Here’s How Luxury Travelers Are Contributing to Sustainability

While wealth inequality protesters vandalize private jets and harass tourists under the guise of protecting the environment, more than 5,000 travel industry professionals have landed in Las Vegas for the annual Virtuoso Travel Week conference, which brings together executives from hotels, resorts, tour companies, cruise lines and destinations to meet with travel advisors. The group’s travel agents sell about $30 billion worth of travel annually, mostly to the affluent travelers who have been prioritized by the protesters. But if the activists were here to listen, they might come away with a different view.

During a special block on sustainability, travel advisors learned first-hand how much of the money flowing from their clients’ bank accounts goes to support the very groups protesters claim to support by blocking highways and taxiways.

Michael Gregurich of &Beyond says that thanks to its HNW clients, it has funded 73 wells that provide clean water to more than 50,000 people in rural villages in Africa. The company has also funded the construction of 307 classrooms, including 27,000 conversation classes for local people.

“Profit and purpose can go hand in hand,” he told advisers during a morning session.

Across the pond, guests at Costa Rica’s Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa who donated $5—and the hotel’s owner matched that—raised $65,000 to build new classrooms and provide supplies for local schools. The resort also launched a teacher’s rewards program. Like many tourism businesses, it provides jobs and career opportunities that allow residents to stay in their home communities. The food and beverage director started as a dishwasher and then a busboy. The operations manager was hired as a housekeeping assistant. In addition, progressive policies mean that 50 percent of the management team is made up of women.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools in rural Peru were closed, Big Five Tours & Expeditions learned of a teacher who had programmed a robot to teach lessons in half a dozen of the country’s 40-plus languages. It funded the deployment of 17 robots in local communities, allowing village students to continue learning even when schools were closed. It was so well-received that it plans to expand the program to communities with a shortage of teachers.

Heading north to Canada, the story is similar. Destination Indigenous supports tourism growth, enabling indigenous populations to create thriving communities. Markus Kruse told travel advisors that the money earned from these visitors “sustains our cultures and languages.” This year, the group expects $1.9 billion in direct GDP contributions to more than 1,800 indigenous tourism businesses, supporting more than 40,000 jobs, all funded by the same travelers protesters want to keep home.

Protesters often portray luxury travel as champagne and caviar. In India, Insight Vacations’ Luxury Gold division is including Sheroes Hangout cafes staffed by acid-attack survivors in its plans, raising awareness of the issue. The group, which was recently sold by The Travel Corporation to a private equity firm, is supporting Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQI+ members who face violence and oppression simply because of where they were born. A company executive told advisers that the programs will continue under the new owner.

The biggest players in the travel industry are fully committed to sustainability. Kees Hogetoorn of Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam says that initiatives at Accor’s 5,000 hotels include reducing food waste and water usage, eliminating single-use plastics and reviewing suppliers’ sustainability practices. He no longer throws away bed linen and mattresses, instead donating them to homeless shelters.

“These are small steps forward, but every step helps,” he says.

Across the Atlantic, at The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, where guests pay $500 to $25,000 a night, the resort is supporting the island’s culture by opening an on-site gallery exclusively for local artists. It recently installed 813 solar panels as part of initiatives that include charging stations for electric vehicles and e-bikes, an HVAC system with air-recovery technology and specially tinted windows that help control UV, light and heat in guest rooms. Its Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program teaches adults and their children to “respect nature and live responsibly.”

Natural Habitat Adventures offers more than 100 conservation-focused tours worldwide. Don Martinson says 94 cents of every dollar spent by travelers goes back to local communities. The company was founded in 1985 after founder Ben Bressler visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada to see baby harp seals. He was so moved that he convinced local hunters to become guides on photo safaris instead.

Travel advisor Sonia Jones of Sonia Jones Travel in Brisbane, Australia, who has attended the sustainability briefings, says that while many consumers don’t typically ask about sustainability practices, the meetings helped her gain insights that she can now share with them as part of her travel proposals. One beneficiary could be the Indigenous communities of British Columbia, where she plans to promote visits as part of the Canadian itineraries she designs for her clients.