ABOUT
Professor, author, researcher and speaker with a specialization in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
A passionate educator, he has established over two dozen undergraduate and graduate courses on sustainable development in business and hospitality management in Europe, South and North America, the Middle East and Asia.
Legrand is the lead author of Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations 4th ed. He is also the lead author of Social Entrepreneurship in the Hospitality Industry: Strategies for Change which is a timely addition tackling the many challenges facing the industry in the coming decade.
Net zero, biodiversity restoration, ESG scoring and reporting, Nature-based Solution for urban real estate infrastructure are a few of the topics Legrand avidly research and publishes on.
He is Vice-chair and Academic Partner and Committee Member to the Global Real Estate and Infrastructure (GRI Club) – Global Committee Sustainable Hospitality.
One of his project which he particularly enjoy is the co-chairing of the HospitalityNet World Panel on Sustainability in Hospitality. The panel tackles all pressing sustainability issues and is supported by 100+ industry professionals, consultants and scientific experts in a multidisciplinary, cross-sectional approach. The aim is to get sustainability anchored more than ever into the business conversation and decision-making and at the same time taps into SDG17 on partnership for sustainable development (see target 17.16 here https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17).
Dr. Willy Legrand is an editorial board member and reviewer of over a dozen academic publications. He has published over 60 academic papers published in leading journals and conferences on tourism, hospitality and sustainable development. He holds keynotes and participate as panelist in global tourism and hospitality conferences.
Watch him live at the world’s leading travel trade show and conference: ITB Berlin on March 10th 2022 for the Responsible Tourism Track (Online, live and free registration: https://www.itb.com/en/itb-kongress/)
On a personal side: I grew up on a farm in Canada but I live in urban areas. I practice urban gardening with seasonal crops of veggies and fruits. I am an avid cyclist touring my local hotspots or multiple days across mountains, fields and along rivers (and slop along the way to go rock climbing/bouldering whenever possible!).
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