Prof. Dr. Willy Legrand

Dr. Willy Legrand is Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the IU International University of Applied Sciences since 2003. Over the past two decades, he has established over two dozen undergraduate and graduate courses on sustainable development in business, tourism and hospitality management in Europe, South and North America, the Middle East and Asia. Prof. Dr. Legrand is the lead author of Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations (4^th ed., 2023, Routledge) and of Critical Questions in Sustainability and Hospitality (2023, Routledge ). Prof Legrand chairs the Hospitality Net World Panel on Sustainability in Hospitality where 100+ industry experts regularly interact with the aim is to get sustainability anchored more than ever into the business conversation and decision-making. Prof. Legrand is also the Guest Chief Editor of the Hotel Yearbook Sustainable Hospitality (https://www.hotelyearbook.com/editions/) with the 2025 Sustainability Tech Edition, the 2024 Hospitality ESG Edition, as well as the 2020 and 2018 Sustainable Hospitality editions.  He sits on multiple journal and professional boards and is the co-editor of the Journal of Global Responsibility. He is currently working on two new edited handbooks on (1) ESG in Hospitality & Tourism and on (2) Regenerative Tourism and Hospitality. Prof Legrand received 2024 Mediterranean Tourism Award recognizing exceptional efforts in promoting ESG matters in the tourism and hospitality sectors. He also received the 2022 ICHRIE Raphael Kavanaugh Champion of Education Award in honour of commitment to education for students and employees in the fields of culinary arts, hospitality, or tourism.

My work focuses essentially on matters surrounding sustainability in business generally speaking. Students interested should be aware that sustainability is much more than the environmental footprint of a business operations. Both the economic and social pillars are equally important – however, other topics are possible, there is always an angle to sustainability in some ways. Thus you will find here below a relatively broad set of ideas for research. Do keep in mind that some of the themes may already be selected by fellow students currently doing research.

Ideas/Themes:

• ESG Reporting for SMEs

• CSRD and SMEs

• EU Green Claims Directive and Marketing

• Review of Nature Based Solutions for Businesses

• Personal Responsibility for Sustainable Travel

• Net Zero Methodologies

• Net Positive Methodologies

• Financing Climate Adaptation for Businesses

• Insurance and Climate Change: Game changing for businesses?

• ICT & SDGs

• Human costs for Food Waste

• Regenerative Business

• Regenerative Tourism

• Regenerative Hospitality

• The future of Certification

• Luxury and/or Sustainability

• Redefining Revenue Management

• Biodiversity and Business Management

• Owner – Franchisor-Operator Gaps

• Undertourism and Overtourism: Pest or Cholera

• Social Entrepreneurship

• Recipient of the Mediterranean Tourism Award – 2024 recognizing the exceptional efforts in promoting ESG matters in the tourism and hospitality sectors. https://www.medtourismfoundation.com/2024-med-tourism-awards/)

•  ICHRIE Raphael Kavanaugh Champion of Education Award – 2022 given by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education honouring the commitment to education for students and employees in the fields of culinary arts, hospitality, or tourism

• EuroCHRIE 2020 Recipient of the “Bridging the Gap” Award by the European Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education

• Recipient of the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2015 by the Emerald Group Publishing

• Recipient of the 2013 Laureate Hospitality Achievement Award at the Annual European Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education conference

• Global Real Estate and Infrastructure (GRI Club), Academic Partner - Global Committee Sustainable Hospitality

• International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (ICHRIE), Member

• CHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education), Chair, Special Interest Group (SIG) Sustainability & Innovations 2021-present

• Global Sustainable Futures: Progress through Partnership Network, Network Coordinator https://globalsustainablefuturesprogressthroughpartnership.wordpress.com/

• Eco Resort Network, Member

• HoteliersGuild (Private non-profit society of luxury hoteliers with a pledge to sustainable luxury), Member