1
Conscious TravelConscious Travel
reaching the peak one conscious host at a time
Presentation in Quito, September 10, 2012Presentation in Quito, September 10, 2012
INTRODUCTION
Background
Passion
Purpose
www.linkedin.com/in/annapollockwww.conscioustourism.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousTravelwww.slideshare.net/AnnaP
Anna Pollock strategisteducator
change agentvisionary
3
to create learning communities of conscious hosts who work together to
generate above average profits, deliver higher net benefit from tourism to their communities,
while increasing their resilience and stability
and.....
VisionVision
4
5
Why??Why??
Breakdown or Breakthrough?
Tourism is the biggest connecting activity on the planet
Travel & Tourism has a unique role to play in helping
us breakthrough
Tourism will either be part of the solution or part of the problem
FOUR KEY ASSUMPTIONS
The dominant model (industrial tourism)no longer works
The dominant model (industrial tourism)no longer works
A mindset shift is essential
The dominant model (industrial tourism)no longer works
A mindset shift is essential
Change can’t & won’t come form the top
A mindset shift is essential A mindset shift is essential
The dominant model (industrial tourism)no longer works
A mindset shift is essential
Change can’t & won’t come from the top
A mindset shift is essential A mindset shift is essential
Change will emerge from action-oriented learning communities
Mass Industrial Tourism Started with Great Promise
But Is Now Producing a Different Reality
Industrial Tourism Grew Up In the Age of the Automobile &
Mass Everything
It borrowed its operating model from manufacturing
Based on Assembly Lines, Specialisation & Hierarchies
Focus: efficiency & productivity - producing more for less
Standardisation, Order, Planning
Economies of Scale - consolidation, more & bigger is better, growth
Economies of Scale - consolidation, more & bigger is better, growth
Economies of Scale - consolidation, vertical integration
Based on a mindset of boxes and lines
The Hotel Box
ProductizesStandardizesHomogenizesCommoditize
s
In summary, this is a box that....
Success?
Mass Industrial Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Tourism now supports 1 billion international trips a year
It can produce income, economic growth, jobs, foreign exchange, conserve wildlife, preserve cultures..but it doesn’t always
Are we at a tipping point?
Metaphorically speaking, we’re about to experience a tourism tsunami + galeforce winds + earthquake
Will the tourism capsule hold out?
Mass Industrial Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing diminishing returns for nearly everybody
This graph shows the fate of individual destinations - could it apply to industrial tourism as a whole?
If yields decline industrial tourism can only succeed by growing in volume
Are we at the inflection point?
Can we handle another 400 million tourists in just 8 years?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the MaldivesSource: Daily Mail
The Queue to Climb EverestSource: Guardian
• see: Can Tourism Change its Operating Model?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water and land?
How will avoid residents’ backlash?
Protest Sign Erected by Young BalineseSource: ABC They Paved Paradise
Source: China Daily
How will we protect vulnerable people and cultures?
Does Industrial Tourism work for Providers?
•declining margins,•greater income volatility,•increased risk,•more regulation,•higher input costs (energy, food, supplies),•disengaged employees, •more complexity - especially marketing, and•often more demanding guests
Do any of these issues apply to you?
Is this you?
in short, I bet many of you are working harder than ever before and making less return.
Do you ever feel like the hamster on his treadmill?
•we need to think differently
•see “Changing the Dream - Why Mindsets really, really matter!”
•see: Can Tourism Change its Operating Model?
A Mindset Shift Is Essential
A worldview or mindset acts like a lens
These lenses are made up of the values beliefs and assumptions that we use to make sense of our world
Many are changing their lenses & waking up - becoming conscious
We’re often not aware of our lenses - live in a trance
They are very powerful
When the lenses change, everything else changes
•many customers are thinking differently
•emergence of the conscience consumer
•On average just under 50% of consumers prefer to buy from responsible companies
•In South America that average is 75%
•In Australia - 35%
Mindsets Are Already Shifting
•other businesses are thinking differently”
•growth in “conscious business” and “conscious leadership”
•“Business as Usual” is over
•Huge opportunities for those who adapt
Mindsets Are Already Shifting
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has
Margaret Mead
Change Can’t and Won’t Come from the Top; real change will come from
below
30
change is not just desirable
it’s inevitable
31
Tourism is Human System Embedded in a
Biological-Physical System
32
when our values and beliefs changeso does everything
else
33
Where have we come from? OLD MODELOLD MODEL
34
Tourism Through an Industrial Lens
Guests are segments to be targeted and the prize is share of wallet
Both parties (consumer and provider) attempt to win at the cost of the other. Adversarial
Guests seek to get the best or cheapest deal; producers try to maintain their marginRugged independence + materialism creates a mindset of exploitation - animals, landscapes, plants are resources, then products that can be used to produce profitThe Industry is fragmented - each provider looks after his piece of the guest experience and larger agencies are divided into functional silos.
Disconnect from nature - it’s the economy, stupid! Lack of appreciation of limits or consequences.
The tourism industry resists paying for the ecosystem services it has enjoyed for free in the past
35
surely there has to be a better way?
Welcome Signs of Change
something new is emerging
38
blaze a trail and leave breadcrumbs or
markers
39
Plenty
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Plent
y
enough, sufficiencyimplicit a sense of limitsadequate - don’t need moreimplies that multiple stakeholders benefitfocus on quality not quantity “wellth” and happiness vs wealth
40
Plenty
People
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Peopl
e
encounters
relationship
trust
transactions only occur if trust is present
41
Plenty
People
Place
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Plac
e
each place is unique
unique places sustain value
Personality of PlaceLiving Presence - essence,spirit, soulIndigenous people understand places re sacred
42
43
Plenty
People
Place
Purpose
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL
Purpose
what’s the higher purpose of the business?
why should employees bring their whole selves to work?
people seeking meaningconscious travellers seeking to be changedHigher purpose ignites Passion
44
Plenty
People
Pull
Place
Purpose
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Pull
challenge is to attract
power shifted to guest
to be magnetic you have to be clear about who you are and send out strong signalsyou need to master social technologies and media in order to sustain relationships and build trust
45
Plenty
People
Pull
Protection
Place
Purpose
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Protectio
n
Hosts must become proactive champions & custodians
Compliance and CSR programs not enough“Licence to Operate” will depend on minimal (preferable zero) footprint
46
Plenty
People
Pull
Protection
Place
Purpose
Pace
NEW MODEL MODEL
NEW MODEL MODEL Pac
e
help guests learn the art of living
rediscover what it means to be a human being not a human doing
learn to savour & satiate the senses
increase length of stay and spend
47
Ecuador: The first Conscious Travel
Destination
48
Plenty
People
Pull
Protection
Place
Purpose
Pace
NEW MODEL NEW MODEL
•Encounters & relationships before transactions
•PLACES before products
•PURPOSE & PASSION drive Profit
•PROTECTION = zero impact & rejuvenation
•PULL as in attract & support not Push
PACE as in SLOW & SAVOUR
49
How Do We Midwife This Birth?
A Mindset
A Movement
A creative e-learning program
There is no single blueprint on a shelf; no instantly available “how to manual” It’s
up to you-us to create them
50
Four Key Elements• People
• Program
• Platform
• Participation & Support
51
peer to peer
collaboration
curiosityself-direction
commitment to collaboratecapacity to experiment
willingness to invest a yeardesire to build a better model
52
Conscious Host
3. Values & Purpose2. Mindset
4. Power of Place
5. Culture/Personality
6. Ideal Customer7. Ideal Employee
8. Stewardship
10. Social Marketing
9. Experience Design
11. Community Outreach
12. Global Outreach
1. Where are We Now? Where Do We Wish To Go?
12 Step Transformation Program
core 12 stepprogram
53
peer to peer collaboration
Communityof
ConsciousHosts
12 StepTransformation
Program
online platform
offline support & coaching
Four Key Elements
54
Roles & Responsibilities
Conscious Travel will supply resources
Participants will determine priorities,
projects, methods and outcomes
No imposition from external authorities
The scope, scale and originality of solutions
will be owned by participants
55
Imagine......a network of host communities each
exploring how to deliver net benefits from tourism,a good living for people,
and transformative experiences for guests
each in their own way?
56
In the same way that cells combine to form different organs of the body, so will the collective output of these cells combine to create a new organic, ecological form of
tourism -
one that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and
spiritually fulfilling
In the same way that cells combine to form different organs of the body, so will the collective output of these cells combine to create a new organic, ecological form of
tourism -
one that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and
spiritually fulfilling
57
End of PART TWO
www.facebook.com/conscioustravel
Please view Part Three: Steps towards Making Conscious Travel a Reality
Do please send comments and feedback to:[email protected]
www.conscioustourism.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/conscioustravel