Last week in this blog, I wrote about South Africa and global inequality.
In June, I flew to beautiful Cape Town to attend the Future Hospitality Summit Africa. Among conference delegates there was much talk about hotels and hospitality being forces for good and meaningful change. This includes labor and educational opportunities and drawing out a rich pool of knowledge, talent, culture and experience.
One hotelier said Africa is the world’s greatest place for properly leaving loyalty points, and it is hard to argue with that given the country’s richness of people, nature, landscape and countries. With 54, Africa has more countries than any other nation.
Virginia Messina, executive vice president, World Travel & Tourism Council, was in attendance and is very well-placed to talk about such goals of goodness and meaningfulness.
The WTTC’s mission is “to maximize the inclusive and sustainable growth potential of the travel and tourism sector by partnering with governments, destinations, communities and other stakeholders to drive economic development, create jobs, reduce poverty and foster peace, security and understanding in our world.”
While participating on a panel, Messina had as a backdrop a screen shot of the WTTC’s nine pillars: advisory and training; funding and investment; innovation support; events; community-led organizations; policy making; research and think tanks; professional networks; and certification and labels. Together, all of these are “working toward a regenerative tourism ecosystem,” Messina said.
On the screen shot beside some of these pillars were the names of organizations that the WTTC believe are creating meaningful change. I copied down the names of the organizations on this list I had not heard of.
Here is a rundown of that list using their websites’ mission statements:
Funding and investment: Salva — “Advisory and asset-management organization, with an ESG accreditation and blended finance platform, dedicated to regenerative tourism, which mobilizes resources towards high-impact projects focused on sustainability, protection of biodiversity, culture and territory.”
Innovation support: Purple Elephant Ventures — “A venture studio that designs, builds and scales Africa-focused tourism-tech startups. We are building the digital infrastructure to power a scalable, regenerative and profitable future for African tourism. No more outdated systems. No more extractive models. Just bold innovation designed for Africa’s growth.”
Community-led organizations: Astungkara Way — “By developing regenerative travel alternatives, we aim to support local culture and economies, which inherently includes preserving local agriculture and traditions. Additionally, we work with farmers to transition from conventional, chemical farming to regenerative farming that can meet the needs of [Bali’s] hospitality industry.”
Research and think tanks: Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) — “A globally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the way the world travels … CREST provides solutions, resources and support to governments, policymakers, tourism businesses and nonprofit organizations to confront tourism’s most pressing issues.”
Professional networks: The Long Run — “A membership organization supporting a global community of purpose-driven tourism businesses to accelerate positive impact across a framework consisting of four C's: conservation, community, culture and commerce.”
I have no idea what fine work, hoops and hurdles these organizations needed to do or negotiate to get in the WTTC’s good books, but maybe one or two might inspire you and your companies and organizations.
Hub hyacinths
Recently I saw that hotel firm The Social Hub has opened two publicly accessible parks at two of its Italian hotels that opened their doors this year. The parks are designed by landscape architect Antonio Perazzi. The Social Hub said it has opened these “major public parks in Florence and Rome amid ongoing plans to reimagine how hotels serve cities.”
I will be in Rome — the city in which my wife grew up — in September for the Italian Hotel Investment Conference (ITHIC), so I will make a point of visiting The Social Hub Rome.
The Rome site is in the city’s San Lorenzo district, which traditionally was the socialist-communist heart of the city’s politics and is today a hip district, albeit with some wonderfully tatty edges.
To reach San Lorenzo, one walks down from the Termini train station and turns left under a road tunnel. Even getting there feels a little subversive, and I always make a point of stopping by coffee bar Bar Marani and delightful bookstore Assaggi. The way Italians present books for sale, in often similar covers and spines, makes one want to purchase everything.
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