with the local ecosystem, whether through reforestation efforts, marine conservation, or supporting local agricultural systems. It moves the conversation away from corporate compliance and toward active, localized stewardship.
A Legacy of Stewardship: The Roots of Banyan Group’s Philosophy
To understand why Banyan Group is uniquely positioned to lead this linguistic and operational shift, one must look at the company’s history. Long before "eco-luxury" became a recognized market segment, Banyan Group (formerly known as Banyan Tree Holdings) pioneered the integration of environmental preservation and luxury hospitality.
The brand’s origin story is deeply tied to environmental rehabilitation. In the late 1980s, the company’s founders purchased a tract of land in Phuket, Thailand, with the intention of building a resort. However, they discovered that the land was a highly toxic, abandoned tin mine, devoid of vegetation and declared unusable by environmental experts. Undeterred, the founders embarked on a massive, years-long soil remediation and reforestation campaign, planting thousands of trees and successfully restoring the wetland ecosystem.
This reclaimed site eventually became the flagship Banyan Tree Phuket, proving that luxury hospitality could serve as a catalyst for ecological recovery. This foundational belief—that a hotel should actively improve its surrounding environment—has guided the company’s expansion across the globe for over three decades.
Because environmental stewardship is baked into the brand’s DNA, Banyan Group’s pivot away from the word "sustainability" is not a retreat from its environmental commitments. Rather, it is an evolution designed to protect the integrity of those commitments from being lost in a sea of corporate greenwashing.
Re-Engaging the Modern Luxury Traveler
The shift in Banyan Group’s communication strategy is also a response to the changing expectations of the modern luxury traveler. Today’s high-net-worth travelers are more discerning and experiential-focused than previous generations. They are highly educated, socially conscious, and quick to spot inconsistencies between a brand’s marketing claims and its actual practices on the ground.
For these travelers, luxury is no longer defined solely by opulent amenities or exclusive services. Increasingly, it is defined by authenticity, connection to place, and alignment with personal values. Travelers want to know that their presence in a destination is supporting local economies, preserving cultural heritage, and protecting fragile ecosystems.
However, they do not want to be lectured with corporate statistics or standard sustainability disclaimers. They want to see, feel, and participate in the positive changes taking place around them.
By focusing on "contribution," Banyan Group creates opportunities to re-engage guests on a deeper, more emotional level. When a guest can see the direct impact of a resort’s conservation programs—such as coral reef restoration in the Maldives or mangrove planting in Mexico—the resort’s environmental commitment becomes a memorable part of their travel narrative. It transforms the guest from a passive consumer of a luxury service into an active participant in a meaningful environmental contribution.
The Broader Implications for Global Hospitality
Banyan Group’s decision to retire the term "sustainability" in favor of "contribution" could signal a broader shift in how the global hospitality industry approaches environmental communication. As consumer skepticism grows and environmental challenges become more urgent, other brands may find themselves forced to re-evaluate their own messaging strategies.
For years, the hospitality industry has relied on a relatively standardized set of sustainability talking points. However, as Ho Ren Yung pointed out at the Skift Global Forum, this standardized approach is losing its efficacy. If the industry is to maintain its credibility and continue driving positive change, it must find new, more engaging ways to communicate its environmental efforts.
The transition from sustainability to contribution requires a fundamental shift in mindset. It demands that companies move beyond compliance-driven metrics and focus on localized, restorative actions that yield visible, positive results. It also requires a willingness to be transparent about the challenges and limitations of environmental work, rather than presenting a polished, corporate narrative of perfection.
Ultimately, Banyan Group’s new direction serves as a reminder that in the fight against climate change and environmental degradation, language matters. By choosing words that inspire action and connection rather than apathy, the travel industry can move past the fatigue of the "s-word" and foster a deeper, more meaningful commitment to protecting the planet.
