24-hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon: A World of Change in Hospitality

On the 4-5 June 2020, Dr Kyriaki Glyptou, Senior Lecturer in the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management participated in ‘The 24-hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon: A World of Change in Hospitality’ co-organized by Zuyd University, The Netherlands and the International University of Applied Sciences, Germany.  Dr Glyptou joined the event as one of the panel expert on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in tourism and hospitality.

The aim of the event was to bring together experts and students to ‘collaborate, form bonds, share knowledge and solve problems’ on issues driving the sustainability agenda in a post-COVID19 world. More specifically, the focus of the event was to address the challenges related to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the Convention of Biological Diversity (CDB). The 24-hour hackathon event brought together approximately 100 students, academics, members of the hospitality industry (Sustainability and CSR Managers, Environmental Auditors) and international organisations (ITP).

Dr. Kyriaki Glyptou provided the hackathon attendees with a concise review of all 17 SDGs, targets and indicators.

After a review of the global status quo, Dr. Glyptou mentioned that for many indicators, measurement is still complicated as ‘there is no available data’ which offers ‘the opportunity to propose new schemes of measurement’. For the hospitality industry specifically, the SDGs represent a real opportunity to begin the discussion on how the industry should prioritise goals versus cherry picking on them. 

Dr. Glyptou stated that ‘the goals they [hotel businesses] often prioritise are climate actions, and responsible production and consumption as they are perceived as the easiest to implement, and the ones which there is more buzz about’. Additional barriers to overcome are the lack of understanding of the business case around the SDGs, the complexity of the agenda, the absence of clear targets and the lack of leadership. This provides an opportunity for external organisations, including university researchers, to tackle the barriers with actionable proposals to the industry.

To download the full report or read the highlights visit

The 24 Hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon: Highlight Report