Beyond CSR and Sustainabilityor why be responsible/sustainable?

Anna Pollock, Founder, Conscious Travel

 Sustainable Tourism Certification Alliance Africa 3rd Annual Conference

May 8th 2014

Why is Change Necessary?

“Business As Usual” Won’t Work!

“population growth, exploitation of natural resources, climate change and other factors are putting the world on a development trajectory that is not sustainable…if we fail to alter our patterns of production and consumption, things will begin to go badly wrong”

Costs and Risks to Increase “ The resources on which

businesses rely will become more difficult to access and more costly.

There will be an increasing strain on infrastructure and natural systems as patterns of economic growth and wealth change.

Physical assets and supply chains will be affected by the unpredictable results of a warming world”

Opportunities Also Exist “the bold, the

visionary and the innovative recognise that what is good for people and the planet will also be good for the long-term bottom line and shareholder value…competitive advantage can be carved out of emerging risk.”

• 50 sources of risk

• All connected in ways we don’t fully understand

• Could converge into “the perfect storm”

• Use of the term “resilience” is on the rise

Change Drivers

Sixth Mass ExtinctionLosing a language every two weeks

Wealth Concentration

Debt

Huge breakthroughs in science and technology

More knowledge

Connectivity……

people and things

Potentially everyone and everything is connected to everyone, all the time, from anywhere

Digital Connectivity: Facebook Connections

Analogue Connectivity: Airline Connections

More knowledge

Travelling further and faster

So that …..

Change is accelerating in pace

Power shifting from companies to people

The Present Paradox

Wealth is concentrating; knowledge and power are dispersing...

Connectivity leads to instability and volatility………….???????????????

The Pentagon’s Analysis

+ +

=

The NEW Consumer

21

New Consumers still want MORE, but they are defining that

differently.

Now they seek more meaning, more deeply felt connections, more

substance, more control, a greater sense of purpose and assuming more

responsibility. 22

In Africa’s source markets

Why the term “Conscious”?

The Conscious Consumer Report, 2009, BBMG

24

25

•66% of consumers would prefer to

buy products from companies that give back to

society

•62% would prefer to work for such

companies

•59% would prefer to invest in such

companies

•46% would be willing to pay

extra for products and services from these companies

DOING GOOD IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS: 2012

26

What Does a Conscious Traveller look like?

• Curious• Seeks Immersive experiences

• Local, authentic providers

• Off beaten track• Niche• Information Hungry• Mindful – most of the time

• Open to transformation• Highly connected• Can be slowed down• Willing to pay if needs met

Tourism Evidence

27

28

People don’t grow, they develop

29

Connectivity + Content

•= Transparency

•= Importance of Reputation

•= Need for Innovation

•= Need for Talent

•= Need for Integrity

Companies are Valued Differently Now

30

The Humanisation of Business

Culture is everything

Culture is the sum of your values, beliefs,

behaviours and sense of PURPOSE

32

Purpose Must Precede Profit

Purpose + Passion = Performance & Profit

BUSINESS IS RE-THINKING ITSELF

CONSCIOUS CAPITALISTS

34

•Whole Foods•Southwest Airlines

•Zappos•The Container Store

•Google•Amazon

•Joie de Vivre

T = TrustA = AuthenticityC = CaringT = TransparencyI = IntegrityL = LearningE = Empowerment

Sustainable Brands – Beyond CSR

• NOT: how do we comply BUT

• How do we make money and grow profit by making the world a better place?

• How do we identify with the key issues of the day and become a valued agent for change?

• How we in tourismleverage their influence to accelerate sustainability?

35

How Do We Change our Mindset?

Mainstream Tourism on the other hand..

Now Suffering the long-term effects

• Volatility• DIMINISHING RETURNS• Lower net benefit

accruing to the host community

• Not all tourists are the same

• Unchecked tourism can do more harm than good?

• Not all tourism is desirable

• Choices have to be made

90% + of demand factors outside of the control of anyone in

tourism39

Has Mass Tourism Outlived its Usefulness?

Why Be Responsible?1. Save money2. Attract conscious, mindful travellers who will spend

more, stay longer, travel further3. Protect your reputation today; “licence to operate

tomorrow”

42

• Save Money• Reputation today; “licence to operate

tomorrow”

43

Why Be Responsible?

44

45

Why Be Responsible?1. Save money2. Attract conscious, mindful travellers who will spend

more, stay longer, travel further3. Protect your reputation today; “licence to operate

tomorrow”4. Employee recruitment, retention and engagement5. Guest engagement, referral, returns & raves6. Resource protection – nature and culture7. Improve performance, vitality, resilience

46

When you want to build a ship, you don’t

start collecting wood, cutting planks and

distributing work, but waken in the heart of people, a longing for

the great and endless sea.

Antoine St Expury

47

Why not be more than responsible?

You never change things by fighting existing reality,

You change something, build a new model that

makes the existing model obsolete

Buckminter Fuller48

Why not build something better?

PURPOSEWhy not help our guests see

the world & each other differently?

As kin responsible for the health of Our Mother

Because tourism is not an IndustryIt’s an Ecosystem

50

What might a better tourism look like?

51

Why not…

move our guests from numbness to aliveness

from indifference to empathy?Rediscover some meaning & purpose to their lives?

52

have our guests experience wonder?

can “read the love letters sent by the

wind and the rain, the snow and the moon”

Why not – help our guests fall in love with life and Mother

Earth so that they too

53

54

One generation to shift the relationship between

Humans and Mother Earth:  

•From Ignorance to Curiosity

•From Superiority to Respect

•From Mean-spiritedness to Gratitude

•From Extraction to Regeneration

•From Indifference to Activism

•From Disdain to Love

55

Africa can help bring us back to our own true nature

Africa can bring us back home

Isn’t that reason enough?

56

Conscious Travel

not more but better

Better for morewww.conscious.travel

• A model• A learning program

• A networkwww.slideshare.net/AnnaP