Prof. Dr. Willy Legrand

Dr. Willy Legrand is Professor of Hospitality Management at the IU University of Applied Sciences in Bad Honnef - Bonn, Germany since 2003. Over the past 15 years, he has established over two dozen undergraduate and graduate courses on sustainable development in tourism and hospitality management in Germany but also as a visiting professor at universities in China, Dubai, Singapore, France, India, Peru and the United States. Prof. Dr. Legrand is the lead author of Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations, a leading textbook used across universities globally now in its 4th edition. He is the lead author of Social Entrepreneurship in the Hospitality Industry: Principles and Strategies for Change is a timely book addition tackling the many challenges facing the industry in the coming decade. Prof. Legrand is also the Guest Chief Editor of the Hotel Yearbook Sustainable Hospitality 2018 and 2020 Special Editions. Since 2019, he chairs the HospitalityNet World Panel on Sustainability in Hospitality. The panel tackles all sustainability issues (e.g. around energy, water, waste, food, facilities, communication, social, and strategy) and is supported by more than 90 industry professionals, consultants and scientific experts across many fields. The aim is to get sustainability anchored more than ever into the tourism and hospitality conversation and decision-making. Prof Legrand received the “Bridging the Gap” Award 2020 from the European Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (EuroCHRIE) for his work promoting close cooperation between the industry and academia. 

• Sustainable Development and Management 
• Environmental Management and Hospitality 
• Social Entrepreneurship and Tourism 
• Net Zero Methodologies in Business 
• Hospitality Real Estate and Sustainability  
• Digitalisation and Sustainability 

• Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Hotel Real Estate (W. Legrand, Berkeley Capital, 2021)
• Marginal Abatement Costs – Focus: Hotel Real Estate (W. Legrand, Berkeley Capital, 2021)

• EuroCHRIE 2020 Recipient of the “Bridging the Gap” Award by the European Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education 
• Editorial Board Member of the Month for the Journal Tourism & Hospitality Research – June 2021 
• Awarded Outstanding Contribution to Reviewing by the International Journal of Hospitality Management- September 2018 
• 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