FORUM
Of DIALOGUE
INDUSTRY LEADERS
d e in t
U LAUNCHING SPRING 2020
m r te e
! n o i ain t
D by
A SOURCE for EXPERTISE & ENCOURAGEMENT
“
Welcome to Slovenia, the first green country of the world certified according to the Green D e s t i n a t i o n s t a n d a rd s . T h e country which was granted the prestigious National Geographic World Legacy Award for the efforts in tourism development. And the country, where our glamorous nature has given us the possibility to create boutique sustainable five-star experiences.
M.Sc. Maja Pak Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board
“
JUNE 18-20, 2020 WWW.ECORESORT.NETWORK
"ECO RESORT NETWORK IS AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT FOR JUST 70 DELEGATES, WHO WILL CONTRIBUTE OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN ORDER TO CREATE LASTING RELATIONSHIPS, AS WELL AS ESTABLISHING A CLEAR VISION OF WHERE THE INDUSTRY IS HEADED, WHAT BEST PRACTICE LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT THE GUESTS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW WILL EXPECT,” STEPH CURTIS-RALEIGH - ORGANISER
supported by
HallOfFame
THE PRIVATE SOCIETY FOR DISCERNING HOTELIERS A league of its own Affiliation by invitation only
HoteliersGuild | WorldGuide AG | Hildegardstrasse 9 | 80539 Munich Germany | t +41225349478 | HoteliersGuild | fmp.hoteliersguild@me.com
Dear Friends & Colleagues, First of all, my thanks to all colleagues who, despite their equally hectic agenda, continue to support our cause so energetically. Both our EcoHospitecture magazine and the current LookBook have generated a wave of positive feedback and interest. Hence the idea for this forum. And again, my thanks to all those who immediately agreed to contribute so enthusiastically! My pledge to you is to coordinate and moderate this project with full strength!
Frank M. Pfaller President HoteliersGuild
With a view to bringing people together and achieving critical, open and meaningful dialogue, HoteliersGuild’s Forum For Dialogue will organise a range of discussion forums in different formats as explained in more detail below throughout the year, digitally published monthly/bi-monthly & distributed globally via our own and the respective platforms of our strategic alliance partners/ requested.
Discussions will include a wide range of issues related to HoteliersGuild’s and our partners areas of interest of Deeper and more Sustainable Luxury, Responsible Travel, Respectful Architecture & Design, Innovative & Sustainable F&B, instigated by expert contributors/hoteliers & other hospitality leaders.
We aim to attract diverse hospitality leaders, academics, researchers and journalists, hotel school and tourism students, community leaders, as well as prominent personalities with somewhat contradictory views.
Please note that we are still shaping the final concept with your help, and that the below dialogue themes are just examples!
And whilst we are still at the beginning of our journey, there will be more news to share over the coming weeks, and I’ll be in touch when we can provide more information about the start that is planned for April.
Let me close in telling you how inspiring it is to be coming together with other like-minded individuals who share our commitment to transform the future of hospitality for everyone!
the FORUM FOR DIALOGUE panel United By Determination!
Frank M. Pfaller
Matteo Thun
Karena Albers
Chris Stafford
Onno Poortier
Lindsey Ueberroth
Sonu Shivdasani
Paul Jones
Bill Bensley
Luca Franco
Mario Gamba
Francis Mallmann
Louis Thompson
Nitesh Pandey
Rocco Bova
Daniele Vastolo
Paul Bruce-Brand
Filip Boyen
Tim Weiland
Xavier Lablaude
Florian Werner
Acceptances received (25.02.) from Karena Albers Sonu Shivdasani Paul Jones Filip Boyen Louis Thompson Bill Bensley Nitesh Pandey Rocco Bova Paul Bruce-Brand
Daniele Vastolo Jason Villarino Florian Werner Luca Franco Chris Stafford Tim Weiland Xavier Lablaude
y l on
FORUMOFDIALOGUE SERIES
e l p m
TALK TO US! from Sonu Shivdasani
a S
CEO & Founder
SONEVA
A perfect example of how to start a discussion
shrewd & invigorating HoteliersGuild
!
Can Travel and Tourism have a positive Contribution to Conservation, the Environment, and the Community? Travel and flying are often highlighted as
plays in conservation. Vast tracts of
Today, twenty-five years later we’d like
prime examples of human behaviours
south and east Africa would now be
to think that our guiding principle of
that contribute to global warming, and
f a r m l a n d i f i t w e re n o t f o r t h e
creating the innovative and enlightening
that need to change with immediate effect if we are to handover to the next
conservation efforts of the many lodges and camps whose tourists indirectly fund
SLOW LIFE (Sustainable, Local, Organic, Wellness, Learning, Inspiring, Fun,
generation a world similar to what we
these efforts. Five years ago, President
Experiences) for our guests. SLOW LIFE
have been able to experience and love
Bongo of Gabon transferred 11 million
is an integral part of our morals as well
in our own lifetimes.
hectares of land from timber
as our operating compass, and it
Whilst air travel accounts for the bulk of
concessions and mining concessions to a National Park with a view to attracting
provides a blueprint for the future of the hospitality industry.
an individual’s own ecological footprint,
tourists to visit.
today it accounts for about 2% of
Our vehicle for delivering the SLOW
greenhouse gases. The damage it
Closer to home, the Government of the
L I F E i s o u r c o re p h i l o s o p h y o f
causes pales when one considers the contribution to global warming of
Maldives banned the fishing of both sharks and turtles. Part of the Maldives –
“Intelligent Luxury”.
agriculture, especially the meat industry,
the Baa Atoll, where one of our resorts is
Which is about combining the traditional
where the numbers are 10 to 20 times
located - has become a UNESCO
opposites of sustainability and wellness
that of air travel.
Biosphere. The catalyst for these actions
with luxury. We believe that these things
There are some examples of tourism
was the calculation that a shark or turtle swimming happily in the ocean was
actually complement each other. At the heart of the matter is what true luxury
over-development, such as along the
considerably more valuable alive than
means for our guests today.The
coast of Spain where developers have
dead.
definition of luxury is something that is a
constructed sprawling concrete jungles
rarity, but the wealthy of today come
that remain ghost towns for most of the year. The local community lost out big
Let me share with you our own experiences at Soneva, which I hope will
from a different context to the wealthy of the past, when some of the more
time, and their overall quality of life
reinforce the case for travel and tourism
traditional luxuries were established. In
deteriorated. The developers were often
as an overall source of good.
today’s society, luxury translates into
foreign, and they mostly engaged
peace, time and space. It is about the
foreigners and tourists who tended to consume packaged products brought in
When my wife Eva and I opened our first resort in 1995, we held a firm belief that
sand between your toes and dinner under a canopy of a billion stars, it is
from outside. Wherever local ingredients
a company must have a clear purpose
about reconnecting with oneself and the
or resources were consumed, it was at
beyond just making money. We were
natural environment. For guests who live
the expense of the local community. In
convinced that a successful business is
in cramped and polluted concrete
general, the profits of the operations were repatriated, salaries were spent
the one that combines apparent contrasts and makes these ‘opposites’
jungles, true luxury is to eat a freshly picked salad, grown in our organic
back home, and the local community
compatible. When this has been
garden while breathing clean air and
r a re l y b e n e f i t t e d f ro m t h i s n e w
achieved and it works, it creates an
enjoying a beautiful view.
commerce. In turn, they suffered from
experience that is unique and accepted,
the inflationary pressures on certain qualities of life that they had taken for
and immediately develops very strong guest loyalty.
granted such as cheap seaside living or fish, which they could no longer afford.
This SLOW LIFE focus has led to levels of guest loyalty and repeat business that far surpass industry norms, and this tells
While we wanted to create a hideaway
us unequivocally that the values of a
that would satisfy our desires for a
company matter to those who consume
PWC have established a measurement index, called T.I.M.M. (Total Impact
destination for those who liked to travel in luxurious style, we also had this
its products. This is rare in the modern world, but Soneva distinguishes itself
Monitoring & Measurement), that they
overwhelming drive to protect the
because combined with the space,
are encouraging governments to use in
environment.
The end result was born
privacy and comfort of our villas and
order to drive behavioural changes to
out of the philosophy of simple
rooms, and the intuitive service provided
avoid such examples in the future.
sophistication and returning luxuriously to nature, whilst also shouldering the
by our Hosts, we have also demonstrated how sustainable materials
In spite of this, I remain a strong
responsibility of being custodians of the
can have a great aesthetic. Being able to
advocate of the overall positive impact
beautiful places we operate in.
bring out the beauty of nature has set us
of travel and tourism and the key role it
apart from the competition.
Being sustainable is also part of our
power generators in South India, and
established the “Learn to Swim”
DNA, and we are always striving to limit
even a commitment to 150,000 low
programme with our neighbouring
the negative environmental impact of our activities – something which is both
carbon cooking stoves in Myanmar and Darfur.
island Eydhafushi. By teaching children to swim, we hope that they will learn to
difficult as well as critical for a company
love the ocean, and when they love it,
which operates resorts in remote places
The Soneva Foundation hosts the bi-
they will protect it. We are now looking
of pristine natural beauty.
annual SLOWLIFE Symposium, which
to scale this programme to offer
We may sometimes fall short of our own
convenes some of the world’s greatest m i n d s a c ro s s s c i e n c e , b u s i n e s s ,
intensive swimming programmes across the Atoll, partnering with other resorts,
high standards, but we are very clear
philanthropy and policy. Described by
local and national NGOs, environmental
about our responsibilities as custodians
one of our participants as a ‘laboratory
awareness groups and government
of the communities we operate in. This
of intent’, the event, now in its fifth year,
ministries. Supported by filmmaker and
responsibility to one's community is somewhat complicated for a company
provides these leaders with the time, space and facility to address the worst
National Geographic adventurer Jon Bowermaster, who made a documentary
such as ours, whose guests jet in from all
challenges threatening our natural
film of the swimming programme, we
over the globe. As a result our social
environment, and to create tangible,
aim to develop a model of
and environmental responsibilities are as
collaborative solutions.
environmental inspiration and education
much global as they are local. We set up the Soneva Foundation to focus on
The SLOWLIFE Symposium has
change at a level far beyond the direct
delivered real results. For example, in
At the 2013 SLOW LIFE Symposium, we
communities in which our resorts
2012 the WHOLE WORLD Water
were inspired by Jochen Zeitz’s
operate and to recognise our
(WWW) initiative was conceived and co-
introduction of an environmental profit
obligations to society in general.
founded by Symposium attendees, Karena Albers and Jenifer Willig, in
and loss account at the sports brand Puma. We have committed to adopt
Years ago, I noticed the huge number of
partnership with the Soneva Foundation.
this at Soneva and we will use the
plastic water bottles that washed up on
The premise was simple: how can we
methodology we develop to support
our beaches at Soneva Fushi in the
scale the Soneva model of filtering and
other businesses that are preparing to
Maldives. We decided not to point fingers at those who were allowing their
bottling water locally instead of importing bottled water and using part
take this step. We already undertake a granular analysis of our environmental
water bottles to spoil our oceans, while
of the revenues to fund clean water
performance, but the EP&L will take this
we served bottled water in our resort
initiatives? The model devised not only
to another level.
and were therefore still part of the
eliminates plastic waste but also cuts out
cannot manage what you do not
problem. In 2008 we decided to stop offering branded bottled water, and
unnecessary transportation miles.
measure. Much of this management is necessarily via our supply chains.
instead served water that was filtered,
Today, WWW extends this concept out
mineralised, alkalised, and bottled on-
to the travel and tourism industry, with
These examples of Symposium
site in reusable glass bottles. Half the
10% of sales revenues invested in clean
initiatives give an insight into what we
revenues from our water sales go to the Soneva Foundation to fund the work of
and safe drinking water initiatives around the world. The scale of ambition
can achieve when we collaborate. There is no question that if a change is to be
charities such as Water Charity and
for WWW is dizzying – we estimate that
made, it is partnerships, collaborations,
Thirst Aid.
if the entire travel and tourism industry
and brilliant innovations that will bring
that can be applied around the world.
As Jochen says, you
united around this single issue, we could
the greatest efficacy. The private sector
In 2008 we also added a mandatory 2% Carbon Levy to our guests’ bills, to off-
raise $1bn annually. While this target is still some way off, last year WWW made
has a huge role to play in the solutions agenda and we assume this
set our guests’ travel emissions. It was a
its first investments in clean water
responsibility as totally central to our
small change, and a relatively small
projects in Cambodia, Uganda and
core purpose. Corporations should look
charge, which we found our guests more
India.
back through history and remember that
than happy to accept. The direct rewards have been great. In just four
It is remarkable that many children in the
having a purpose should be central to their mandate - and that this
years, we raised about US$5m which the
island nation of the Maldives do not
contribution should be measured and
Soneva Foundation used to fund a
swim.
valued as robustly as any financial
reforestation programme in northern
compounded by a nationwide waste
Thailand. Through this, we planted around half a million trees, mitigating
problem that sees local island beaches u s e d a s a d u m p i n g g ro u n d f o r
around 400,000 tons of CO2.
household waste.
Additionally, funds have financed wind
SLOW LIFE Symposium, Soneva Fushi
A fear of the water is
Following the 2013
returns.
At
HoteliersGuild, we are pleased to announce
our collaboration with Jaclyn
Yost. She
is the Founder & CEO of Ecomadic — a
sustainable travel platform. Additionally, she is a
sustainable
App,
contributing travel
Green is the New Black, a tourism expert for the LiveMore
and completing her
Master of Tourism
Administration
focusing on Sustainable Tourism with the George Washington University. She will
moderate discussions professionals
with
young tourism
from South East Asia,
assist to
coordinate our dialogue topics and contribute content for our LookBooks.
also
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