For many hotels, sustainability has become something to boast about, seen as a slogan on a website, a payoff line in a brochure, a green badge on a booking platform. It’s woven into the marketing language and brandished like some proof of virtue: a polite card reminding guests to reuse their towels to save the Earth, a refillable water station tucked in a corner, a recycling bin or two.
But in South Africa, the mismatch between what you do and what you say shows up quickly. This is the view of Anton Gillis, CEO of Kruger Gate Hotel, who says power cuts, water shortages, unreliable infrastructure and droughts don’t care how polished your sustainability statement is. “If a hotel isn’t built to cope with those pressures, but you claim otherwise, the cracks will soon show. In such an environment, where things often don’t work as we’d like them to, sustainability will increasingly become the reason your business stays afloat.”
And substance matters more than spin because real sustainability is built in kitchens, storerooms and back offices, not just on glitzy websites, key cards and social media posts. It also doesn’t happen in isolation, because sustainability and community are inseparable.
Building resilience through community
A hotel doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Its success depends on the people around it – the staff, the suppliers, the neighbours.
Gillis explains: “At Kruger Gate Hotel, we operate from the belief that success is a collaborative, community effort. It has influenced how we source our food. What began as a small pilot with one farm has grown into a steady partnership with local farmers who supply some of our fresh produce directly to the kitchen.”
The impact is practical: the food travels a fraction of the distance it used to, it arrives fresher, costs less to move, and money that would otherwise be spent in a bigger urban centre stays in the local community. It also means that farmers get predictable income, the hotel shortens its supply chain, and the community grows stronger.
This initiative was developed with Siyazisiza Trust and Thrve Impact Partners. It started small but has already expanded beyond its first farm. More than 745kgs of spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkin leaves and other vegetables have made their way to the hotel kitchen since June 2025. Eight people have found work through this project, six of them under the age of 34. “This isn’t charity, it’s good business, for us and for them,
Katy Hayes, director of Thrve, explains that her organisation’s role in this initiative has been bringing like-minded partners together, who share a common vision, and to ensure mutual benefit. “To achieve success all parties have had to adapt within systems designed for big business and find ways to make this work for the local realities of the small holder farmers. It has required creativity, adjustment, and commitment to the over- arching vision, which has come in bucket loads from the team at Kruger Gate Hotel, Siyazisiza Trust and the farmers.”
In nearby Saringwa Village, the hotel has partnered with Innovation Africa to install solar-powered pumps and water towers, after staff members asked whether they could take water home from the hotel. The project now provides clean water to the community, powered sustainably, easing a burden that’s been part of daily life for years.
Partnerships like these make the difference between a hotel that stands apart and one that stands with the people around it. “When the lights go out or the taps run dry, the relationships you’ve built become the foundation of resilience,” Gillis says.
Hayes adds: “In sustainability and social impact work partnerships are core, they are not just nice to have. They are central to creating shared value. The big questions these days are, how does a business contribute to society, how do they integrate stakeholders and partnerships into their business model. This initiative has done that – it is not charity but an initiative that creates long-term value for business and community alike.”
A stronger business, not just a greener one
Sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes business sense. A recent international study by EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland shows that hotels investing in smarter energy and resource use can cut operating costs by up to 30%, creating efficiencies that give businesses room to breathe when other pressure mounts.
Increasingly, guests are also expecting it. The World Travel & Tourism Council says that more than two-thirds of travellers want to travel more sustainably this year, and around three-quarters of high-end travellers are prepared to pay more for it. Guests may not always say it out loud or ask for it by name, but they notice when a hotel takes sustainability seriously – and they reward those that can back up their claims.
For hotels operating in places where infrastructure is unreliable and resources are stretched, sustainability is both a shield and a strategy. It protects the business against external shocks and strengthens the relationships that make the operation viable. That’s not a “green story”, but a business model built in our real world.
Doing good because it matters
None of this works without people. Real sustainability depends on the relationships a hotel builds with the world immediately around it – the people, the land and the systems it relies on every day.
“Sustainability in hospitality isn’t about how well you can talk about it. It’s about whether your operation can withstand a wobble when things get difficult, who’s standing with you when it does, and how you recover,” Gillis believes.
That’s why the most important work often happens quietly: in the partnerships that make the day-to-day possible. It’s not about grand gestures or glossy campaigns. It’s about living in step with the place and people that sustain you, and building something that lasts.
For more articles like this click here.
If you enjoyed this website then check out our other sites: Wedding and Function, Home Food and Travel, Kids Connection, Thirsty Traveler, Bargain Buys, Boat Trips for Africa.
Need help with your online marketing then visit Agency One.