Sustainability is not a new topic for a&o Hostels. With 44 locations in 12 European countries and the company continuing to grow, it has become increasingly clear that travel can only be both affordable and sustainable if processes become more efficient and decisions are based on reliable data.
This is precisely the path that Arben Maliqi, Director of ESG at a&o Hostels, is driving forward. He has helped to establish and further professionalize sustainability management in recent years. For a&o, this is not just about reporting or regulatory requirements, but about building a company that is more resilient, more responsible, and better positioned for the future.
1000+
Employees
40+
Hostels in Europe
77 %
CO2 emissions saved per overnight stay since 2015
OUTPUT SITUATION
High complexity, limited transparency
As an internationally growing company, the complexity also increased. Different locations, country-specific requirements and a growing amount of ESG data made it clear that a&o needed to manage sustainability consistently and robustly across many locations. This required more structure, clearer processes and a reliable data basis.
The biggest challenges were:
- Low comparability and limited transparency
- Emission data from different sources
- Different formats, languages and structures
- High manual effort required for merging
Arben describes the initial situation as follows: “The data came from different sources, in different formats and languages. It was very difficult to structure it in such a way that we could really use it.”
With increasing demands for transparency and comparability, 2022 a&o decided to work with Code Gaia to professionalize its carbon footprinting and data management. The decisive factors were a solution suitable for everyday use, a reliable methodology, personal support, and the ability to consolidate data centrally across all locations. This created the basis for not only documenting sustainability but also managing it in a targeted manner.
For us, sustainability is not just about compliance and reporting, but about making our business more resilient, responsible, and future-proof.
Arben Maliqi
Director of ESG a&o Hostels
COOPERATION CODE GAIA
More transparency, clearer priorities, concrete implementation
With Code Gaia, a&o has established a central ESG database that brings significantly more transparency to sustainability work. Data is now recorded in a more structured way, evaluated more consistently, and made more usable for decision-making. A lot has changed recently, particularly regarding the corporate carbon footprint: the data basis has become more reliable, emissions can be better tracked, and the most important levers are more clearly visible.
On this basis, a&o is now implementing sustainability more specifically in its operations. There is a particular focus on energy efficiency, supplemented by further measures in energy supply, waste management and raising awareness among guests and employees. These include, among other things:
- The analysis of building performance with energy engineers
- 100 percent renewable electricity at all locations
- District heating and photovoltaics where sensible and possible
- Waste measurement per guest and optimized processes in the food sector
It is important that sustainability at a&o does not take place in the background, but is visible and understandable in everyday life. One example of this is information in elevators that shows the power consumption of a journey and motivates guests to take the stairs instead. At the same time, a&o already voluntarily reports according to its own standard and uses established and recognized formats such as VSME and the Sustainable Development Goals. This structured approach is also reflected in external certifications: All hostels are GreenSign certified and a&o has been ISO 9001 certified since last year.
Electricity from renewable energy at all locations:
100%
Where a&o stands today and what that means economically
The effect of this development is clearly visible. Since 2015, a&o has reduced its CO₂ emissions per overnight stay by more than 77 percent. This result is the outcome of a long-term focus on the right levers, particularly in the areas of energy efficiency, energy supply, and resource conservation.
CO₂ emissions saved per overnight stay since 2015:
77 %
This figure is not just a sustainability success. It also shows that a&o is now in a much better position to prioritize measures and manage progress in a measurable way. The optimized database helps to evaluate investments in a more targeted manner, identify operational potential earlier and integrate sustainability more strongly into daily management.
The economic added value is particularly evident in the area of energy efficiency. This is primarily reflected in:
- Lower operating costs due to reduced energy consumption
- more informed investment decisions based on clearer data
- Greater transparency in communication with internal and external stakeholders
CONCLUSION
Outlook and next steps
a&o Hostels shows how sustainability can be transformed from a complex data topic into a genuine management tool. By professionalizing carbon accounting, establishing a central ESG database and focusing on specific operational levers, we have succeeded in making sustainability measurable, effective and economically relevant.
At the same time, it is clear that the journey is not yet complete. Different regulatory requirements, consistent data collection across many locations and the further improvement of energy efficiency remain key tasks. However, this is precisely where the next opportunities lie. a&o would like to further expand its data basis, prioritize measures even more specifically and integrate sustainability even more strongly into operational management.
Together with Code Gaia, the company has created a resilient foundation for this and is well positioned to further combine sustainable travel with efficiency, transparency and future viability.
We are still on our journey, but we now have a solid foundation for driving sustainability forward with focus and purpose.
