Our Approach
At Hilton, we believe hospitality is a powerful force for good in the world. Guided by Travel with Purpose, our strategy to drive positive impact and deliver lasting value, we are unlocking doors of opportunity for our people, creating more sustainable stays in our hotels and building the resilience of the communities where we live, work and stay.
DoubleTree by Hilton Wroclaw, Poland
Driving forces behind Travel with Purpose
Our commitment to making a positive impact through Travel with Purpose is made possible by the power of our people, our hotels and our communities, who are at the heart of this work, and a robust roster of initiatives, which enable us to drive progress.
THE BACKBONE OF TRAVEL WITH PURPOSE
LIGHTSTAY
Our industry leading data management platform measures and tracks environmental and community impact progress enabling us to achieve success across our global portfolio of hotels.
HILTON SUPPLY MANAGEMENT (HSM)
Our global procurement and supply chain arm develops relationships and negotiates with suppliers around the world to source goods and services at the best combination of price, quality, and service. HSM’s Responsible Sourcing Team helps us make progress on our sourcing goals.
PARTNERSHIPS
Hilton collaborates with organizations that offer expertise and drive initiatives to create meaningful change for our people, hotels, and communities.
HILTON GLOBAL FOUNDATION (HGF)
HGF supports global projects led by nonprofits and Hilton Team Members to positively impact communities. It also aids Team Members through the Team Member Assistance Fund during disasters or unexpected financial hardships.
THE HEART OF TRAVEL WITH PURPOSE
TEAM MEMBERS
Our Team Members integrate Travel with Purpose into our operations, supply chain and communities, working together to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.
OWNERS
Our owners and developers are key partners in advancing a sustainable future for hospitality. They collaborate, provide feedback, pilot new initiatives, and inspire environmental and community impact progress.
CUSTOMERS
Our customers inspire us to create more sustainable stays. We use their feedback to shape our initiatives and collaborate with them to achieve positive impact together.
COMMUNITIES
Each Hilton hotel serves as a community hub, bringing together local members and welcoming new visitors. Small businesses, nonprofits, local leaders, and neighbors collaborate with our hotels to shape strategies that support local initiatives.
LightStay
Hilton’s award-winning environmental and community impact management platform, LightStay, helps drive smarter, more sustainable hotel operations.
Our People
Impact measured
- Career Growth opportunities
- Hospitality job fairs and mock interviews
- Hospitality industry info sessions
- Skills workshops
- Training programs
Data-driven guidance and reporting
- LightStay supports Hilton’s commitment to building opportunity for all by helping us monitor progress and advance meaningful career development opportunities across our workforce and communities.
Our Hotels
Impact measured
- Environmental Impact
- Efficiency projects
- Energy and water consumption
- Waste generation
- Waste diversion from landfill
- Sustainable Building and Property Operations
- Operational, design, and construction sustainability practices
- Hotel sustainability features and certifications
Data-driven guidance and reporting
- LightStay allows us to create more sustainable stays by equipping our hotels with data-driven insights, best practices, and benchmarks to enhance efficiency and sustainability. By tracking key environmental and social elements, hotels can optimize operations, reduce costs, and align with our enterprise goals while delivering a more sustainable guest experience and value for our owners.
Our Communities
Impact measured
- Community Impact
- Volunteerism
- Donations and housing (shelter/meals served)
- People meaningfully impacted
Data-driven guidance and reporting
- LightStay offers insight into community impact programs, enabling Hilton to maximize our positive impact on the people who live and work near our properties.
Responsible Business
Impact measured
- Location-specific risk indices
- Environmental risks, including biodiversity
- Community risks, including human rights
Data-driven guidance and reporting
- LightStay provides valuable data about local environmental and community risks such as disaster and human rights risks, helping our Team Members make informed decisions to better protect and support the destinations where we operate.
- LightStay enables our hotels to provide the environmental impact of hotel stays meetings and events to our guests, empowering our customers to make informed choices and align to advance their impact objectives.
Integration of TWP across our business
At Hilton, every team works hand in hand to “fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality” and make progress toward our Travel with Purpose 2030 goals.
Here are some examples of what our Team Members are doing to integrate TWP into our operations, supply chain and communities:
Offer Hilton Digital Key to guests to reduce single-use plastics
Report any suspicions of human trafficking
Create pathways of opportunity for all Team Members and community members through job opportunities and training/education
Support customers to meet their social and environmental goals with Meet with Purpose
Use Hilton’s Meeting Calculator and LightStay to estimate and offset the carbon footprint of events
Inspire Team Member and guest engagement with social and environmental goals
Ensure hotel data is tracked in LightStay and review monthly performance
Mobilize Team Members to volunteer in the communities where we live, work and travel
Increasingly source cage-free eggs, sustainable seafood and other ingredients
Provide locally sourced and healthy options
Implement effective start-up and shut-down procedures for hoods and appliances in kitchens to reduce energy consumption
Strive for operational excellence to increase efficiency
Install energy/water efficient appliances, such as LED light bulbs
Log the hotel’s watts, water and waste data into LightStay
Recycle soaps and support communities in need
Minimize energy and water use while cleaning the rooms and common spaces
Implement towel linen reuse program
Collaborate with business partners, owners, and hotel leaders to develop an effective Travel with Purpose program for our hotels
Create resources and opportunities for Team Member engagement with Travel with Purpose
Advise business functions to advance Travel with Purpose across Hilton’s global operations
Negotiate competitive pricing for more sustainable services and products, such as LED lighting, plastic alternatives and electric vehicle chargers; this approach drives impact at scale for our properties, owners and communities
Stakeholder Engagement
Hilton engages with both internal and external stakeholders to seek their expertise, set expectations and align priorities for the development of TWP programs. Through these relationships, we identify the best opportunities to deploy TWP strategic initiatives across the operations of our hotels.
Internal Stakeholders:
Setting the Direction
Internal stakeholders include our Hilton Leadership, Team Members, owners and developers, who hold one another accountable for progress toward our Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals.
Comprises the CEO and Executive Committee, the board of directors and the Board Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. These groups receive at least quarterly status updates and share strategy directives with regional business leaders and internal stakeholders, as appropriate.
Collaborate and share feedback on relevant Travel with Purpose programs and help pilot new sustainability initiatives, whether during design and construction, renovation, or in operations.
Advance our Travel with Purpose strategy by volunteering in the communities we serve, implementing sustainability efforts and logging their data in LightStay. Team Members also provide actionable feedback that shapes our programs. To help drive accountability, portions of Team Members’ annual performance objectives may be tied to TWP-related goals.
Are internal champions from our hotels and corporate offices, who advise on regional context and make a special commitment to advancing our shared goals in the many destinations in which we operate.
External Stakeholders:
Together on the Journey
We work directly with our travel and tourism industry peers, NGOs and international organizations, investors, guests and policymakers to develop mutual solutions and action plans on critical social and environmental topics.
Receive transparent, third-party assured TWP data in our Annual Report and sustainability disclosures. During investor calls, we answer questions about our progress toward 2030 Goals and explain our efforts to mitigate climate change and social risks.
Help us to identify innovative, local and sustainable sourcing options, and conduct due diligence to assess human rights and other responsible business factors.
Including legislators, regulators and key government officials, connect with our Government Affairs team to inform decision making on industry, social and environmental issues.
Including over 180 million Hilton Honors members, help to shape our sustainability and social impact programs by providing regular feedback through surveys and focus groups.
Connect with Hilton and the Hilton Global Foundation to advise and collaborate on social and environmental efforts around the world.
Help us to co-create travel and tourism commitments related to human rights, carbon, water, food waste and other critical topics.
Advance their own sustainability and social impact goals by collaborating with Hilton on responsible options for their business travel, meetings and events.
Engage with local Hilton leaders and our nonprofit partners to share the issues of greatest importance to them, allowing us to align our programs and innovations with their needs.
Measuring, Monitoring and Oversight of Progress and Outcomes
To ensure Hilton is effectively engaging with our stakeholders, we review outcomes from our engagements and gather feedback. This may include setting relevant metrics to measure effectiveness, using engagement results for continuous company improvement and transparently communicating with stakeholders. Our CEO and Executive Committee review progress towards our 2030 Goals alongside other key business priorities at least quarterly. We also monitor our progress through Hilton’s data management system, LightStay, which enables us to better serve stakeholders on the local level. Read more about our stakeholder engagement strategy here.
FAQs
- LightStay (data and measurement)
- Hilton Supply Management (responsible sourcing)
- Hilton Global Foundation
- Team Members, owners, customers, and communities
These elements work together to deliver impact at scale.
LightStay is Hilton’s award‑winning data management platform that tracks environmental and community impact across hotels. It collects data on areas such as energy, water, waste, food donation, community impact, and workforce initiatives. This enables Hilton to measure performance, improve operations, and make more informed, data‑driven decisions across its global portfolio.
LightStay provides insights, benchmarks, and reporting that help hotels operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and enhance sustainability. It supports progress toward Hilton’s 2030 Goals, enables transparent and third‑party verified reporting, informs community and risk decisions, and allows guests and customers to understand the environmental impact of their stays and events. Since 2009, it has contributed to over $1.38B in cumulative savings in energy, water, and waste costs.
Hilton collaborates with organizations and community partners to deliver initiatives that create positive impact for people, hotels, and local communities.
Owners and developers help drive progress by piloting new initiatives, investing in sustainable solutions, and shaping how hotels are designed and operated.
Customer feedback helps shape Hilton’s sustainability initiatives, and collaboration with customers supports shared environmental and community impact.
Travel with Purpose is embedded across all functions, with every team contributing to Hilton’s environmental and social impact goals. Departments such as front office, housekeeping, engineering, food and beverage, and sales incorporate responsible practices into daily operations, from reducing energy and waste to supporting sustainable guest experiences and responsible sourcing.
Team Members, leaders, and partners each play a critical role in driving impact:
- Hotel teams implement initiatives like recycling, energy efficiency, and food donation
- Sales and customer teams support sustainable meetings through Meet with Purpose
- Leadership tracks performance and drives engagement
- Corporate and supply chain teams scale programs and source more sustainable products
Together, these roles ensure Travel with Purpose is consistently delivered across Hilton’s global operations.