12 minute read
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 truly unique eco products in wild destinations. It was extremely professional and well organised by the team. The fellow speakers and panellists were so varied, yet all fascinating offering insights into their creative processes, experiences, successes, and the learnings from failures too. It’s like we were all invited to the behind-the-scenes edition on eco luxury tourism. So much inspiration, with colleagues doing projects all over the world. Friends were made and there was even the perfect sprinkling of fun to top it all off. Since then, I have had many collaborations with fellow attendees and friendships forged. I will be coming back.
AMONG THE MANY DISTRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL STORIES THAT WE ENCOUNTER – WHERE DO YOU FIND HOPE AND STRENGTH?
It’s easy to be doom and gloom and distressed about the state of our planet. It’s the stories of hope that I find inspiring. In fact, I proactively seek them out.
I think 2023 has been a year of massive global shift towards a more optimistic view of carbon and our responsibility as humans to reduce and offset to preserve biodiversity and prevent polar ice caps from further melting. Take China for example; they have had a record break in clean energy, up 212 gigawatts this year, that’s double the total solar capacity of the US. The hope is that energy emissions will peak soon and then decline thereafter. But we all must act, everywhere in whatever industry we find ourselves in, to prevent those polar ice caps from melting to irrecoverable rates. Eco Tourism is a massive movement that I believe is moving in the right direction, using greener solutions and providing feasible alternatives in the luxury tourism space, to the construction industry’s massive cement usage.
I want us to further embrace the technologies that are already in existence, because we actually have the tools already, we just need to implement them on a wider global scale. I am proudly part of that movement.
Clean tech and clean transportation are also an exciting space of planet hope for me. Moving into a revolution in the way that we move around the planet. Super exciting on so many levels. I have been watching the re-emergence of air ships with great fascination as a new way to travel slow in wild places. As a company, White Desert are also excited about the potential of our very own White Desert hovercraft, which I trialled in Antarctica early in 2023, and which we plan to use more extensively in 2024.
PLEASE CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR SEAGRASS PROJECT AND FOUNDATION AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU?
Yes, it’s very exciting time for us at White Desert, trying to lead the way in sustainable luxury in Antarctica and beyond. In late 2023, we are starting work with green tech start-up, Project Seagrass. We are investing in a Blue Carbon and green technologies start-ups, in particular this project, which is about the restoration and renewal of seagrass meadows. These areas are able to capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, storing them in natural carbon sinks. When undisturbed, these habitats have the capacity to store carbon long-term resulting in climate adaptation benefits, such as resilience to extreme weather events.
As a South African myself, and because South Africa is a gateway to Antarctica, I wanted to do a local carbon capture project. We also have an abundance of Seagrass in Southern Africa and it could be a project we take guests to visit when they are here on route to Antarctica. We are investigating further ways we can create our own Seagrass projects in South Africa for 2024. So do watch this space.
This year, 2023, marks 18 years since I conceptualised White Desert. Having been carbon neutral since 2007, we offset all our flights, activities and projects to ensure that we achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In the 2021/2022 we became the first operator to test Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on the continent, testing 40,000 litres in our internal aircraft. We aim to replace Jet A-1 fuel in the next 3 - 5 years. In addition to utilising Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) across our internal flights, sharing our logistics ensures we reduce environmental emissions in this region and help support climate science, astronomy and astrophysics.
We will continue to invest in new projects as part of our Pathway to Net Zero journey. These projects will allow us to become carbon negative, whereby our carbon footprint will be less than neutral, so that our net effect is actually removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than adding to it.
We also encourage our guests to contribute to our carbon offsetting programmes and transform them into Antarctic Ambassadors who return home with a renewed perception of the world (and hopefully their subsequent actions within it).
This year, over 150 scientists from seven separate government programmes will reach their research stations with our aircraft. It is something we are very proud to support and, by hybridising our logistics and transporting scientists and tourists concurrently, we are able to significantly reduce carbon emissions (whilst also delivering cost-efficient solutions to our clients). When it comes to visiting the interior of Antarctica, matters of science form an integral part of any journey to the continent. We not only create a space where intrepid tourists and expeditioners can explore; we also have a commitment to support science research in the Polar Regions and preserving it for future generations. We will continue to support science, long into the future, but would like to move into a focus on education in the green tech space or in science with regards climate science/capturing carbon etc.
Looking further into the future, in 2024/2025 we want to create a Green Tech hub at our third and newest camp, Echo, where we can showcase some of the operational technology we are using on ice - show how we lead by example in terms of heating fuel (SAF), electric vehicles, hovercraft usage and beyond…
IN YOUR TALK TO US IN MONTENEGRO, YOU MENTIONED SOME OF THE ALPHA GUESTS YOU HAVE HOSTED AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN HUMBLED BY THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN ANTARCTICA. WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL HUMBLED OR AS A LEADER AND HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT IS TO BE HONEST WITH OTHERS ABOUT THESE EMOTIONS?
Yes, we have hosted many of the ultra-rich at our camps in Antarctica. Firstly, I try to make a point of not Googling them before a trip, as many of them are trying to unGoogle themselves and have the ultimate luxury, time to experience uninterrupted nature and reconnect with themselves without the trappings of technology and, in many cases, fame. I also do it, so that my treatment of them is as equals. Antarctica is a great equaliser, we are all insignificant when compared to the power of the highest, driest, windiest place on the planet. I have learnt much from our guests over the years, mostly good things. Being humble is something many of them struggle with when they arrive in Antarctica, but after experiencing Antarctica, most of them surrender their egos just a little bit. Being humble has never been something I have struggled with, I find it relatively easy, its showing off great work done and ego I struggle with. I have always seen myself equally comfortable talking with someone who has come on hard times or able to converse with a literal prince. We are all the same at the end of the day, we all have dreams, we all have self-doubt, we are all just doing our best with the short time we have on this beautiful planet. Yet, some of our guests really can make a difference to our planet, and I try to provide them with the inspiration to do so when they get home. To care for our planet just a little more. To preserve it for our children’s generations.
We also try to achieve the highest level of return on investment, through hyper personalisation. Seeing the most remote corner of the planet in the safest and memorable way. They become true Antarctic ambassadors and often friends.
We are about experiences that elevate people, taking powerful people off grid, more remote, and offering them an experience that is personalised for them. The most memorable are the seemingly serendipitous moments we create, like an ice picnic after a long trek. A new lens on luxury. It’s personal. This is why I feel AI can’t replace the travel designer, it’s a very human effort and endeavour. The feeling you give people. But there is no doubt that AI is where the planet is going, so we need to use it to our advantage and that’s an exciting space of how we integrate it into our business. Of course, we provide potential guests with a virtual tour of the White Desert, but we want to do so much more in the future. At the centre of what we do is a human understanding and the process of supporting another human in their experience of nature in its purest form.
As to being honest about emotions as a leader, it’s a fine balance. I always believe honesty is the best policy and people tend to respect that. There are some moments where you have to protect your team from certain difficult truths until the time is right. I believe people need to look up to their leaders, not fear them. I feel that true leaders uplift their team and lead by their own actions and by example, so its actually about uplifting and supporting them to shine and giving a helping hand when they fall, that differentiates true global leaders.
