World Savers Congress: Any Questions You Want Me to Ask?
by Wendy Perrin
Tuesday's the big day, folks: Conde Nast Traveler's World Savers Congress. We're gathering leaders of the travel industry at Gotham Hall here in NYC to discuss how they can limit environmental impact and improve the health, education, and economic well-being of the communities in which they operate. If this topic interests you as much as it interests us at the magazine, be sure to read the highlights from last year's Congress, as well as my editor-in-chief's Huffington Post article "Can Travel Change the World?"
At the Congress I'll be moderating a panel of five industry leaders who've been knocking themselves out to put a wide range of environmentally and socially responsible programs in place: Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts; Sven Lindblad, president of Lindblad Expeditions; Andrea Ross, director of tours for Journeys Within; Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts International; and Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance. The hopefully newsmaking questions I plan to ask them include:
*Have the programs you've introduced been good or bad for business?
*What are the obstacles that prevent many travel companies from doing the environmentally and socially responsible thing?
*What steps do you wish you could take but you can't because it would turn off too many guests or do too much damage to the bottom line?
*What questions should consumers ask to make sure a travel company is operating in a sustainable way before giving that company their business?
*Will the rocky U.S. economy force you to pull some of your eco-friendly programs or abandon some of your philanthropic initiatives?
*What are the latest, greatest, greener-than-green projects coming onto the scene in the next few years?
*How will the new occupant of the White House come January influence whether and how you go ahead with these projects?
For the sake of the journalists and bloggers covering the Congress -- everyone from Joe Sharkey of The New York Times and High Anxiety to Pam Mandel of Nerds Eye View and Blogher to Elliott Ng of CN Reviews and UpTake -- I need my questions to yield newsmaking, maybe even groundbreaking, answers. So, if there are any further issues you'd like me to raise that would elicit interesting responses, let me know.
And if any other journalists or bloggers are interested in attending the Congress, there are a few seats left for the press, so shoot me an email: wendy_perrin@cntraveler.com. Can't be there but you're on Twitter? Pam Mandel (Twitter name: nerdseyeview) will be twittering the Congress as well, so you can follow her news feed. If I get a chance between panels I'll try to twitter a bit myself too (Twitter name: wendyperrin). Wish us luck!
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As is often the case with organic products offered at the grocery store, many consumers fundamentally agree with the concept, yet their wallets don't necessarily support their philosophical beliefs.
Do you find that your clients support sustainable travel in theory, yet don't want their travel costs raised to support the necessary programming?
The What a Trip blog looks forward to covering the World Savers Congress at www.nancydbrown.com.
Good luck Wendy, Pam and all the panelists. This will be a great conference.
Posted by: WhataTrip | September 21, 2008 at 02:42 PM
Sometimes green isn't more expensive.
I would love to hear examples of programs that were started for eco reasons but turned out to have a cost savings or business benefit too.
For example does adding recycle bins to the rooms cut garbage costs? Is anyone using the recyclables to provide a small revenue stream?
Also, I've always like the electricity saving feature in European hotels where the room key is used to activate electricity in the room. Not only does it keep me honest, but I sometimes return home to find that the housekeeper has left all the lights on at turndown. I'm curious why that system hasn't been adopted in the US market.
Posted by: debbied | September 23, 2008 at 01:14 AM