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INTERVIEW
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ROBYN WOODHEAD
Robyn Woodhead
EXPLORING THE POSITIVES ROBYN WOODHEAD INSPIRED US ALL WITH HER TALK IN MONTENEGRO WHICH LOOKED AT SOME OF THE LOGISTICS OF OPERATING LUXURY CAMPS IN ANTARCTICA. WE CATCH UP WITH HER TO FIND OUT WHAT IS INSPIRING HER, HOW SHE IS BECOMING MORE INVOLVED IN GREEN TECHNOLOGY AND HOW SHE WILL BE JOINING US AGAIN NEXT YEAR IN MAURITIUS.
WHAT HAVE YOUR WORK PRIORITIES BEEN SINCE WE SAW YOU IN MONTENEGRO? It’s been a busy year, with much change, both within White Desert and for me personally. Change is healthy, it keeps us evolving. Shortly after returning from The Eco Resort Network event in Montenegro, I travelled to Japan, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Three totally diverse destinations, but each with uniquely inspiring ideas for upcoming projects. After that, I was off to New York, where I was nominated and invited to attend Change Maker of the Year Awards, as part of Climate Week and UNEP with Responsible Travel. I also spoke on a panel about Governance and Sustainably Leading the Way: specifically regenerative destinations and policy frameworks. The focus was about sharing regenerative destinations that prioritize the well-being of natural and cultural resources. It was about sharing successes across the globe, to try to move the dial forward on creating hope and practical tools for combatting biodiversity loss and climate change mitigation. I spoke about my work co-creating the Climate Change targets, pledge and toolkit for an entire continent, Antarctica, when I was recently Chair of the Executive Committee of IAATO. As a business, White Desert is evolving rapidly too. We now have three guest camps in Antarctica, with our first guests of the season flying in November and the last due out in February, so our longest and busiest season ever is upon us. We have also recently launched White Desert
World, which is a first-of-its-kind, offering a private jet experience that visits all 7 continents over 21 days, which will be happening in 2025. In November 2023, we launched a new experiential space for safety briefings and guests in the Cape Town gateway to Antarctica. A place where guests can try and purchase the polar clothing in polar like temperatures in our new walk-in freezer space and get a taste for what is to come in the real freezer, whilst still in the summer heat of Cape Town. White Desert has been nominated for many awards this year too which I am very proud of. Some of which include, The Conde Nast Readers’ Choice awards 2023, and the World Travel Awards, for the sixth year. Our Pods were also recently nominated as best new concept, in the prestigious AHEAD awards in New York in October. HOW DID THE ECO RESORT NETWORK EVENT RESONATE WITH YOU AND WHAT WERE THE FEELINGS YOU TOOK HOME WITH YOU? I’m sure, like you, how one spends one’s time is precious, and we are all invited to a lot of events. As a result, I question attending in person events far more than I used to. Both as a business founder and as a mother and because travel is a true luxury as we can achieve so much online and save on carbon. So, choosing what to attend is always a real challenge for me. I decided to join Eco Resort Network in Montenegro because the attendees list was capped and exclusive and mostly founders of
