We just learned from a study on Sustainable Tourism that:
Certification by itself means nothing. It needs to be concrete and have clear examples. What are you doing? Solar panels for heating water, compost for the organic vegetable garden, etc.
Guests are not willing to pay a premium (yet) but very much appreciate a focus on sustainability.
There is no brand that is identified in the hospitality business as leader in sustainability…an opportunity for Cayuga?
The proof of the pudding is ever more in the tasting. In a world where a negative opinion can go viral overnight, giving the customer a positive, rewarding, unique and thoroughly sustainable experience is every travel company’s first order of business.
Six women eco-preneurs combine conservation, compassion and life’s little luxuries to offer new solutions in environmentally responsible travel
February 18, 2010 – What do a dude ranch in British Columbia, an organic coffee plantation and a private nature preserve in Costa Rica, a private island retreat in Nicaragua, and the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve in Ontario have in common? These five eco-lodges are owned by women who are leading eco-preneurs inviting international travelers to take a deep breath, immerse themselves in pristine natural environments, and pamper themselves- all with a minimal eco-footprint and positive impacts on communities surrounding their resorts.
Last year in Vancouver, the Dalai Lama proclaimed that western women will come to the rescue of the world. He believes that women with their nurturing instincts are naturally more compassionate and that they tend to reinvest their profits in their families and communities. These two reasons alone were enough for him to make this strong statement and these six women who are following their natural instincts and developing these sustainable tourism experiences are examples of just that.
Andrea Bonilla was born and raised in Costa Rica, where she spent most of her youth at her parents' farm where she developed a strong relationship with the environment and the local culture and recognized the benefits to sustaining and uniting people and their traditional lands. In 1992, she seized the opportunity to study Hotel Administration at the Cornell Hotel School in Ithaca, New York. After graduating and working in hotel management positions in Africa and Central America, she founded her own tourism management company, Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, focusing exclusively on small, upscale, sustainable hotels and lodges in Central America.
Cayuga has been a pioneer in bringing professional management to small ecolodges and sustainable hotels traditionally managed by founder-owners. Andrea’s commitment to unite sustainable practices and programs in community development, conservation and education are deeply rooted in her past. She is now Managing Director at Cayuga in charge of the operation of six hotels in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Additionally, Andrea has been instrumental in founding the not-for-profit Equilibrium Foundation, with goals to fund and focus educational and biodiversity conservation programs where Cayuga Hotels operate.
Teresa Jampol, co-founder and co-owner at Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn just above the beautiful Central Valley of Costa Rica, can often be found harvesting organically grown produce from her gardens, when she isn’t sharing her sustainability strategies with other international hospitality operators or teaching guests about the local natural environment and culture through food, dance, music and art.
Jampol has been instrumental in Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn becoming the first certified sustainable hotel in Costa Rica, and to its evolving over the last 20 years into the highest ranking member of the prestigious Sustainable Tourism Certification program (CST) and the only hotel that has achieved a perfect score of 100 per cent.
“Since 1985, when we began our project at Finca Rosa Blanca, we have always had one important goal in mind: to leave the minimal possible trace of our existence,” says Jampol. “Since the beginning of our adventure on this property, we have concentrated on an ambitious plan of recycling and regeneration, social consciousness and education.”
With a degree in genetics, a background in music and media, a successful London-based business career and a passion for wildlife and wild places, Karen Emanuel found herself on an off-the-beaten-track vacation to Nicaragua three years ago. She discovered Jicaro Island after walking into a restaurant that had posted a notice proclaiming "Island for Sale”. Ecolodges were another Nicaraguan discovery that got her thinking.
After arriving back home to the bleak London winter, she got out the back of an envelope and scribbled down a few figures. Within a few weeks she had wired a deposit on the Island. Emanuel’s Jicaro Island Ecolodge opened in early 2010.
Harmony with nature and the local community were a key consideration in the development of the ecolodge. The resort was built with minimum impact to the island and with very careful planning in terms of water supply, wastewater treatment and electricity usage. “From where I stand, sustainable business practices and lifestyle choices are the only way forward to protect this amazing world in which we live and enable its survival,” says Emanuel.
Wanting to help protect 1,000 acres of Central America's last remaining lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, Karen Lewis and her husband liquidated all their assets in Minnesota to finance the purchase of a large tract of rainforest and to build a small, supporting ecotourism project.
They now operate Lapa Rios Ecolodge on this land, which overlooks the pristine point where the Golfo Dulce meets the wild Pacific Ocean. Lapa Rios has been awarded Costa Rica’s highest certification in sustainable tourism (CST) and a conservation covenant through The Nature Conservancy and CEDARENA ensures that this first growth forest will be preserved in perpetuity. The 930-acre Lapa Rios Reserve helps buffer the neighbouring Corcovado National Park and also serves as a wildlife corridor.
In 1990, Lapa Rios was a demonstration model preserving people and place, where guests observed what could be possible; perhaps ahead of the times. Now in 2010, a much larger percentage of travelers demand that all tourism operators and destinations adhere closely to a triple bottom line approach of doing business. ”Over the past 20 years, sustainably-driven ecotourism businesses have not only helped educate rural and wilderness communities to improve sustainable principles and practices, but we have also shifted the travelers’ expectations regarding mainstream tourism,” says Lewis.
“I am living my dream with the creation of this beautiful ecolodge where the staff, guests and the local community are being educated in sustainable tourism and sustainable living,” said Lewis. “The more people like me that are inspired to do something like this and the more people involved, the more likely it is that we can help change our future. The power of independent eco-preneurs should not be underestimated, but we also need the larger tour companies to introduce sustainable practices and worldwide eco-tourism standards to work towards.”
Cowboys and carbon footprints haven’t always gone hand in hand, but Allyson Rogers, owner and operator of Siwash Lake Ranch in British Columbia’s Cariboo region, believes that wrangling the most progressive clean energy technologies is just as integral to the resort as wrangling horses, fly fishing for rainbow trout or tracking black bear, coyotes and cougars.
Known as a modern day pioneer and as one of Canada’s top eco-preneurs, Rogers has literally built her ranch from the ground up, managing the lodgings, restaurant, guided eco-adventures and the farm while also working in the field as an interpretive nature guide, leading the ranch’s horsemanship program and monitoring the surrounding land for the effects of climate change. Rogers also acts as a consultant with international clients to engage tourism operators in sustainable travel.
“Being close to nature allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of the planet - I see the effects of climate change and industry's foreboding footprint upon the environment every day,” said Rogers. “Siwash Lake Ranch offers guests a pure life experience and it is dependent on a healthy landscape. The ranch is my life's work, and I feel a huge responsibility to take care of the ranch lands and the wilds surrounding it.”
E’Terra – Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve, Ontario, Canada
Set amongst the cedars at the tip of Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula, Laurie Adams, whose family has lived and farmed in the area for over 100 years, has created E’Terra, a luxury estate that offers the ultimate in personal privacy, environmental design and an “eco-picurian experience,” luxury combined with a social and environmental conscience.
A member of the Canadian Green Building Council and the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association in the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve, Adams had a vision to create a luxurious retreat that would coexists in perfect harmony with the pristine environment that surrounds it.
“E’Terra was created to be the healthiest, ecologically luxurious building our guests have ever experienced,” said Adams. “Physically, they feel better as soon as they arrive and walk inside. This feeling is so intense that they immediately ask why and how can they continue to feel this way. It is definitely a journey of self-discovery about what can make us feel better, which is incredibly important when our personal time is so precious.”
The Sustainability Café on Tuesday, March 9th will feature Hans Pfister, president and co-owner of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, speaking on integrating sustainability into the hospitality industry. The Café will be held in Friends Room 309 from 12:10 – 1:00PM. The unique name of this Sustainability Café is taken from the "Pigs, Twigs and Garbage Tour" at Lapa Rios Ecolodge in Costa Rica, where guests learn how they can incorporate elements of sustainability into their personal lives.
Hans Pfister,a committed conservation tourism professional, heads Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, a company dedicated to the management and development of hotels, lodges and other tourism-related projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that have an ecological, conservationist or sustainable aspect to them. Currently, Cayuga manages six hotels in different regions of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, offering direct employment to more than 300 locals.
This event is free and open to the public.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Marian Brown at 607-274-3787or mbrown@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
“Teachable edibles” – local, organic and/or seasonal snacks – for the Spring 2010 Sustainability Café series are being sponsored by Ithaca College Dining Services whose motto is “Sustainability – Healthy – Fresh.” Please bring your reusable mug and fill up at the nearest drinking fountain or provide your own beverage of choice.
Drink in a new way to think in theSustainability Café.
