The head of a leading hospitality brand says the industry still faces “difficulties” after the coronavirus pandemic, but will not only survive but flourish in the coming years.
Laurent Gardinier, president of Relais & Chateaux, voiced optimism that the industry can withstand current and future challenges.
He also believes horeca/hospitality remains a “highly attractive” and “rewarding” career option for young people.
The sector has taken a real battering in recent years, struggling to cope with an energy and health crisis and ever-rising labour costs. This has seen numerous restos and other horeca-related businesses go out of business. Those that have survived continue to say it is a struggle to keep their businesses afloat.
There are also concerns that the sector no longer the attractive career option for young people it once was.
In a wide-ranging interview, the French entrepreneur, speaking at an event in Belgium, accepted that the industry, not least traditional travel agencies, will have to “evolve and adapt” in order to succeed in the future. In the case of restaurants, this could mean, for instance, opening one or two fewer days and offering fewer services than in the past in order to cut costs.
But Gardinier, owner of two addresses in France – Domaine Les Crayeres in Reims and Le Taillevent restaurant in Paris – insists that members of his association are “very well placed” to lead the industry though “difficult” times.
This includes, he told this website, the 40 Relais & Chateaux properties in the UK and 4 in Belgium.
The president, speaking at Kasteel van Ordingen in Sint-Truiden, Belgium said,
“I am not saying that, post pandemic, there are still not difficulties facing the sector,”
he conceded but added,
“There are for sure but the luxury market, which we represent, is generally doing well.”
“Horeca remains undoubtedly a fantastic industry and offers huge opportunities, including young entrants, for those who are prepared to work hard.”
Relais & Chateaux, headquartered in Paris, is a luxury brand that has grown from relatively modest origins to the biggest organisation of its kind in the world, with members joining all the time (30 new ones in 2024 alone). It unites a prestige collection of hotels and restos, all operated by independent owners.
The networking body, launched in 1954, now has 580 members worldwide with combined annual sales of some €3.3 billion. They employ 42,000 people, half working in food and beverage and the rest in hospitality.
The alliance celebrated its 70th anniversary last year having started with 50 properties in France. Its first non-French members came from Belgium which Gardinier describes as a “very important market for us.”
Kasteel van Ordingen, a sprawling estate located at the heart of a fruit-growing area in Limburg in the east of Belgium, was, he said, an “excellent example” of the “values” his association seeks to foster.
Such values include supporting local communities in their efforts to preserve and develop their cultural and craft heritage.
After five years in the making, Relais and Chateaux last year drafted an updated set of commitments, described as “commandments” by Forbes, as guidance for its members throughout the world. These commitments and their 12 pillars will, said Gardinier, serve as guidelines for him and his team in all actions carried out by the brand.
The association, which has members in 65 countries, has teamed up with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization which aims to promote peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.
Gardinier met UNESCO’s secretary general Audrey Azoulay recently where he reinforced his association’s commitment to protecting the planet.
Azoulay paid tribute to the association’s efforts, saying “its commitments clearly underline the importance of the interconnection between food, health and the environment.”
“With one voice, UNESCO and Relais & Chateaux are calling for us all to change our perspectives and practices regarding food.”
A new initiative has just been agreed by the association: the roll out in September of a new “digital tool” designed to help Relais & Chateaux members reduce their carbon footprint, an issue especially close to its president’s heart.
“This,”
he noted,
“is a significant development as it can have a very useful and positive impact all over the world.”
Sustainability has become a buzzword for the industry in recent years but he said his association and its members are not just paying lip service to this but, rather, implementing practical and “concrete” measures on a day-to-day basis in the management of hotels and restaurants.
Cooperation is required to make this happen and this must include all stakeholders, including suppliers, producers and also guests themselves, he says.
“UNESCO has wholeheartedly endorsed our commitments in this regard because it knows that we are serious about implementing them,”
he added.
In 2019, a petition, signed by the association’s chefs, was presented to the European Parliament calling for a ban on electric pulse trawling. The controversial fishing technique was banned two years later.
Gardinier, who has also served several terms as an elected politician, pointed out that all Relais & Chateaux properties are subject to an exhaustive and increasingly refined 500-point “checklist” that is designed to put their sustainability credentials to the sternest possible test. The goal, he said, is to preserve “our exceptional DNA.”
Depending on their size, its members can pay tens of thousands of euros for membership but Relais & Chateaux membership affords significant global prestige and practical benefits to a hotel or restaurant. The association boasts the largest network of starred restos in the world and has 377 stars in the Michelin guide.
