Victorian Tourism Conference 2014 - Anna Pollock - Conscious Travel

How the Game is Changing Through Conscious Travel building a better tourism for more

for

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council

Anna Pollock, Founder, Conscious Travel

July, 2014

My Purpose Today

Why we need to change the game

Introduction to Conscious Travel

Perspectives and Principles

How to Flourish in a VUCA world

A Radical Re-think Is Needed

Re-thinking has Started Elsewhere

Medicine Education Agriculture

Drivers That Push and Pull

“This report

shows the world

on a

development

trajectory that is

not sustainable.

If we fail to alter our patterns of

production and consumption,

things will go badly wrong.”

10 mega-forces, all connected

in ways we don’t fully

understand.

The Earth’s environmental

system is simultaneously

coming under increasing

stress. Future simultaneous

shocks to both systems

could trigger the “perfect

global storm”, with

potentially insurmountable

consequences.

50 risk sources, all

connected in ways

we don’t fully

understand

TOP 4

• Wealth Disparity

• Debt

• Financial Instability

• Global

Governance

Failure

Source: Globescan

Science unravelling many primary

assumptions Quantum Physics

Cosmology

Neuroscience, brain plasticity

Cell Biology

Genetics & Epigenetics

Consciousness even!

Connectivity enabling instant,

ubiquitous sharing of knowledge

Humankind a conscious

evolutionary force

11

DOING GOOD IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS:

12

DOING GOOD IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS:

The Tourism Story

The Promise, The Goal

This is how the world really works

Where on this curve are we?

The Result

• Growth in volume but more:

• Volatility

• DIMINISHING RETURNS

• Lower Spending per capita

• Growing congestion

• Mountains of waste

• Resident backlash

90% + of demand

factors outside of

the control of

anyone in tourism

The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives

Source: Daily Mail

The Queue to Climb Everest

Source: 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 Balinese

Source: ABC They Paved Paradise

How will we protect vulnerable people

and cultures?

Can we really handle another 600 million in just 12 more years?

Breakdown or breakthrough?

How do we breakthrough?

How do we cross the chasm?

1. Change our awareness

Change our minds, our mindsets

“We have one

generation in

which to shift

human

consciousness”

Jeremy Rifkin

“The deepest crises experienced

by any society are those moments

of change when the story becomes

inadequate for meeting the survival

demands of a present situation.”

2. Imagine a better world

2. Imagine a better world, be positive

2. Imagine a better world, spread hope “Active hope doesn’t

require our optimism, we

can apply it even in areas

where we feel hopeless.

The guiding impetus is

intention; we choose what

we aim to bring about, act

for or express.. …Passive

Hope is about waiting for

external agencies to bring

about what we desire.

Active Hope is about

becoming active

participants in bringing

about what we hope for.”

3. Change our relationship to Nature

"The tree which moves some

to tears of joy is, in the eyes

of others, only a green thing

which stands in the way,

Some see Nature all ridicule

and deformity, and some

scarce see Nature at all.

But to the eyes of the man of

imagination, Nature is

Imagination itself.

As a man is, so he sees."

William Blake

Change the way we see

3. feel, see, experience nature as benign, nurturing, intelligent

35

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

can “read the love letters sent

by the wind and the rain, the

snow and the moon”

Our Purpose – to help our

guests fall in love with life and

Mother Earth and so that they

too

36

The real purpose of tourism

To have them fall in love again with life

To move our guests from numbness to

aliveness

from indifference to empathy

37

To have our guests experience wonder

4. Re-frame growth in qualitative terms

Human Development

Source: Richard Barrett

Evolution is pervasive and persistent At a collective and personal level

4. Reframe growth as FLOURISHING

5. Focus on Community

“To build a popular

environmentalism, we

need to restore in

people

pride of place”

The Conscious Travel Vision

A model

A Collaborative Learning Platform

A global network of learning

communities

The Model

The Tourism Ecosystem

45

PURPOSE

PEOPLE

PLACE

PROTECTION PACE

PROXIMITY

PERFORMANCE PULL

Principles

46

PURPO

SE

PURPOS

E

• The Why?

• From growth to

thriving, flourishing

• Enliven

• Enlighten

• Engage

• Enrich

• HIGHER NET

BENEFIT

• Not more, but

better and better

for more!

47

PEOPLE

PURPOSE

• THE

ENCOUNTER

• Guest meets Host

• Involves all senses

• Affects the whole

person – body,

mind, heart and

soul

• Caring passionate

hosts create

happy, transformed

guests

• Engagement

• Culture

• Leadership

• R3

PEOPLE

48

The Encounter is CRITICAL! What factors influence choice of

hotel?

49

• Both parties must

flourish and thrive

• Flourishing is more

than a transaction

• Occurs when:

• Happy, fulfilled guests

• Refer others

• Return

• Rave

• Happy fulfilled hosts

enthusiastically

encourage & enable

their guest to explore

more, stay longer,

value more and care

more

Great Encounters!

50

PURPOSE

• Places are NOT

commodities

• Each has its own

unique essence or

spirit

• Unique mix of

geography, history,

people

• Can’t be

outsourced

• Places are

COMMUNITIES

• Identity

• Celebrate Revere

PEOPLE

PLACE

PLACE

51

If we are going to take care of Mother

Earth, we must learn to love her.

52

PURPOSE

• SLOW down

• LOCAL

• Small

• Experience don’t

do

• Wonder & awe

PEOPLE

PLACE

PACE

PROXIMIT

Y

PACE

PROXIMIT

Y

53

PURPOSE

• Conservation

• Stewardship

• Regeneration

• Minimum Harm

• Protect and

revitalise cultures

• Respect residents

• Nurture Conscious

travelers

PEOPLE

PLACE

PROTECTION PACE

PROXIMIT

Y

PROTECTION

54

PURPOSE

• Attracting the right

visitor

• Support not sell

• All business is

social

• Need for Digital

Literacy

• It’s the

ENCOUNTER

remember?

• Rave, Refer,

Return

PEOPLE

PLACE

PROTECTION PACE

PROXIMIT

Y

PULL

PULL

55

All Business is Social

56

PURPOSE

• We manage what

we measure

• Measure what

matters!

• Not volume but net

benefit – community

health & well-being

• Customer delight ----

• R3 NPS

• Smaller footprint

• Sense of welcome &

enthusiasm from

hosts

PEOPLE

PLACE

PROTECTION PACE

PROXIMIT

Y

PERFORMAN

CE PULL

PERFORMAN

CE

57

PURPOSE

PEOPLE

PLACE

PROTECTION PACE

PROXIMITY

PERFORMANCE PULL

Integrated, Holistic Model

58

Assumptions

1. The task at hand is to re-connect

and align with Life itself - Harmony

with Nature;

2. Re-think our collective goals: from

growth to flourishing;

3. Hosts to become active change

agents;

4. Tourism enterprises will flourish by

digging deep into purpose;

5. The model will change because

human values are changing; and

6. Change starts and ends in

community

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?

60

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

www.conscious.travel

www.slideshare.net/AnnaP 61