In the BHA’s Trends and Statistics 2007, published this month, there are two statistics that we need to note:

1. Hotel energy costs increased between 2004 and 2006 from 2.9 per cent of revenue to 4.2 per cent. That’s a 45 per cent increase in two years. What’s the forecast for the next two years?

2. Hotel investment is running at £3bn a year, with high levels in other sectors of the industry.

Both figures highlight an issue that is becoming ever more pressing: sustainability. How does the industry reduce its carbon footprint? How do we balance the need for environmental sustainability with economic sustainability and social sustainability?

Improving energy efficiency must certainly be a major objective. Operators will have to become smarter at cutting their energy bills and their waste – because both are going to become more and more expensive as the years go by.

Ironically, even though reducing our carbon footprint will benefit the bottom line, it’s questionable whether we are yet doing nearly enough to achieve this aim. The introduction next year of carbon trading for big companies will be a testing time.

Then, there’s social sustainability. It is ironic that the Prime Minister recently spoke about British jobs for British workers when we have nearly two million unemployed, for one reason or another.

This is made worse by the worrying lack of work ethic among some school-leavers that is sharply at variance to that of most migrant workers, who are keen to work, learn and become more skilled. Without basic reading and writing skills – even after ten or more years of full-time education - many British youngsters appear happy to remain out of work.

Unfortunately, the hospitality industry is not helped by its age-old employment profile of long unsocial hours, hard work and poor pay. If we are to attract more British-born people to sustain the growth of the hospitality industry, we need to eradicate this image with more enlightened employment practices. But, at the same time, schools must promote a stronger work ethic among the young and ensure they can read and write and have a positive attitude to work; it’s not the employers’ job to teach them the three ‘Rs’, as the government is suggesting.

Finally, we need to ensure that the industry remains economically sustainable. There can be no complaints about the hotel industry’s investment record in the last five years, nor of its future plans, but the Chancellor’s misguided withdrawal of the Hotel Buildings Allowance may well deter new development in provincial towns and rural areas, where business is less buoyant than in London or in other major cities.

The hospitality industry needs to bring these three aspects of sustainability together. Remaining profitable is the key, but our social, environmental and economic responsibilities have become the 21st century challenges.