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

theconscioushost@gmail.comwww.conscioustourism.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/conscioustravel

Please view Part Three: Steps towards Making Conscious Travel a Reality

Do please send comments and feedback to:theconscioushost@gmail.com

www.conscioustourism.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/conscioustravel