Guava International Says Sustainability Is Becoming a Revenue Strategy as Vietnam Hospitality Links Wellness, Talent and Guest Experience

Written By: Debomita Dutta

Debomita Dutta

As a debater, researcher and writer I have always been passionate about making complex global developments accessible, accurate and impactful. It has always been my aim to combine a strong analytic approach with incredible storytelling - and here at Travel and Tour World I get to do just that! Bridging research, public discourse and meaningful communication through informed and engaging narratives.

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August 31, 2026 5:00 PM

Sustainability is becoming a more practical business strategy for Vietnam’s hospitality industry as hotels look beyond certification towards revenue growth, stronger guest experiences, employee engagement and meaningful brand differentiation. Speaking exclusively to Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, International Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, reporting live from HORECFEX Vietnam 2026 in Danang, Vietnam, Gabriel Tan, CEO of Guava International, explained how sustainability can create measurable business value when hotels connect environmental and social initiatives with wellness, technology, talent and the experiences travellers increasingly expect.

During the exclusive interview with Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, International Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, Tan shared insights into Vietnam’s hospitality opportunities, changing guest expectations in 2026, wellness beyond traditional spa facilities, AI-driven personalisation, talent engagement and the need for hotels to transform separate sustainability programmes into a clear and compelling story that can support commercial growth.

HORECFEX Vietnam 2026 Connects Sustainability With Hospitality Growth

HORECFEX Vietnam 2026 provided Guava International with an opportunity to engage with government representatives, hospitality leaders and general managers while discussing how sustainability can contribute directly to business performance.

Tan said the event included insights from government representatives and industry experts on tourism trends, with Vietnam showing significant potential for further tourism and hospitality growth.

He attended the event after being invited to share perspectives on sustainability.

Rather than presenting a specific product or solution, Guava International focused on conversations with government stakeholders and hotel leaders attending the conference.

For Tan, these discussions provided an opportunity to connect sustainability with the wider commercial and operational priorities facing Vietnam’s hospitality sector.

Sustainability Is Becoming a Revenue Strategy for Vietnam Hospitality

One of the strongest messages from Tan’s interview was that sustainability should no longer be viewed simply as an exercise in certification or compliance.

Guava International focuses on helping organisations understand how sustainability can generate business value.

According to Tan, that value can take several forms, including increased revenue, stronger differentiation, improved talent management and greater recognition.

The approach changes the role of sustainability inside a hotel business.

Instead of operating separately from commercial strategy, sustainability can become part of how a hotel attracts guests, engages employees and communicates its identity.

For Vietnam’s growing hospitality market, this creates an opportunity to connect responsible operations with measurable business outcomes.

Wellness Is Moving Beyond the Traditional Hotel Spa

Well-being and wellness are emerging as important areas of opportunity for hospitality businesses as guest expectations continue to evolve.

Tan identified wellness as one of the key trends shaping what travellers are looking for in 2026.

However, he argued that hotels should think beyond conventional spa facilities when developing wellness experiences.

Well-being can become part of the guest journey inside rooms, during meetings and across other areas of the hotel experience.

This expands the potential role of wellness considerably.

Rather than being treated as an optional facility used by a limited number of guests, wellness can become part of how a property designs everyday experiences for leisure travellers, corporate visitors and meeting participants.

Guest Experience Can Turn Sustainability Into Commercial Value

Connecting sustainability with guest experience could help hotels translate responsible practices into stronger commercial outcomes.

Tan said the important question is not simply whether a hotel has sustainability programmes but whether those programmes create an actual outcome that guests can understand and appreciate.

Guests are more likely to respond when sustainability becomes relevant to their experience.

That could include well-being, meaningful hotel experiences or initiatives that guests can personally relate to during their stay.

This connection also gives hotels a stronger story to communicate.

When sustainability improves the experience rather than existing only behind the scenes, it can support differentiation and potentially strengthen the reasons travellers choose one property over another.

Talent Is Becoming a Major Sustainability Opportunity for Hotels

Employee attraction and engagement represent another important dimension of sustainability within the hospitality industry.

Tan identified talent as one of the major issues hotel businesses are considering.

Companies are increasingly looking at whether sustainability can help attract employees while giving existing teams stronger reasons to remain engaged with their organisations.

This is particularly relevant because hotel sustainability programmes depend heavily on employees carrying them into daily operations.

Tan suggested that staff engagement becomes stronger when employees understand that their work contributes to something meaningful.

Sustainability can therefore serve two purposes at the same time: creating value for guests while helping hotel employees understand the broader purpose behind their everyday responsibilities.

AI Personalisation Opens New Hospitality Opportunities

Artificial intelligence and digital technology are also changing how hotels can personalise experiences for individual guests.

Tan said AI allows hospitality businesses to tailor communication quickly according to the background and needs of arriving travellers.

For example, a hotel expecting a guest from a particular country can use technology to prepare messaging suited to that traveller.

The ability to create personalised communication more efficiently could make guest engagement more relevant without requiring hotels to develop every message manually.

For hospitality businesses, this creates another connection between technology and guest experience.

AI does not replace hospitality itself, but it can give hotels additional tools to understand customers and communicate with them in more personalised ways.

Certification Alone Will Not Deliver the Value Hotels Need

Tan repeatedly emphasised that sustainability needs to produce practical outcomes rather than being pursued only for certification.

Certification can provide recognition, but the wider business opportunity comes from understanding how sustainability connects with revenue, people and customer experience.

Hotels may already be carrying out different environmental or social initiatives.

The challenge is ensuring those activities work together.

Tan argued that organisations are less likely to remain committed to sustainability when it is treated solely as another certification requirement.

Creating visible business value gives sustainability a stronger position within hotel strategy.

For hospitality leaders, this means asking not only what sustainable initiatives they should introduce, but also what those initiatives can achieve for guests, employees and the business.

Vietnam Hospitality Offers Opportunities Across Leisure and Corporate Travel

Vietnam’s hospitality sector has opportunities to expand sustainability and wellness concepts across both leisure and corporate markets.

Tan highlighted considerable potential in the country’s hospitality industry and identified well-being as one area capable of crossing traditional market boundaries.

A wellness experience does not necessarily need to be limited to holiday travellers.

Hotels can incorporate it into guestrooms, meetings and other parts of the property, allowing corporate travellers and event participants to experience similar benefits.

This broader approach could become particularly relevant as Vietnam continues developing its tourism and hospitality proposition.

By integrating wellness into different areas of the hotel journey, operators can potentially address changing expectations across several traveller segments rather than treating wellness as a specialist product.

Sustainability Storytelling Can Strengthen Hotel Brand Differentiation

Hotels may already be doing more sustainability work than their guests realise.

Tan said the solution is not necessarily to keep adding individual initiatives.

Instead, hotels should connect existing programmes and turn them into a story that guests can understand.

That story needs to feel relevant and compelling rather than technical or distant.

When travellers can see how different initiatives fit together, sustainability becomes easier to relate to and potentially more meaningful within the overall stay.

This can also strengthen hotel differentiation.

A coherent sustainability story gives a property something distinctive to communicate while helping guests understand the purpose behind its initiatives.

For Tan, bringing separate programmes together is therefore more valuable than simply increasing the number of sustainability activities.

Employee Purpose Can Become Part of the Hotel Sustainability Story

The same sustainability story communicated to guests can also strengthen engagement inside the hotel.

Tan said employees should be able to understand how the work they perform contributes to something meaningful.

This gives sustainability an internal role as well as a customer-facing one.

Staff members are responsible for many of the daily actions that shape the hotel experience, meaning their participation can determine whether sustainability remains an abstract corporate commitment or becomes visible in operations.

Connecting those actions with a broader purpose can help employees see the value of their contribution.

For hotel companies, the opportunity lies in creating one sustainability strategy that can speak to customers, employees and management rather than operating through disconnected programmes.

Guava International Wants Vietnam Prominent on the Global Stage

Guava International also sees an opportunity to strengthen Vietnam’s international visibility through sustainability and resilient tourism.

Tan said the company is working with the United Nations in connection with the coming international focus on sustainable and resilient tourism.

Guava International would like Vietnam to feature prominently on the global stage as those discussions develop.

For Tan, Vietnam’s tourism growth creates an opportunity to demonstrate how destinations and hospitality businesses can connect expansion with responsible practices.

The objective extends beyond individual hotel programmes.

It involves building partnerships capable of presenting Vietnam as a destination where sustainability, hospitality development, guest experience and industry collaboration can progress together.

Singapore-Vietnam Cooperation Could Support Wider Regional Engagement

Regional cooperation could also form part of Guava International’s plans for the years ahead.

Tan, who is from Singapore, highlighted the opportunity for Singapore and Vietnam to work together as the region places greater attention on tourism sustainability.

He said Guava International would like to partner with Vietnam and help increase its international visibility.

Such cooperation reflects the wider role that partnerships can play in hospitality sustainability.

Governments, hotel businesses, international organisations and industry partners each influence different parts of the tourism ecosystem.

Connecting these stakeholders can potentially give sustainability programmes greater reach than individual hotel initiatives operating independently.

For Guava International, collaboration therefore remains an important part of turning sustainability ambitions into broader tourism and business outcomes.

Sustainability Can Link Revenue, People and Guest Experience in Vietnam Hospitality

Throughout the discussion, Tan presented sustainability as a business strategy capable of connecting several of the hospitality industry’s most important priorities.

Wellness is expanding beyond the spa, AI is creating new opportunities for personalised guest communication, and hotels are increasingly considering sustainability as a tool for attracting and engaging talent.

At the same time, certification alone is not enough.

Guava International’s central message is that Vietnam hospitality businesses can create stronger value when separate sustainability initiatives are brought together into a holistic and relatable story.

By connecting sustainability with revenue, wellness, employees and guest experience, hotels can make responsible practices more commercially relevant while giving both travellers and staff clearer reasons to engage with them.

This article is based exclusively on an interview conducted by Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, International Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, with Gabriel Tan, CEO of Guava International, at HORECFEX Vietnam 2026, held on 20–21 August 2026 in Danang, Vietnam. All information reflects statements made during the interview.