Episode #55: The Undeniable Benefits of Aligning Your Values with Travel | David Leventhal

In this episode of the Sustainable Hospitality Podcast, host Amy Wald welcomes David Leventhal, a visionary entrepreneur and impact investor revolutionizing the travel industry through his ventures Playa Viva and Regenerative Travel Inc.

For hoteliers and hospitality investors, David offers game-changing insights on:

●      Driving profitability through regenerative practices

●      Attracting top talent with purpose-driven operations

●      Innovative community engagement strategies

●      Leveraging sustainability certifications for brand enhancement

Travelers will be inspired by David's passion for creating transformative experiences that benefit both guests and local communities. He paints an enticing picture of Playa Viva, his eco-resort in Mexico, where visitors can:

●      Immerse themselves in the luxury of untouched nature

●      Participate in sea turtle conservation

●      Enjoy farm-to-table dining from the resort's own permaculture farm

●      Connect with local culture and contribute to community projects

David's creation of Regenerative Travel, a global network of conscious hotels, offers a roadmap for travelers seeking authentic, impactful experiences around the world. His philosophy of "all the luxury, none of the guilt" showcases how high-end hospitality can coexist with environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

Whether you're a hospitality professional looking to future-proof your business or a traveler dreaming of your next meaningful adventure, this episode will leave you inspired and eager to be part of the regenerative travel movement. Tune in for a discussion that proves sustainable tourism is not just a trend, but the future of travel and hospitality."

Key Takeaways:

Quote: The more conscious you are about the negative footprint that we often make on the planet, the more conscious we are of what more we can do.

Show Notes:

David’s LinkedIn

Plan your vacation that meets your values at Playa Viva

Begin your Regenerative journey here.

#RegenerativeTravel, #SustainableHospitality, #SustainabilityPodcast, #HospitalityLeaders, #ImpactInvestor, #Conservation, #FogoIsland, #Regenisis, 

#EcoLuxury, #TravelWithPurpose, #AgentsOfChange, #RegenerativeArchitecture, #Mexico

#ResponsibleTourism, #BCorp #EthicalTravel 

#CommunityTourism - #SustainableBusiness, #EcoResorts, #GreenHospitality,

#TravelForGood, #SustainableLuxury, #ConsciousTravel, #HospitalityInnovation

Transcript

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Welcome back, everyone,

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to another episode of the

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Sustainable Hospitality Podcast.

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I'm one of your hosts, Amy Wald.

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And don't forget, please like, subscribe,

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and leave us a comment.

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We want to be able to keep

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bringing you these valuable

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and inspirational conversations,

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and we can't do it without your support.

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So don't forget, leave us some feedback.

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Today, though,

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I want to jump in right away

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because we have a very special guest.

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I have been anticipating

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this conversation for a very long time,

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have been following his

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work and am just flat out a fan.

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And so we have David Leventhal.

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Hi, David.

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How are you?

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Hi, Amy.

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Great.

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Great.

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Glad to be here.

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We are so glad you're here.

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David has been pioneering

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the regenerative travel movement for many,

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many years.

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And so we're going to get

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into that discussion.

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What does regenerative

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travel mean and how is it

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different from

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sustainability and all

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kinds of good stuff and

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also how you can take the

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most fabulous vacation of

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your life and really tune

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into those things that

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matter at Playa Viva.

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But I want to give the

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audience a little bit of a

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background of yours, David.

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So David,

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David is a regenerative social

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and environmental impact

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entrepreneur and investor,

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a business development guy at heart.

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His background is in sales

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and marketing in emerging

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media and technology.

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But over the past 20 years,

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David's endeavors have

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focused on real estate and

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hospitality and really

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using his values for regenerative,

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environmental and social

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impact to drive the things

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that he is doing.

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involved in through Playa

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Viva and Regenerative Travel Inc.

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They have endeavored to

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leverage hospitality and

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real estate investments to bring capital.

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And that is social, market, intellectual,

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natural and financial

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capital to work in

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improving the ecosystem for

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both people and the planet

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to create vibrant, resilient,

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healthy and profitable

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systems for all participants.

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It takes slow money, he says,

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committed investment, but it's working.

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And I want you to elaborate

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on that a little bit later

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so we can unpack that sentence.

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But David, thank you so much.

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I know you're a busy guy.

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You're in Portland, Oregon right now,

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and I'm in Columbus, Ohio.

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So thanks to technology,

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we are going to be able to

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have a great conversation today.

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What is new in your world, David?

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Well, most recently,

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I just got back from Ranchlands,

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part of the Regenerative Travel Network,

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and met Tess,

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the daughter of the guy who founded it,

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Duke.

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We were in a peer circle

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group together within Regenerative Travel,

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and they just got a brand new site called

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paint rock.

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And so I was able to go down

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and visit those guys and

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see what they're doing

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there and really understand

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how ranch lands is not a dude ranch.

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You're on horses, in camp, working cattle,

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yet it's in a beautiful,

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beautiful environment.

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I was discussing with a friend,

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there's 80,000 acres that

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they manage there.

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Yes.

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And it was not only beautiful,

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the experience was really

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about preserving the cowboy

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culture as part of sustaining

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the and conserving the grasslands.

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And also was able to do a little fishing,

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there's a river.

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And the food was absolutely amazing.

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And the staff was great.

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So yes, that that's my life.

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And it was beautiful experience.

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Sounds incredible.

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There's so many different

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ways I think to take part

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in some of these really

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great give back tourism

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ways in the world.

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And we're going to talk about that.

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Um, so David, you know,

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your passion for regenerative travel,

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where did that derive from?

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Give us a little bit of a

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history of your journey and

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how you've come to be where

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you are today.

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Yeah, the origin story, right?

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The origin story.

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Well, you know,

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Regenerative travel is

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really an evolution of

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everything that I've done.

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Like so much of what we do

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in life is we're here now

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because of all the things

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that happen in the background.

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So not only having done work

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in sales and marketing, growing up,

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the first job I had was busing tables.

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I paid for my college education,

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working as a waiter in a

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restaurant in Chapel Hill

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called Spanky's.

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Earned my chops in hospitality,

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but never went to the

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Cornell School of

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Hospitality or to some Swiss school.

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What we're doing as far as

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regeneration really is an

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evolution of having first

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became a conservationist.

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My ex-wife and I got

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involved with a biologist

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who was at Stanford University.

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That biologist invited us to

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go visit him in Calakmul,

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where he was doing a

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project to save the jaguar

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as this umbrella species,

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and they were tracking the jaguar.

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And we were lucky enough to

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get involved in that

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project and help fund the

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legal strategy on that,

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which eventually became one

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of the largest private

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conservation easements

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working with the local

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population that owned the land,

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but really found a way for

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them to put it into

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conservation easement and

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generate revenue for themselves from it.

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But through another person I met,

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Sean Paul,

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soon you realize just because

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you put a fence around

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something and say we're

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protecting it doesn't mean

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you're protecting it.

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That there's still people

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pressures on that land.

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They're gonna still go in

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and poach jaguars,

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they're gonna still cut

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down trees if they're poor

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and they have no other kind of options.

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So you can't just be a

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conservationist without

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being kind of a social

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impact person and take care

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of the people problems that

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are pressuring the environment.

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and so that's when I became

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this dualist as I like to

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call it social and

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environmental impact person

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and a lot of what I learned

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in social impact came from

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being involved in a group

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called svn a social venture

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network which has gone

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through several iterations

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and involve uh and

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iterations but it was

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founded by people like ben

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and jerry's and seventh

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generation and many of the

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products you'll see in whole foods um

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When we got started in

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hospitality was around the time,

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about 1999,

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my ex-wife Sandra Kahn bought

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some land in Troncones in Mexico,

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and we turned it into like

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a bed and breakfast because

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we wanted the people that

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work there to...

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earn money when we're not there.

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And we rented it out and

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really saw the go-go days

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of 2000 explode from a real

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estate standpoint.

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The growth that came from that,

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we were able to take advantage of that.

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And we're going to expand

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what was called Casa Viva Troncones.

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And the land was just way

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too expensive at that point.

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And through our accountant,

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we heard about a piece of property,

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ended up buying 200 acres

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and a mile of beachfront.

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and developed Playa Viva.

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And then Sandy, my ex-wife,

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made a brilliant move to go

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off to Greenville to look

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at different partners to

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work with us on that

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project and found a guy by

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the name of Bill Reed, who you may know.

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Bill is one of the founders of Regenesis.

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And Bill told her, you know,

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we can make it better.

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And I was in high tech at the time.

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I was like, you know, bullshit, Bill.

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It's like whenever you build, you destroy.

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And Bill said something

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interesting to me that I always remember.

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He said,

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humans have touched and degraded

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99% of the place on the

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planet where you're going

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to build something.

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And if you understand the

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history of place and how

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that place got degraded,

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you can then understand

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your role in bringing back

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the abundance that was once there.

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It's beautiful.

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They'll help by that.

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So we ended up hiring

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Regenesis and really began

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developing in this whole

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systems approach.

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And that was really taking

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what we had done with

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conservation and social

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impact and really turned it

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into a whole systems view.

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So really completing from

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dualist whole systems.

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And, you know,

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from a hospitality standpoint,

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it really was developing something that

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what's now our motto,

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where your vacation meets your values.

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And I think had we or had I

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gone to one of these

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classically education

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training as a hospital,

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it would never have been what it is.

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But because it was like, no,

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we're going to do this how

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we want to travel,

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that's really the evolution

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of how Playa Viva came about.

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And, you know,

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the story I tell of how it

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eventually became regenerative travel,

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you know,

00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.621
gives you the full origin story.

00:09:51.282 --> 00:09:54.105
We have a guest, Pam Page,

00:09:54.426 --> 00:09:55.187
who comes with her two

00:09:55.206 --> 00:09:56.227
daughters and the grandkids,

00:09:56.268 --> 00:09:57.750
and they come every other year.

00:09:57.789 --> 00:09:59.731
And Pam said to me one year, she said,

00:09:59.772 --> 00:10:03.515
David, Playa Viva, you check on my boxes,

00:10:03.556 --> 00:10:05.197
even boxes I didn't know I had.

00:10:06.158 --> 00:10:07.179
but I can't just keep coming

00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:08.561
here where else are there

00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:10.341
playavivas in the world and

00:10:10.562 --> 00:10:12.643
that really was the origin

00:10:13.224 --> 00:10:14.423
for regenerative travel

00:10:14.443 --> 00:10:17.125
it's like oh well if pam is

00:10:17.145 --> 00:10:17.905
looking for more of these

00:10:17.927 --> 00:10:19.307
hotels there's got to be

00:10:19.486 --> 00:10:21.548
lots of pams out there and

00:10:21.649 --> 00:10:23.049
how can we help service

00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:25.291
them and provide value to

00:10:25.370 --> 00:10:26.831
playaviva and to the other

00:10:26.851 --> 00:10:28.212
playavivas in the world so

00:10:29.283 --> 00:10:29.764
Wow,

00:10:29.865 --> 00:10:31.947
I did not realize that that was the

00:10:32.008 --> 00:10:34.750
history of regenerative travel,

00:10:34.811 --> 00:10:36.453
and it makes complete sense.

00:10:37.816 --> 00:10:39.498
I love what you said about

00:10:39.597 --> 00:10:41.000
you don't think that Playa

00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:42.120
Viva would have evolved and

00:10:42.160 --> 00:10:43.562
been what it is had you

00:10:43.623 --> 00:10:46.427
gone to a formal hospitality school.

00:10:47.347 --> 00:10:50.211
So often we are boxed in by

00:10:50.311 --> 00:10:52.592
what culture has determined

00:10:52.673 --> 00:10:53.594
something to be.

00:10:53.754 --> 00:10:55.336
So that's a really

00:10:55.456 --> 00:10:57.518
interesting point of view.

00:10:57.758 --> 00:11:00.880
And I cannot wait to go to Playa Viva.

00:11:00.900 --> 00:11:02.562
It has been on my bucket list forever.

00:11:02.682 --> 00:11:04.203
So I can't wait to get into that too.

00:11:05.902 --> 00:11:07.482
Well, let's, let's kind of back,

00:11:07.703 --> 00:11:08.583
back up a little bit.

00:11:08.663 --> 00:11:10.885
And for our listeners that, you know,

00:11:10.946 --> 00:11:11.365
everybody,

00:11:11.386 --> 00:11:15.048
everybody knows the word sustainability.

00:11:15.629 --> 00:11:18.152
Some may know regenerative,

00:11:18.172 --> 00:11:19.994
but not really have a grasp

00:11:20.134 --> 00:11:21.455
on what it truly means.

00:11:22.355 --> 00:11:24.236
Tell me what you would

00:11:24.376 --> 00:11:25.957
consider the main

00:11:26.057 --> 00:11:27.298
differences between

00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:30.881
sustainability and regenerative travel,

00:11:31.102 --> 00:11:32.624
or just as a philosophy.

00:11:34.106 --> 00:11:34.467
Yeah.

00:11:35.068 --> 00:11:35.890
Well, I mean,

00:11:35.910 --> 00:11:36.572
I think the first thing I

00:11:36.591 --> 00:11:38.655
want to say is a lot of

00:11:38.676 --> 00:11:39.878
people get caught up in the works.

00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.259
And I remember being on a

00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:44.139
conference call one time

00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:44.700
and someone was like,

00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:46.660
why are you throwing out a

00:11:47.061 --> 00:11:48.081
regeneration when people

00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:49.022
are just now getting used

00:11:49.062 --> 00:11:49.981
to sustainability?

00:11:50.042 --> 00:11:51.423
It's like, wait a minute,

00:11:51.442 --> 00:11:52.722
let's not fight each other

00:11:52.763 --> 00:11:54.984
over these words.

00:11:55.344 --> 00:11:55.823
To me,

00:11:55.903 --> 00:11:57.865
there's a continuum that you're

00:11:58.264 --> 00:11:58.985
constantly doing.

00:11:59.304 --> 00:12:00.806
The more conscious you are

00:12:01.326 --> 00:12:03.846
about the footprint,

00:12:04.447 --> 00:12:05.486
the negative footprint that

00:12:05.506 --> 00:12:06.628
we often make in the planet,

00:12:07.841 --> 00:12:09.724
the more conscious we are of

00:12:09.803 --> 00:12:11.065
what more we can do.

00:12:11.565 --> 00:12:14.888
So it's really just moving

00:12:14.908 --> 00:12:18.330
kind of on that path is the

00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:19.250
first thing I want to say.

00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:20.812
So what is that path?

00:12:20.851 --> 00:12:22.173
I think the path is green,

00:12:22.232 --> 00:12:23.573
let's do less damage.

00:12:24.794 --> 00:12:26.937
And sustainability, you know,

00:12:26.956 --> 00:12:28.798
I think the word says it,

00:12:29.038 --> 00:12:30.379
let's at least sustain

00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:32.000
where we are and not get worse.

00:12:33.479 --> 00:12:35.980
And regeneration is often

00:12:36.020 --> 00:12:38.142
confused with restoration.

00:12:38.982 --> 00:12:40.442
And I think regeneration

00:12:40.482 --> 00:12:42.345
really has a paradigm shift

00:12:43.004 --> 00:12:44.946
and a mindset change that

00:12:44.985 --> 00:12:46.246
goes a little bit deeper than that.

00:12:46.947 --> 00:12:48.107
And what I mean by that is

00:12:49.129 --> 00:12:50.629
what I call moving from a

00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:52.291
scarcity to abundance

00:12:52.431 --> 00:12:54.091
mindset would be one of them.

00:12:55.841 --> 00:12:57.062
know there's not enough we

00:12:57.102 --> 00:12:57.724
have to fight for the

00:12:57.764 --> 00:13:00.085
resources no nature creates

00:13:00.184 --> 00:13:01.446
its own balance and

00:13:01.485 --> 00:13:03.128
abundance and learning to

00:13:03.268 --> 00:13:05.408
be in that and understand

00:13:05.448 --> 00:13:07.571
that is key and so the

00:13:07.630 --> 00:13:08.292
other one would be

00:13:08.412 --> 00:13:10.033
reciprocity how to live in

00:13:10.153 --> 00:13:15.537
reciprocity is another one

00:13:15.898 --> 00:13:17.778
yes um whole systems

00:13:17.839 --> 00:13:20.961
thinking is a key to it and

00:13:21.822 --> 00:13:23.884
for me from a hospitality standpoint it's

00:13:25.261 --> 00:13:26.802
history place and honoring

00:13:26.903 --> 00:13:29.705
place so one of the things

00:13:29.725 --> 00:13:30.426
you see a lot in

00:13:30.466 --> 00:13:32.027
hospitality right now is

00:13:32.067 --> 00:13:35.548
this question of um kind of

00:13:35.668 --> 00:13:38.471
quality versus quantity and

00:13:38.551 --> 00:13:39.711
during covet a lot of

00:13:39.751 --> 00:13:41.833
places like hawaii for

00:13:41.874 --> 00:13:43.815
example that were overrun

00:13:44.254 --> 00:13:45.456
previously and then had no

00:13:45.696 --> 00:13:47.116
visitors was like wow

00:13:48.048 --> 00:13:49.269
Quality of life in Hawaii is

00:13:49.509 --> 00:13:52.351
so much better without all the gas,

00:13:52.692 --> 00:13:53.993
yet we still depend on the gas.

00:13:54.013 --> 00:13:56.193
So how do you find that balance?

00:13:57.794 --> 00:13:59.576
And over tourism is a big question too.

00:13:59.696 --> 00:14:01.878
How to do tourism in a way

00:14:01.918 --> 00:14:03.339
that people can enjoy what

00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:05.279
is so special about that

00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:06.421
place that brought people

00:14:06.900 --> 00:14:08.522
without ruining that place

00:14:08.621 --> 00:14:09.663
in the process of it.

00:14:10.302 --> 00:14:13.167
And so to me, too, in that reciprocity,

00:14:13.187 --> 00:14:14.128
I talk a lot about this,

00:14:14.347 --> 00:14:15.308
is that balance between

00:14:15.328 --> 00:14:18.211
being a good guest and a good host?

00:14:19.894 --> 00:14:21.235
And what our responsibility

00:14:21.495 --> 00:14:22.677
is there as well.

00:14:23.677 --> 00:14:25.620
And we can go into that further.

00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.261
And I think the one thing I

00:14:27.282 --> 00:14:27.783
do want to mention,

00:14:27.842 --> 00:14:28.724
one of my favorite quotes

00:14:28.803 --> 00:14:31.106
these days is an Anthony Bourdain quote.

00:14:31.126 --> 00:14:31.346
Wow.

00:14:32.932 --> 00:14:39.035
which is travel is not reward for working.

00:14:39.475 --> 00:14:41.038
It's education for living.

00:14:41.937 --> 00:14:43.538
And there's this mentality

00:14:43.578 --> 00:14:44.679
that we've built up over

00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:46.000
the last couple of years,

00:14:46.201 --> 00:14:47.581
and it's really recent if

00:14:47.601 --> 00:14:48.822
you think about travel from

00:14:48.863 --> 00:14:49.903
a human standpoint for a

00:14:49.923 --> 00:14:50.604
long period of time,

00:14:51.485 --> 00:14:55.267
that we deserve a deck chair.

00:14:55.366 --> 00:14:59.529
We deserve that Mai Tai with an umbrella.

00:15:00.029 --> 00:15:01.991
There's something deserving about that.

00:15:02.523 --> 00:15:03.664
and the way we treat the

00:15:03.904 --> 00:15:05.447
local people as a result of

00:15:05.486 --> 00:15:07.149
that entitlement.

00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:09.231
And that gets back to that

00:15:09.633 --> 00:15:10.234
balance and that

00:15:10.254 --> 00:15:11.274
reciprocity around being

00:15:11.335 --> 00:15:13.719
good guests and good hosts where we go.

00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:15.160
And that's what I think is

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:16.543
core to regenerative travel.

00:15:17.721 --> 00:15:19.403
So, yes, I could, you know,

00:15:19.702 --> 00:15:20.783
this is my soapbox.

00:15:20.863 --> 00:15:21.984
I could go on and on about it.

00:15:22.004 --> 00:15:24.024
But I hope that encapsulates, you know,

00:15:24.404 --> 00:15:27.066
that it is a trajectory that, you know,

00:15:27.605 --> 00:15:28.505
once you get on that,

00:15:28.546 --> 00:15:29.726
I think you continue to

00:15:29.767 --> 00:15:31.427
move up that and hopefully

00:15:31.447 --> 00:15:32.388
in a positive way.

00:15:32.868 --> 00:15:33.827
And then, you know,

00:15:33.908 --> 00:15:35.168
we are all tourists the

00:15:35.208 --> 00:15:36.489
moment we walk out our door.

00:15:37.710 --> 00:15:38.529
It's just a matter of how

00:15:38.590 --> 00:15:40.811
far we go and how do we

00:15:40.850 --> 00:15:42.672
want to behave in our

00:15:42.711 --> 00:15:44.371
neighborhood and how do we

00:15:44.412 --> 00:15:45.253
want to behave in other

00:15:45.273 --> 00:15:45.893
people's neighborhoods.

00:15:47.734 --> 00:15:50.416
Yes, it just goes back to fundamentals.

00:15:50.456 --> 00:15:52.638
I'm so glad you started with, you know,

00:15:52.677 --> 00:15:55.460
sustainability is a mindset, right?

00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:57.120
It's about being conscious.

00:15:58.081 --> 00:16:01.484
But as you evolve and move up that ladder,

00:16:01.504 --> 00:16:04.105
you will reach regenerative growth.

00:16:04.745 --> 00:16:06.927
or regeneration and, you know,

00:16:07.229 --> 00:16:08.870
sustainability and regeneration,

00:16:09.009 --> 00:16:10.610
they're ever evolving.

00:16:10.672 --> 00:16:11.692
And so we're going to

00:16:11.993 --> 00:16:14.414
continue to see new things.

00:16:14.534 --> 00:16:16.636
But I think thinking about

00:16:16.677 --> 00:16:19.198
it consciously daily on how

00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:20.100
you can do that from a

00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:21.100
business standpoint and an

00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.381
individual is the only way

00:16:23.461 --> 00:16:26.845
to really adopt that that

00:16:26.985 --> 00:16:28.506
true meaning of it.

00:16:29.366 --> 00:16:29.908
Yeah.

00:16:30.148 --> 00:16:30.828
And really,

00:16:31.772 --> 00:16:36.116
You don't have to go from zero to 100.

00:16:37.298 --> 00:16:39.840
Pick one thing and start there.

00:16:42.003 --> 00:16:43.323
And to me,

00:16:43.344 --> 00:16:45.466
and tell me what you think of this.

00:16:45.485 --> 00:16:47.307
You're talking about being

00:16:47.327 --> 00:16:48.789
good guests and being good hosts.

00:16:48.909 --> 00:16:50.711
And I think about as a business,

00:16:52.482 --> 00:16:54.445
It takes intention.

00:16:54.465 --> 00:16:56.785
And just as you would focus

00:16:56.885 --> 00:16:59.087
on any other area of your business,

00:16:59.548 --> 00:17:00.729
you've got to really sit

00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:02.571
down and plan what you

00:17:02.691 --> 00:17:04.511
think the vision looks like

00:17:05.173 --> 00:17:06.473
and then be able to guide

00:17:06.534 --> 00:17:08.075
the people that work for

00:17:08.095 --> 00:17:11.377
you so that you do have a clear path.

00:17:11.438 --> 00:17:12.317
Do you think so?

00:17:12.538 --> 00:17:14.279
Or what's your thoughts on that?

00:17:14.755 --> 00:17:14.934
Well,

00:17:14.954 --> 00:17:15.895
tell me more about what you're

00:17:15.915 --> 00:17:16.636
thinking about that.

00:17:16.916 --> 00:17:17.238
Well,

00:17:17.657 --> 00:17:21.102
I think that if you just haphazardly

00:17:21.201 --> 00:17:23.964
go about things and you're

00:17:24.005 --> 00:17:26.346
not seeing what's working,

00:17:26.547 --> 00:17:28.249
seeing what the community needs,

00:17:28.509 --> 00:17:31.512
seeing what your employees value,

00:17:32.554 --> 00:17:33.575
then it can't be,

00:17:34.035 --> 00:17:35.457
it's not as good as it could be,

00:17:35.717 --> 00:17:37.439
I guess is where I see it.

00:17:39.587 --> 00:17:40.607
Yeah, you're spot on.

00:17:40.887 --> 00:17:42.969
And I think this gets to the

00:17:43.068 --> 00:17:44.430
concepts of whole systems

00:17:44.490 --> 00:17:46.590
thinking and history of place.

00:17:47.050 --> 00:17:49.373
And so the role there really is to,

00:17:49.393 --> 00:17:50.593
you know,

00:17:50.712 --> 00:17:53.375
just like the more I understand

00:17:53.494 --> 00:17:55.175
how you became who you are,

00:17:55.256 --> 00:17:56.355
the more it informs our

00:17:56.395 --> 00:17:57.797
relationship going forward.

00:17:58.717 --> 00:18:00.317
Any person to person, well,

00:18:00.397 --> 00:18:01.638
a place is very similar.

00:18:01.939 --> 00:18:03.359
How did that place get that way?

00:18:04.162 --> 00:18:05.643
Why is it this way?

00:18:06.163 --> 00:18:08.604
And then what is my role within that?

00:18:08.943 --> 00:18:10.565
And it's not just me, right?

00:18:10.585 --> 00:18:11.865
Because people ask me all the time,

00:18:13.046 --> 00:18:14.487
what do people in the

00:18:14.646 --> 00:18:15.948
community think about Playa Viva?

00:18:16.948 --> 00:18:19.490
Well, we're now part of that community.

00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:21.111
What do we think of ourselves, right?

00:18:21.351 --> 00:18:21.550
Well,

00:18:22.490 --> 00:18:25.692
it's an evolving relationship that

00:18:25.712 --> 00:18:26.613
you have with them.

00:18:26.833 --> 00:18:27.193
And yes,

00:18:27.233 --> 00:18:28.574
you are talking about some very

00:18:28.614 --> 00:18:29.795
key constituencies there

00:18:30.154 --> 00:18:31.655
when you talk about our employees.

00:18:32.882 --> 00:18:34.163
Um, and their families.

00:18:35.183 --> 00:18:35.304
Um,

00:18:35.644 --> 00:18:39.906
so it is a process of working with that

00:18:39.946 --> 00:18:40.366
community.

00:18:40.446 --> 00:18:40.807
One of the, uh,

00:18:42.868 --> 00:18:43.769
core parts of the history

00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:46.070
of place was interviews

00:18:46.090 --> 00:18:47.311
that we did with the town elders.

00:18:48.132 --> 00:18:49.834
And the question that was

00:18:49.913 --> 00:18:50.973
asked was what are your

00:18:51.013 --> 00:18:51.894
hopes and dreams and

00:18:51.954 --> 00:18:53.135
aspirations for place?

00:18:55.402 --> 00:18:58.707
And what came back was the town was dying.

00:18:59.166 --> 00:19:02.131
Huluchuka, this little town of, I think,

00:19:02.131 --> 00:19:04.394
500 people at the time, max.

00:19:06.217 --> 00:19:07.798
The elders were saying, you know,

00:19:08.058 --> 00:19:09.101
there's no opportunity here.

00:19:09.121 --> 00:19:09.801
Everybody's leaving.

00:19:10.301 --> 00:19:11.344
They're leaving us with the kids.

00:19:11.403 --> 00:19:14.587
They go into Ixtapazihuana over hotel jobs,

00:19:14.688 --> 00:19:15.769
or if they got a decent

00:19:15.809 --> 00:19:18.192
education to Mexico City as professionals,

00:19:18.713 --> 00:19:20.395
or they'll cross the border

00:19:20.457 --> 00:19:22.138
and go into the US for ag jobs,

00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:23.721
either legally or illegally,

00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:25.363
and just send remittances back,

00:19:25.384 --> 00:19:26.325
but the town was dying.

00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:29.980
I think people tell me

00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:31.441
Huluchuk's got 700 people

00:19:31.461 --> 00:19:32.101
living there now.

00:19:32.800 --> 00:19:36.301
And the stories of people

00:19:36.382 --> 00:19:38.803
who came back for various reasons,

00:19:38.823 --> 00:19:39.482
like Johnny,

00:19:40.363 --> 00:19:41.522
whose father was ill and he

00:19:41.563 --> 00:19:43.104
had left to go to Oregon

00:19:43.203 --> 00:19:45.084
and was working three jobs in Oregon,

00:19:45.785 --> 00:19:47.065
came and worked at Playa Viva.

00:19:47.805 --> 00:19:49.766
He had worked at an embassy

00:19:49.806 --> 00:19:50.946
suite as a bartender.

00:19:51.067 --> 00:19:52.827
So he had a little hospitality.

00:19:52.847 --> 00:19:54.888
But Johnny's a super amazing guy.

00:19:55.509 --> 00:19:57.269
And so yeah, Johnny worked at Playa Viva.

00:19:57.289 --> 00:19:59.070
He vented the organic basil margarita.

00:19:59.151 --> 00:20:03.593
He started being involved in activities.

00:20:03.692 --> 00:20:04.334
Next thing you know,

00:20:04.433 --> 00:20:06.075
he decided he was going to

00:20:06.095 --> 00:20:08.155
get his tour guide's license,

00:20:08.776 --> 00:20:09.936
spun out his own business.

00:20:09.977 --> 00:20:12.057
We helped him with the van

00:20:12.117 --> 00:20:14.159
to get started to do transportation.

00:20:14.939 --> 00:20:16.760
And Johnny's daughter now is

00:20:16.921 --> 00:20:18.021
coming back and taking the

00:20:18.061 --> 00:20:21.565
exam to help out her dad in that business,

00:20:21.585 --> 00:20:22.465
and it's growing.

00:20:23.267 --> 00:20:25.848
And so Johnny would rather

00:20:25.929 --> 00:20:27.210
live in Hula Chuka.

00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:28.671
People would rather live at home.

00:20:29.521 --> 00:20:31.443
His lifestyle, while he works really,

00:20:31.483 --> 00:20:31.923
really hard,

00:20:31.983 --> 00:20:34.806
is a lot better in his little

00:20:34.846 --> 00:20:36.948
hometown than it is moving to Portland,

00:20:37.768 --> 00:20:38.169
where I am.

00:20:38.949 --> 00:20:41.211
So I think that really

00:20:41.290 --> 00:20:44.113
speaks volumes of if done right,

00:20:45.314 --> 00:20:47.276
tourism can really address

00:20:48.096 --> 00:20:49.737
some of these big global issues.

00:20:50.758 --> 00:20:52.198
issues that we're dealing with.

00:20:52.739 --> 00:20:53.759
And in, you know,

00:20:53.838 --> 00:20:55.799
the current 2024 election,

00:20:55.819 --> 00:20:58.119
immigration is a big issue.

00:20:58.619 --> 00:20:59.421
And the fact that we're

00:20:59.641 --> 00:21:02.020
doing our one little thing or, you know,

00:21:02.141 --> 00:21:03.501
with their more Johnny's,

00:21:03.622 --> 00:21:06.182
but that makes a big impact,

00:21:06.242 --> 00:21:07.262
not just at a local level,

00:21:07.282 --> 00:21:08.123
but at a global level.

00:21:09.624 --> 00:21:13.045
And I, that's an interesting topic,

00:21:13.144 --> 00:21:14.125
because I think that

00:21:15.770 --> 00:21:17.632
The idea of people having to

00:21:17.771 --> 00:21:19.752
leave where they live and

00:21:19.772 --> 00:21:20.792
where they're from so

00:21:21.334 --> 00:21:23.275
tourists can come is so

00:21:23.315 --> 00:21:25.335
much more common than we realize.

00:21:26.236 --> 00:21:27.135
I was in the Great Bear

00:21:27.155 --> 00:21:29.057
Rainforest a few years ago

00:21:29.217 --> 00:21:30.438
and that exact thing,

00:21:30.657 --> 00:21:31.838
all of the indigenous

00:21:32.338 --> 00:21:34.480
natives had left the area.

00:21:35.140 --> 00:21:37.221
because there was no commerce anymore,

00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:39.863
their trade and industry was gone.

00:21:39.923 --> 00:21:41.624
And so they were diligently

00:21:41.703 --> 00:21:43.464
working at the time to

00:21:43.525 --> 00:21:44.705
bring back the younger

00:21:44.786 --> 00:21:45.905
generation and they're

00:21:45.945 --> 00:21:47.146
managing to do that.

00:21:47.326 --> 00:21:49.008
But, you know,

00:21:49.167 --> 00:21:51.088
and places stay just so much

00:21:51.250 --> 00:21:54.652
more authentic and valuable

00:21:54.852 --> 00:21:56.432
when you can have people

00:21:56.492 --> 00:21:58.173
that know the history of it

00:21:58.273 --> 00:22:00.055
and tell those stories correctly.

00:22:01.690 --> 00:22:03.010
Well, what you're getting at, too,

00:22:03.371 --> 00:22:04.330
is kind of the role of

00:22:04.391 --> 00:22:07.252
tourism in building a local

00:22:07.272 --> 00:22:08.093
living economy.

00:22:08.192 --> 00:22:12.815
So not just one of the great

00:22:12.835 --> 00:22:14.596
trips I did this summer was ranch lines,

00:22:14.615 --> 00:22:15.497
but another one was going

00:22:15.517 --> 00:22:16.676
to Fogo Island Inn and

00:22:16.696 --> 00:22:17.698
seeing the work that they do.

00:22:17.778 --> 00:22:20.459
And I'm a big fan of Zita Cobbs.

00:22:20.719 --> 00:22:23.720
And she talks a lot about ABCD,

00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.760
asset-based community development.

00:22:26.501 --> 00:22:26.642
And

00:22:27.724 --> 00:22:29.006
That's exactly what you're talking about.

00:22:29.026 --> 00:22:31.288
If when tourism goes into a

00:22:31.327 --> 00:22:32.087
community like that,

00:22:32.367 --> 00:22:34.789
if they're working to engage,

00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:37.051
involve the locals and the

00:22:37.211 --> 00:22:38.512
local supply chain,

00:22:38.932 --> 00:22:39.834
then they're just making it

00:22:40.054 --> 00:22:43.256
stronger and people don't have to leave.

00:22:43.296 --> 00:22:44.957
They actually stay and bring

00:22:45.136 --> 00:22:46.538
back some of the folks who

00:22:46.577 --> 00:22:47.558
have been leaving because

00:22:47.578 --> 00:22:49.800
of the lack of opportunity there.

00:22:51.080 --> 00:22:52.702
And Fogo Island is a part of

00:22:52.844 --> 00:22:54.365
regenerative tourism, correct?

00:22:56.548 --> 00:22:56.929
Yes,

00:22:57.068 --> 00:22:58.971
they are a part of regenerative travel.

00:22:59.031 --> 00:23:00.513
We're very proud to have

00:23:00.574 --> 00:23:01.714
them as part of that group.

00:23:02.115 --> 00:23:04.799
Yes, that's another bucket list of mine.

00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:04.859
So

00:23:08.496 --> 00:23:09.375
regenerative travel.

00:23:09.416 --> 00:23:10.297
We're on the topic.

00:23:10.557 --> 00:23:12.837
Let's talk about the creation of it.

00:23:13.557 --> 00:23:15.598
You mentioned the ideation,

00:23:15.659 --> 00:23:18.540
how it really came to be, which is simple,

00:23:19.101 --> 00:23:20.141
but at the same time,

00:23:20.481 --> 00:23:22.001
lots of work goes into that.

00:23:22.462 --> 00:23:23.923
You were very, I think,

00:23:24.103 --> 00:23:27.204
early to market in the sense that

00:23:28.951 --> 00:23:30.992
it's just being you know I

00:23:31.032 --> 00:23:31.913
think more people are

00:23:31.953 --> 00:23:33.375
grasping that idea now

00:23:33.494 --> 00:23:35.998
right but you have lots of

00:23:36.077 --> 00:23:37.659
members so tell us what

00:23:38.460 --> 00:23:39.921
what opportunity does that

00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:41.682
platform give both members

00:23:42.163 --> 00:23:44.385
and travelers and tell us

00:23:44.425 --> 00:23:47.729
all about it yeah well you know um

00:23:49.895 --> 00:23:51.857
I love the phrase, to a hammer,

00:23:51.978 --> 00:23:52.858
everything is a nail.

00:23:53.038 --> 00:23:54.720
And Playa Viva is a hotel,

00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:58.423
and we started it by hotels, for hotels,

00:23:59.183 --> 00:24:00.065
but it's really grown.

00:24:00.766 --> 00:24:02.007
And Amanda Ho,

00:24:02.326 --> 00:24:03.887
who became my partner and

00:24:04.028 --> 00:24:06.711
co-founder in the business in 2019,

00:24:06.711 --> 00:24:08.092
she's done a really amazing

00:24:08.112 --> 00:24:09.472
job of looking at it from a

00:24:09.512 --> 00:24:10.634
whole system standpoint and

00:24:10.673 --> 00:24:12.276
bringing in the entire ecosystem.

00:24:12.955 --> 00:24:15.417
So, you know, from a hotel standpoint,

00:24:15.758 --> 00:24:16.878
I was really just looking

00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:18.980
at originally kind of what

00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:20.402
I called sharing of best practices,

00:24:20.501 --> 00:24:22.263
which is the whole marketing platform.

00:24:22.304 --> 00:24:23.525
And if Pam Page likes it,

00:24:23.964 --> 00:24:25.306
what other hotels can we

00:24:25.346 --> 00:24:26.988
help market her to?

00:24:27.788 --> 00:24:29.028
Then when we actually started

00:24:29.950 --> 00:24:32.193
meeting as hotels, what came out was, yeah,

00:24:32.213 --> 00:24:33.075
yeah, that's all good.

00:24:33.134 --> 00:24:34.738
But what are you doing about

00:24:35.419 --> 00:24:36.700
recruiting and maintaining

00:24:36.901 --> 00:24:37.882
your team and staff?

00:24:37.942 --> 00:24:38.804
What are you doing about

00:24:38.844 --> 00:24:40.506
your gray water systems?

00:24:40.605 --> 00:24:42.808
How are you developing your supply chain?

00:24:42.828 --> 00:24:43.590
And what are you looking at

00:24:43.631 --> 00:24:44.592
as far as certification?

00:24:45.432 --> 00:24:47.953
it was all about these best practices,

00:24:48.515 --> 00:24:48.634
right?

00:24:48.654 --> 00:24:50.194
It wasn't about economies of scale, sorry.

00:24:50.575 --> 00:24:52.276
It was about sharing your best practices.

00:24:52.836 --> 00:24:55.518
And then the idea evolved into, okay,

00:24:55.617 --> 00:24:57.278
how can we create kind of a

00:24:57.419 --> 00:24:58.699
funding mechanism around

00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:01.400
legacy and liquidity?

00:25:01.840 --> 00:25:03.500
So that was the core of the

00:25:03.540 --> 00:25:04.281
business originally,

00:25:04.701 --> 00:25:06.603
but Amanda's really taken

00:25:06.623 --> 00:25:07.403
it to the next level.

00:25:07.442 --> 00:25:09.443
She's a great brander and

00:25:09.864 --> 00:25:10.424
looking at it from an

00:25:10.484 --> 00:25:11.744
ecosystem standpoint has

00:25:11.805 --> 00:25:13.506
brought in travel agents and the entire

00:25:14.212 --> 00:25:15.453
Agents of Change program

00:25:15.473 --> 00:25:16.273
because they are a real

00:25:16.574 --> 00:25:18.315
core part of the ecosystem.

00:25:20.596 --> 00:25:23.597
Folks who are travel agents

00:25:23.998 --> 00:25:25.538
who are connecting clients

00:25:25.557 --> 00:25:26.338
who are interested in

00:25:26.378 --> 00:25:27.318
traveling with these values

00:25:27.459 --> 00:25:28.619
to these great properties.

00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.901
So that was a really great addition.

00:25:31.615 --> 00:25:32.698
And now it's really

00:25:32.718 --> 00:25:34.380
expanding beyond that to

00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.222
include travelers who can

00:25:36.482 --> 00:25:38.085
have membership in the program as well.

00:25:38.164 --> 00:25:39.768
And based on that membership,

00:25:39.807 --> 00:25:41.589
I've discounted hotels and

00:25:41.630 --> 00:25:43.413
have access to all the

00:25:43.813 --> 00:25:45.174
great content that's been

00:25:45.194 --> 00:25:46.477
created through the platform.

00:25:48.137 --> 00:25:50.339
And now I think Amanda's

00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:51.721
expanding it to kind of

00:25:52.401 --> 00:25:53.862
service providers and a

00:25:54.021 --> 00:25:55.123
much larger community of

00:25:55.143 --> 00:25:56.123
folks who want to be a part

00:25:56.163 --> 00:25:57.003
of that ecosystem.

00:25:57.544 --> 00:25:58.364
So, you know,

00:25:58.423 --> 00:25:59.565
kudos to her and the work

00:25:59.585 --> 00:26:01.885
that she's doing in

00:26:01.925 --> 00:26:03.007
building out the whole systems.

00:26:04.647 --> 00:26:05.468
Absolutely.

00:26:05.588 --> 00:26:07.630
She's a powerhouse.

00:26:07.750 --> 00:26:09.631
I have followed her work as well,

00:26:09.790 --> 00:26:10.471
obviously.

00:26:10.971 --> 00:26:12.692
And it's been incredible to

00:26:12.913 --> 00:26:14.773
see the growth of

00:26:15.523 --> 00:26:17.506
not only from the members,

00:26:17.586 --> 00:26:18.445
but as you're saying,

00:26:18.486 --> 00:26:20.928
those different opportunities, uh,

00:26:21.008 --> 00:26:22.528
to make sure that there's a

00:26:22.568 --> 00:26:23.911
place for everyone and there's,

00:26:24.010 --> 00:26:27.292
there is a demand meeting that demand, uh,

00:26:27.653 --> 00:26:28.153
is incredible.

00:26:28.213 --> 00:26:29.894
And so you have a global presence,

00:26:30.115 --> 00:26:30.476
correct?

00:26:31.296 --> 00:26:31.576
Yeah.

00:26:31.876 --> 00:26:32.737
So, um,

00:26:33.498 --> 00:26:34.618
I don't know what the final count is,

00:26:34.638 --> 00:26:36.079
but I think it's close to

00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:37.701
40 hotels and they are on

00:26:37.881 --> 00:26:38.942
almost every continent.

00:26:39.782 --> 00:26:41.423
Um, and, uh,

00:26:42.898 --> 00:26:44.339
then obviously the agents of

00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:46.059
change are also global as well.

00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:47.279
I mean, you know,

00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:49.381
travelers are global and

00:26:49.421 --> 00:26:50.520
hotels all over the world

00:26:50.541 --> 00:26:52.301
are interested in becoming

00:26:52.402 --> 00:26:53.301
part of the network.

00:26:53.982 --> 00:26:55.982
And so, yeah, it is global.

00:26:57.624 --> 00:27:01.305
Not just in Mexico.

00:27:01.944 --> 00:27:05.306
You know, I thought, of course.

00:27:05.726 --> 00:27:05.986
Yeah.

00:27:06.247 --> 00:27:10.528
Well, you know, I mean, the goal here is,

00:27:12.195 --> 00:27:13.675
you know, in Playa Viva in many ways,

00:27:14.717 --> 00:27:16.017
we want to be open source.

00:27:16.076 --> 00:27:17.676
We want to share how we do what we do.

00:27:17.936 --> 00:27:18.757
And, you know,

00:27:18.797 --> 00:27:19.758
I just went to ranch lands

00:27:19.798 --> 00:27:21.317
and how do they do what they do?

00:27:21.357 --> 00:27:22.917
And I just went to Fogo Island.

00:27:22.958 --> 00:27:23.817
How do they do what they do?

00:27:23.857 --> 00:27:24.479
And it's really about

00:27:24.598 --> 00:27:26.358
sharing these these best

00:27:26.419 --> 00:27:29.138
practices among us so that

00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:30.119
we can get better.

00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:30.279
I mean,

00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:32.480
one of the things that we're

00:27:32.579 --> 00:27:34.059
stealing from Fogo Island

00:27:34.099 --> 00:27:35.020
and I told him this was

00:27:36.800 --> 00:27:37.803
there's a restaurant on the

00:27:37.863 --> 00:27:38.523
island that I think a

00:27:38.564 --> 00:27:39.365
former chef of theirs

00:27:39.384 --> 00:27:40.626
started well when you go to

00:27:40.666 --> 00:27:41.929
photo island it's all

00:27:41.989 --> 00:27:45.595
included right so why would

00:27:45.634 --> 00:27:46.395
guests go to that

00:27:46.477 --> 00:27:48.880
restaurant unless it's included

00:27:49.897 --> 00:27:55.761
wow right right right so so

00:27:56.001 --> 00:27:56.982
you know we've been trying

00:27:57.002 --> 00:27:58.364
to figure out okay you know

00:27:58.403 --> 00:27:59.404
clay viva is all inclusive

00:27:59.444 --> 00:28:01.365
because like how do you get

00:28:01.385 --> 00:28:02.686
to these little restaurants

00:28:02.727 --> 00:28:04.568
in hulu chuka do they have

00:28:04.689 --> 00:28:06.509
menus do they have menus in

00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:07.309
english can they take

00:28:07.369 --> 00:28:10.732
credit cards uh you know so we said

00:28:11.032 --> 00:28:11.232
All right.

00:28:11.472 --> 00:28:12.354
That's a program that we're

00:28:12.374 --> 00:28:13.694
going to do for season 16

00:28:13.694 --> 00:28:14.634
is we're going to identify

00:28:15.096 --> 00:28:16.076
one or two restaurants,

00:28:16.916 --> 00:28:19.739
identify kind of menus and

00:28:20.838 --> 00:28:22.319
include it and just pay

00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:24.321
them per guest and have

00:28:24.362 --> 00:28:25.162
guests be able to make

00:28:25.221 --> 00:28:26.722
reservations and go into

00:28:26.762 --> 00:28:28.403
town and and have.

00:28:30.605 --> 00:28:32.105
a culinary experience in town.

00:28:32.786 --> 00:28:34.626
And so that's part of, I think,

00:28:34.686 --> 00:28:35.968
where the network really

00:28:36.028 --> 00:28:37.888
supports us in learning how

00:28:37.929 --> 00:28:39.189
to support our local

00:28:39.229 --> 00:28:40.210
communities in a much

00:28:40.269 --> 00:28:42.951
deeper way through the network.

00:28:43.530 --> 00:28:45.672
So, but yeah, we hope,

00:28:46.211 --> 00:28:47.493
to be open source about that

00:28:47.673 --> 00:28:48.674
and that there are more and

00:28:48.694 --> 00:28:52.078
more hotels in Mexico, in Latin America,

00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:53.641
all over the world that

00:28:53.740 --> 00:28:55.522
basically are doing things

00:28:55.564 --> 00:28:57.905
in this way to support more

00:28:58.067 --> 00:29:00.750
vibrant and resilient local economies.

00:29:02.058 --> 00:29:04.481
That is a great idea.

00:29:05.923 --> 00:29:06.263
Yes.

00:29:06.683 --> 00:29:08.465
And it makes so much sense.

00:29:08.826 --> 00:29:09.126
I mean,

00:29:09.267 --> 00:29:11.169
if you are giving back to place and

00:29:11.269 --> 00:29:15.213
you want economic drivers to do that,

00:29:15.354 --> 00:29:16.434
that's the way you do it.

00:29:16.836 --> 00:29:19.199
And there's a reciprocity.

00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:21.741
You know that there's going to be this...

00:29:22.950 --> 00:29:23.210
You know,

00:29:23.289 --> 00:29:25.053
giving back to your organization as well.

00:29:25.073 --> 00:29:25.772
And they're going to look at

00:29:25.792 --> 00:29:27.996
you as a partner and a

00:29:28.195 --> 00:29:30.959
support system versus competition,

00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:32.681
which I'm sure they don't.

00:29:32.721 --> 00:29:33.722
That's the wrong word.

00:29:33.782 --> 00:29:34.343
But, you know,

00:29:35.023 --> 00:29:37.507
you're just looked at in a good lens.

00:29:38.448 --> 00:29:38.708
So.

00:29:40.454 --> 00:29:43.518
Playa Viva, I want... So explain exactly.

00:29:43.538 --> 00:29:44.479
You've talked about... I

00:29:44.779 --> 00:29:47.021
think you said Zia Onejo.

00:29:47.041 --> 00:29:47.942
Is that correct?

00:29:48.703 --> 00:29:49.765
So are they near?

00:29:50.546 --> 00:29:51.787
Let's decide.

00:29:51.948 --> 00:29:53.890
Where is... What's the geography here?

00:29:53.950 --> 00:29:54.911
What does this look like?

00:29:55.310 --> 00:29:56.471
That's what I'm trying to spit out.

00:29:56.893 --> 00:29:57.272
Okay.

00:29:57.913 --> 00:29:58.294
Yes.

00:29:59.296 --> 00:30:01.037
So Playa Viva is located...

00:30:02.241 --> 00:30:03.682
about three kilometers from

00:30:03.722 --> 00:30:09.325
the town of Hulu Chuka, J-U-L-U-C-U-C-A,

00:30:09.404 --> 00:30:10.065
Hulu Chuka.

00:30:10.684 --> 00:30:13.065
And Hulu Chuka is about a 40, 35,

00:30:13.065 --> 00:30:15.126
40 minute drive from the

00:30:15.307 --> 00:30:16.948
airport that is near us.

00:30:17.048 --> 00:30:19.628
The airport is Zihuatanejo

00:30:19.788 --> 00:30:21.970
Ixtapa International Airport.

00:30:22.509 --> 00:30:22.769
Right.

00:30:23.501 --> 00:30:23.842
Yes.

00:30:24.222 --> 00:30:26.144
Z-I-H is the airport code.

00:30:26.905 --> 00:30:30.951
And Ixtapa was formed at the

00:30:31.070 --> 00:30:33.574
same time by a group called Fonatur,

00:30:33.614 --> 00:30:38.278
which developed Cancun, Cabo, Ixtapa,

00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:41.702
Loreto Bay, and Huatulco.

00:30:42.144 --> 00:30:43.025
And they're

00:30:43.644 --> 00:30:44.486
They did it kind of in the

00:30:44.605 --> 00:30:46.448
mall model of the 70s,

00:30:46.508 --> 00:30:48.269
where there was a Club Med

00:30:48.309 --> 00:30:50.171
that anchored on one side, like, you know,

00:30:50.392 --> 00:30:51.893
a mall with a big store.

00:30:52.333 --> 00:30:53.714
And then El Camino Real,

00:30:53.755 --> 00:30:56.196
the big Mexican top line

00:30:56.237 --> 00:30:57.518
hotel on the other side.

00:30:57.877 --> 00:30:59.059
And then they infilled with

00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:00.260
other properties from there.

00:31:00.381 --> 00:31:01.701
Cancun obviously took off

00:31:02.162 --> 00:31:03.703
and huge and then became

00:31:03.723 --> 00:31:05.586
the entire Riviera Maya.

00:31:05.645 --> 00:31:06.727
Now it's like an extension

00:31:06.747 --> 00:31:08.127
of Miami all the way down to Miami.

00:31:08.387 --> 00:31:10.648
tulum cabo has done very

00:31:10.689 --> 00:31:11.528
very well now there's

00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:13.009
pressure in cabo moving up

00:31:13.529 --> 00:31:14.510
the coast on either side

00:31:14.550 --> 00:31:16.332
into the east bay uh east

00:31:16.372 --> 00:31:18.113
cape um and the other side

00:31:18.752 --> 00:31:20.733
ixtapa didn't grow as

00:31:20.814 --> 00:31:21.554
quickly but there were

00:31:21.574 --> 00:31:23.335
towns like troncones where we got

00:31:23.714 --> 00:31:24.596
founded which is north of

00:31:24.615 --> 00:31:26.916
the airport um and now with

00:31:26.957 --> 00:31:28.137
playa viva south of the

00:31:28.157 --> 00:31:29.419
airport there's a lot more

00:31:29.459 --> 00:31:31.140
development coming in down

00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:32.240
where we are as well but

00:31:32.320 --> 00:31:33.922
our beach you walk out to

00:31:33.961 --> 00:31:37.203
our beach um you look left

00:31:37.223 --> 00:31:38.625
you look right and you see

00:31:38.805 --> 00:31:41.027
nothing but nature as far

00:31:41.067 --> 00:31:43.008
as the eye can see you may

00:31:43.107 --> 00:31:44.269
see some local fishermen

00:31:44.328 --> 00:31:45.329
coming down to kind of

00:31:45.730 --> 00:31:47.030
throw the the net out to

00:31:47.070 --> 00:31:49.972
catch fish or line fish but it's

00:31:51.473 --> 00:31:55.375
the immersion in the luxury of nature.

00:31:56.355 --> 00:31:57.755
Our internet passcode,

00:31:57.795 --> 00:31:58.535
and we do have internet,

00:31:59.296 --> 00:32:03.797
is disconnect to reconnect.

00:32:04.436 --> 00:32:05.477
And that's hopefully what

00:32:05.497 --> 00:32:06.957
people do when they come there.

00:32:07.717 --> 00:32:09.518
And Playa Viva is 200 acres,

00:32:09.597 --> 00:32:10.377
mile of beachfront.

00:32:11.498 --> 00:32:13.198
It has 19 rooms currently.

00:32:13.417 --> 00:32:15.578
We're expanding as we speak.

00:32:16.881 --> 00:32:18.582
And it's got a farm where we

00:32:18.602 --> 00:32:20.182
do farm to table and use

00:32:20.222 --> 00:32:21.104
that as a demonstration

00:32:21.124 --> 00:32:22.365
farm to work in the community.

00:32:22.404 --> 00:32:23.586
It has a turtle sanctuary,

00:32:23.605 --> 00:32:24.746
so you have a little turtle

00:32:24.766 --> 00:32:25.747
book on your shelf there.

00:32:26.207 --> 00:32:28.288
So we're releasing, I think,

00:32:30.190 --> 00:32:32.291
three of the six turtle species,

00:32:32.332 --> 00:32:33.792
including the leatherback turtle,

00:32:33.833 --> 00:32:34.593
highly endangered.

00:32:34.633 --> 00:32:36.875
So working with local community members in

00:32:37.654 --> 00:32:39.557
turning poachers into

00:32:39.616 --> 00:32:41.097
conservationists and

00:32:41.157 --> 00:32:42.398
supporting the work there

00:32:42.419 --> 00:32:43.880
of conserving the sea turtles.

00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:45.059
So a lot of stuff is going

00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:46.441
on in that area.

00:32:46.642 --> 00:32:47.642
One of the big endeavors

00:32:47.682 --> 00:32:49.363
we've got going is a social

00:32:49.383 --> 00:32:50.284
environmental impact

00:32:50.304 --> 00:32:54.826
project called Resimar, R-E-S-I-M-A-R,

00:32:55.047 --> 00:32:58.309
regenerating from Sierra to mar,

00:32:58.369 --> 00:32:59.470
from the mountain to the ocean.

00:32:59.509 --> 00:33:01.071
It really is taking a whole

00:33:01.132 --> 00:33:01.892
systems approach,

00:33:01.932 --> 00:33:03.413
a regenerative approach to

00:33:03.492 --> 00:33:04.233
looking at the entire

00:33:04.294 --> 00:33:05.434
watershed of Huluchuca,

00:33:06.214 --> 00:33:07.175
And currently there's a

00:33:07.457 --> 00:33:08.897
bunch of young women in

00:33:08.917 --> 00:33:10.400
their kind of mid 20s who

00:33:10.460 --> 00:33:11.461
are leading that group.

00:33:12.041 --> 00:33:13.844
They're all attached to a

00:33:14.085 --> 00:33:15.605
set of advisors who are

00:33:15.685 --> 00:33:16.807
experts in those areas.

00:33:17.228 --> 00:33:19.991
There is our education, marine life,

00:33:20.531 --> 00:33:21.313
permaculture,

00:33:21.393 --> 00:33:22.114
which is our women's

00:33:22.134 --> 00:33:23.615
cooperative to water.

00:33:25.637 --> 00:33:26.038
obviously,

00:33:26.097 --> 00:33:27.259
which permeates everything in

00:33:27.298 --> 00:33:28.979
conservation areas.

00:33:29.619 --> 00:33:34.461
That's layer one and two of

00:33:34.601 --> 00:33:36.102
what makes up the onion of

00:33:36.142 --> 00:33:37.201
Playa Viva as we start

00:33:37.241 --> 00:33:38.323
peeling away the layers.

00:33:40.145 --> 00:33:41.626
so it for those of you that

00:33:41.686 --> 00:33:43.128
haven't been dreaming of

00:33:43.209 --> 00:33:44.349
playa viva I'm looking at

00:33:44.369 --> 00:33:45.570
their website constantly

00:33:45.611 --> 00:33:46.791
trying to manifest that

00:33:47.112 --> 00:33:48.973
that trip and we talked

00:33:49.013 --> 00:33:52.096
about bill you have this

00:33:52.296 --> 00:33:53.457
picture and we're going to

00:33:53.477 --> 00:33:54.498
link everything in the show

00:33:54.538 --> 00:33:58.821
notes of one of the places

00:33:58.842 --> 00:34:00.022
you can stay I'm not sure

00:34:00.042 --> 00:34:01.263
what exactly you call it

00:34:01.763 --> 00:34:03.005
but really is kind of this

00:34:04.246 --> 00:34:08.389
It's this just image of regeneration.

00:34:08.409 --> 00:34:10.570
Talk about that.

00:34:10.650 --> 00:34:14.032
What do you call that room, that cabin?

00:34:14.052 --> 00:34:16.152
I don't want to call it the wrong thing.

00:34:16.172 --> 00:34:19.295
Yeah, well, I call it the jet.

00:34:19.735 --> 00:34:21.436
We have the original jet,

00:34:21.456 --> 00:34:22.336
and now we've developed a

00:34:22.436 --> 00:34:23.376
new jet to go with it.

00:34:23.418 --> 00:34:24.538
But it's this kind of...

00:34:27.722 --> 00:34:30.103
somebody called it Tiki Skylab,

00:34:30.282 --> 00:34:31.364
I think is what they called it.

00:34:32.443 --> 00:34:34.344
But it's a bamboo structure.

00:34:34.744 --> 00:34:36.485
It's kind of a round tube.

00:34:38.347 --> 00:34:40.088
And it's a room.

00:34:41.168 --> 00:34:43.088
It was developed by a great architect,

00:34:43.188 --> 00:34:44.030
Kimshasa Baldwin,

00:34:44.070 --> 00:34:47.050
who came down because I was

00:34:47.090 --> 00:34:49.532
looking to move outside my

00:34:50.532 --> 00:34:52.074
unconscious bias and bring in

00:34:52.773 --> 00:34:55.016
diversity in design.

00:34:55.717 --> 00:34:59.121
And as a African-American designer,

00:34:59.201 --> 00:35:02.985
she wasn't kind of the white male,

00:35:03.826 --> 00:35:04.065
you know,

00:35:04.996 --> 00:35:06.057
that we were using and

00:35:06.097 --> 00:35:07.018
really was able to think

00:35:07.137 --> 00:35:08.039
out of the box and come up

00:35:08.099 --> 00:35:09.980
with that iconic building.

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.322
That's the word I was looking for.

00:35:12.362 --> 00:35:13.081
It's iconic.

00:35:13.682 --> 00:35:13.943
Yeah.

00:35:14.202 --> 00:35:15.123
Oh, it is iconic.

00:35:15.403 --> 00:35:18.606
And I mean, travel these days, you know,

00:35:18.766 --> 00:35:20.788
because things like Instagram,

00:35:20.827 --> 00:35:22.449
social media are so important to

00:35:24.420 --> 00:35:26.681
promoting travel destinations.

00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:27.880
It was wonderful for her to

00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:29.842
come up with something so iconic as that.

00:35:30.001 --> 00:35:31.003
And then since then,

00:35:31.063 --> 00:35:32.143
we've been working with

00:35:32.222 --> 00:35:33.603
Nomadic Resorts and Nomadic

00:35:33.664 --> 00:35:36.125
Atelier and Olaf and Louis,

00:35:36.264 --> 00:35:38.085
and they came up with the

00:35:39.965 --> 00:35:41.726
Manta Ray Village,

00:35:42.467 --> 00:35:43.967
which are also beautiful

00:35:44.007 --> 00:35:45.608
and iconic in their own right.

00:35:48.373 --> 00:35:52.516
So, okay, so tell us about B Corp.

00:35:52.577 --> 00:35:56.079
So Playa Viva is certified B Corp.

00:35:57.641 --> 00:35:58.981
Some of our listeners may

00:35:59.061 --> 00:36:01.804
understand a little bit about B Corp, but

00:36:02.563 --> 00:36:05.445
give us a little of your, you know,

00:36:05.565 --> 00:36:07.505
why did you feel like that

00:36:07.545 --> 00:36:11.248
was necessary and why choose B Corp?

00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:13.130
Um, you know, what,

00:36:13.730 --> 00:36:15.130
what was it about B Corp

00:36:15.170 --> 00:36:16.110
that was different than

00:36:16.170 --> 00:36:18.632
earth check or green key global or,

00:36:19.072 --> 00:36:21.414
you know, lead or some of these others?

00:36:21.514 --> 00:36:23.195
Why did it fit with,

00:36:23.596 --> 00:36:24.916
I think I might know the answer,

00:36:24.936 --> 00:36:25.757
but I want to hear you.

00:36:28.259 --> 00:36:29.820
Well, you know, um,

00:36:31.842 --> 00:36:35.925
I think when we were

00:36:35.945 --> 00:36:37.327
developing regenerative travel,

00:36:37.827 --> 00:36:39.927
people kept asking us,

00:36:40.369 --> 00:36:41.188
how do you know the place

00:36:41.228 --> 00:36:41.849
is regenerative?

00:36:43.931 --> 00:36:46.893
And the key,

00:36:47.572 --> 00:36:48.474
the only answer I could come

00:36:48.514 --> 00:36:49.655
up with was very similar to

00:36:49.715 --> 00:36:52.896
the Supreme Court's ruling

00:36:53.016 --> 00:36:53.976
on pornography.

00:36:54.617 --> 00:36:56.139
I forget which judge said,

00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:58.539
I can't define it,

00:36:58.559 --> 00:36:59.541
but I know it when I see it.

00:37:00.534 --> 00:37:02.998
And the way we knew it when

00:37:03.018 --> 00:37:03.998
we saw it was really in

00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:04.860
talking to the owners.

00:37:05.721 --> 00:37:09.706
If they had the values, core values,

00:37:10.887 --> 00:37:11.489
some of the things that

00:37:11.528 --> 00:37:12.530
we've been talking about,

00:37:13.710 --> 00:37:15.032
then everything flowed from there.

00:37:16.114 --> 00:37:17.896
But there kept being that pushback of,

00:37:17.996 --> 00:37:18.958
yeah, great, but.

00:37:20.572 --> 00:37:21.693
Is there a certification?

00:37:22.373 --> 00:37:23.173
How do you certify?

00:37:24.074 --> 00:37:25.295
Everybody wants a certification.

00:37:25.396 --> 00:37:27.496
Everybody wants a good

00:37:27.536 --> 00:37:28.398
housekeeping seal of

00:37:28.458 --> 00:37:30.719
approval or they want that

00:37:31.139 --> 00:37:32.501
fair trade stamp or

00:37:32.521 --> 00:37:33.862
whatever that stamp is on

00:37:33.902 --> 00:37:35.503
the packaging to let you

00:37:35.543 --> 00:37:38.786
know somebody has reviewed

00:37:38.846 --> 00:37:43.309
it and it's approved.

00:37:43.708 --> 00:37:45.670
And some of the other ones you mentioned,

00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:46.579
you know,

00:37:46.619 --> 00:37:49.063
there's a lot of greenwashing in

00:37:49.083 --> 00:37:49.983
the industry as well.

00:37:50.684 --> 00:37:53.085
And we originally looked at

00:37:53.146 --> 00:37:55.427
LEED certification and LEED

00:37:55.467 --> 00:37:56.889
just didn't seem to apply to us.

00:37:57.090 --> 00:37:58.271
And much of it was, you know,

00:37:58.291 --> 00:37:59.552
Bill Reed was telling us

00:37:59.572 --> 00:38:00.132
the reason why they

00:38:00.172 --> 00:38:02.235
developed the regenerative development,

00:38:02.335 --> 00:38:03.815
the regenerative standard and how they're,

00:38:03.835 --> 00:38:05.077
well not standard, but the, you know,

00:38:05.097 --> 00:38:05.958
the regenerative method of

00:38:05.998 --> 00:38:07.318
development was that

00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:09.942
even if you were platinum

00:38:09.961 --> 00:38:10.842
lead the highest you could

00:38:10.862 --> 00:38:12.443
be you were still not at

00:38:12.503 --> 00:38:13.505
carbon neutral so you're

00:38:13.545 --> 00:38:14.706
just destroying the planet

00:38:15.106 --> 00:38:16.668
at a lower rate so why be

00:38:16.807 --> 00:38:19.349
lead when that's not the

00:38:19.389 --> 00:38:20.572
level at which we designed so

00:38:23.226 --> 00:38:25.706
for the longest time and and

00:38:26.126 --> 00:38:26.867
some of this came from

00:38:27.088 --> 00:38:28.708
walking into hotels and and

00:38:29.389 --> 00:38:30.849
the air conditioning would

00:38:30.889 --> 00:38:33.710
be blasting at you know 17

00:38:33.710 --> 00:38:36.192
degrees I'm thinking about

00:38:36.231 --> 00:38:37.431
it from the celsius

00:38:37.452 --> 00:38:38.733
standpoint and there's

00:38:38.833 --> 00:38:40.114
condensation dripping down

00:38:40.134 --> 00:38:41.293
the windows and you go to

00:38:41.353 --> 00:38:43.355
like turn off the ac or

00:38:43.454 --> 00:38:44.876
change it and there's a

00:38:45.876 --> 00:38:47.257
blah blah blah certification

00:38:49.027 --> 00:38:50.528
tent underneath the air conditioning,

00:38:50.548 --> 00:38:54.409
you're like, yeah, like we can't do that.

00:38:55.150 --> 00:38:57.110
So for the longest time,

00:38:57.251 --> 00:38:58.530
our attitude was badges.

00:38:58.710 --> 00:39:00.192
We don't need no stinking badges.

00:39:00.472 --> 00:39:01.632
Just do the right thing.

00:39:02.873 --> 00:39:04.052
Publicize what we're doing.

00:39:04.313 --> 00:39:07.193
We put out a sustainability report,

00:39:07.735 --> 00:39:08.494
an impact report,

00:39:09.074 --> 00:39:10.114
and just publish what we're

00:39:10.135 --> 00:39:10.755
doing to the guests.

00:39:11.496 --> 00:39:14.117
Let our guests be our certifying body.

00:39:16.601 --> 00:39:19.585
And then I got involved in

00:39:19.605 --> 00:39:22.188
kind of monthly calls in a

00:39:22.228 --> 00:39:25.952
group that's in tourism

00:39:26.052 --> 00:39:28.193
that is also B Corps or spying B Corps.

00:39:28.934 --> 00:39:30.076
And the more time I spent

00:39:30.215 --> 00:39:31.657
with that group and really

00:39:31.697 --> 00:39:32.699
listening to their stories

00:39:32.759 --> 00:39:34.400
and their experiences getting B Corps,

00:39:36.023 --> 00:39:37.425
certified by B Corp.

00:39:37.704 --> 00:39:39.467
It was like, okay, this is what,

00:39:39.748 --> 00:39:40.989
this is the closest thing

00:39:41.650 --> 00:39:42.652
to what we want to do.

00:39:43.112 --> 00:39:44.173
And so we embarked on that

00:39:44.213 --> 00:39:44.894
journey and it took us

00:39:44.934 --> 00:39:46.918
about a year to go through that process.

00:39:47.878 --> 00:39:50.181
And it is a very extensive process.

00:39:51.152 --> 00:39:52.693
And there would be moments where like,

00:39:52.893 --> 00:39:53.114
well,

00:39:53.153 --> 00:39:54.755
tell us about all your employees and

00:39:54.795 --> 00:39:57.559
which ones are underemployed.

00:39:57.659 --> 00:39:58.840
And then we'd say, well,

00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:01.041
these workers are in farm work.

00:40:01.322 --> 00:40:02.163
Oh, you have a farm.

00:40:02.603 --> 00:40:03.264
Okay, there's like,

00:40:03.505 --> 00:40:04.666
here's another set of 30

00:40:04.666 --> 00:40:05.266
questions you have to

00:40:05.347 --> 00:40:06.427
answer because now you're a farm.

00:40:06.768 --> 00:40:08.090
Talk about animals, not the animals.

00:40:09.851 --> 00:40:12.592
Going through that process, I really,

00:40:12.612 --> 00:40:15.255
really respect the B Corp process.

00:40:15.315 --> 00:40:16.456
And it's very transparent.

00:40:16.936 --> 00:40:18.077
Our report is online.

00:40:18.637 --> 00:40:20.798
It covers governance and

00:40:21.898 --> 00:40:23.420
transparency and employees

00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:24.240
and community and

00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:25.961
environment and other things.

00:40:26.543 --> 00:40:28.724
And so you can see what our report is.

00:40:29.585 --> 00:40:31.666
When we finished that report,

00:40:31.786 --> 00:40:33.806
we were the highest rated B

00:40:34.708 --> 00:40:35.969
Corp hotel in the world.

00:40:37.702 --> 00:40:39.224
So that was January.

00:40:39.244 --> 00:40:41.085
I think by April or May,

00:40:41.246 --> 00:40:42.867
there was a hotel in either Bolivia,

00:40:42.887 --> 00:40:43.728
Ecuador, I forget where,

00:40:43.748 --> 00:40:45.791
that got a higher score than us,

00:40:45.831 --> 00:40:46.431
which is great.

00:40:46.911 --> 00:40:47.871
And what's nice about the B

00:40:47.891 --> 00:40:49.094
Corp certification too is

00:40:49.534 --> 00:40:50.755
they are constantly changing it.

00:40:51.074 --> 00:40:54.077
So it's not like that's the

00:40:54.117 --> 00:40:54.898
level and that's it.

00:40:55.018 --> 00:40:56.800
They're constantly moving the goalposts.

00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:02.786
so um and so you know my

00:41:02.965 --> 00:41:04.507
ideal and I talk about this

00:41:04.567 --> 00:41:06.228
in other conferences is it

00:41:06.248 --> 00:41:08.630
would be ideal to have all

00:41:08.811 --> 00:41:09.931
hotels in regenerative

00:41:09.972 --> 00:41:11.733
travel get b corp certified

00:41:12.153 --> 00:41:13.894
and have a regenerative

00:41:13.934 --> 00:41:15.396
travel layer on top of that

00:41:15.416 --> 00:41:16.998
of additional types of

00:41:17.057 --> 00:41:18.199
questions that we would ask

00:41:18.559 --> 00:41:21.442
to do that um it will you

00:41:21.461 --> 00:41:23.322
know take a while to do

00:41:23.382 --> 00:41:24.443
that certifications

00:41:25.706 --> 00:41:27.494
is a long process.

00:41:27.996 --> 00:41:29.782
But I think as you identified,

00:41:32.050 --> 00:41:33.911
ecosystem has expanded a lot

00:41:34.231 --> 00:41:34.952
and it will continue to

00:41:34.972 --> 00:41:36.411
expand and will continue to

00:41:36.652 --> 00:41:39.634
demand that type of certification.

00:41:39.653 --> 00:41:42.233
And there's also players

00:41:42.253 --> 00:41:42.974
that come in the market and

00:41:43.014 --> 00:41:43.534
leave the market.

00:41:43.574 --> 00:41:45.195
Regenerative Travel picked

00:41:45.275 --> 00:41:47.936
up the Weeva platform and

00:41:47.996 --> 00:41:48.896
Playa Viva picked up the

00:41:48.936 --> 00:41:50.476
Weeva platform to begin to

00:41:50.577 --> 00:41:54.659
look at measuring the

00:41:54.699 --> 00:41:55.438
different indicators.

00:41:55.478 --> 00:41:56.398
I think they had 19 indicators.

00:41:59.219 --> 00:41:59.820
But unfortunately,

00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:02.123
the Weva platform didn't survive.

00:42:02.722 --> 00:42:05.784
So there are other folks

00:42:05.824 --> 00:42:07.226
that are kind of coming in.

00:42:07.827 --> 00:42:08.527
But, you know,

00:42:08.626 --> 00:42:11.489
Weva really just kind of

00:42:12.951 --> 00:42:14.952
wasn't – didn't give you a

00:42:15.012 --> 00:42:17.273
score at the end like B Corp did.

00:42:17.293 --> 00:42:17.454
And so –

00:42:21.916 --> 00:42:22.818
I don't know how much the

00:42:22.858 --> 00:42:24.139
audience knows about B Corp,

00:42:24.318 --> 00:42:25.840
but in general,

00:42:26.422 --> 00:42:27.543
in the short answer is B

00:42:27.563 --> 00:42:28.503
Corp is a benefit

00:42:28.543 --> 00:42:30.505
corporation as opposed to, let's say,

00:42:30.545 --> 00:42:31.146
a C Corp.

00:42:31.527 --> 00:42:32.847
And it is a legal structure

00:42:32.927 --> 00:42:33.889
in most states now and

00:42:33.949 --> 00:42:34.789
actually in other countries

00:42:34.849 --> 00:42:37.632
that in how companies can

00:42:37.773 --> 00:42:38.673
constitute themselves.

00:42:39.074 --> 00:42:40.054
And it basically says that

00:42:40.094 --> 00:42:41.076
instead of doing what's in

00:42:41.115 --> 00:42:42.277
the best interest of only

00:42:42.317 --> 00:42:43.157
the shareholders,

00:42:43.978 --> 00:42:45.820
that you can now identify a

00:42:45.880 --> 00:42:47.561
whole set of stakeholders and say,

00:42:48.402 --> 00:42:49.583
when we make our decisions,

00:42:49.603 --> 00:42:50.224
they have to be in the

00:42:50.284 --> 00:42:51.565
business of our shareholders,

00:42:51.724 --> 00:42:53.405
of our employees, of our community,

00:42:53.885 --> 00:42:56.208
of the earth, of what, you know,

00:42:56.547 --> 00:42:58.409
you can add all your your

00:42:58.429 --> 00:42:59.150
stakeholders there.

00:43:00.471 --> 00:43:04.373
So it becomes a legal

00:43:04.432 --> 00:43:06.512
structure to support your

00:43:06.612 --> 00:43:09.253
core values in doing what's right,

00:43:09.755 --> 00:43:11.315
not just from a money standpoint,

00:43:11.454 --> 00:43:15.376
but doing good while doing well.

00:43:15.396 --> 00:43:16.117
Yeah.

00:43:17.014 --> 00:43:20.875
And they have a free assessment online,

00:43:21.414 --> 00:43:21.914
don't they?

00:43:22.155 --> 00:43:23.536
So that you can try to kind

00:43:23.556 --> 00:43:26.336
of get an idea of where you sit,

00:43:27.456 --> 00:43:28.637
what you would have to do.

00:43:28.737 --> 00:43:30.378
And I'll link that as well.

00:43:30.418 --> 00:43:31.177
But I think that gives

00:43:31.217 --> 00:43:33.798
people a good understanding of, you know,

00:43:34.119 --> 00:43:35.940
if you're ready for something like that,

00:43:36.039 --> 00:43:37.139
if you've got a lot of work

00:43:37.179 --> 00:43:38.860
to do ahead of time, you know,

00:43:39.681 --> 00:43:40.780
just kind of where you are.

00:43:41.353 --> 00:43:41.653
Yes.

00:43:41.855 --> 00:43:43.016
And I would recommend

00:43:43.076 --> 00:43:43.856
assigning what they call

00:43:43.956 --> 00:43:45.878
beekeeper to that process.

00:43:46.057 --> 00:43:46.358
But yeah,

00:43:46.398 --> 00:43:47.619
we did the self-assessment and we

00:43:47.659 --> 00:43:48.599
came in at like 135.

00:43:48.599 --> 00:43:51.121
And I think like Patagonia is 135.

00:43:51.163 --> 00:43:52.443
Oh, yeah.

00:43:52.483 --> 00:43:52.764
Great.

00:43:52.784 --> 00:43:53.324
We're awesome.

00:43:53.764 --> 00:43:55.206
But by the time we had to

00:43:55.306 --> 00:43:57.407
prove every little detail of what we did,

00:43:58.068 --> 00:44:00.309
we ended up with a score of like 110,

00:44:00.309 --> 00:44:01.931
which was still a marvelous score.

00:44:01.972 --> 00:44:02.913
I think 80 is like...

00:44:05.755 --> 00:44:08.195
But it took us about a year

00:44:08.295 --> 00:44:09.697
to do that process and

00:44:09.757 --> 00:44:10.858
having a beekeeper on it.

00:44:11.338 --> 00:44:12.518
But at the end of the day,

00:44:12.659 --> 00:44:15.320
it's a marvelous process because it also,

00:44:16.141 --> 00:44:16.420
again,

00:44:16.501 --> 00:44:18.802
gives us things that we need to do

00:44:19.463 --> 00:44:19.724
better.

00:44:20.503 --> 00:44:21.644
and how we need to do it so

00:44:21.885 --> 00:44:23.605
you know we put into place

00:44:23.625 --> 00:44:24.706
a bunch of practices

00:44:24.786 --> 00:44:26.186
related to governance and

00:44:26.226 --> 00:44:28.266
transparency from you know

00:44:28.827 --> 00:44:30.608
policies on you know how to

00:44:30.648 --> 00:44:32.409
complain about your boss uh

00:44:32.949 --> 00:44:34.650
and setting up you know

00:44:35.050 --> 00:44:36.311
structure for that all the

00:44:36.351 --> 00:44:39.032
way to um you know we were

00:44:39.052 --> 00:44:39.851
doing a lot of trainings

00:44:39.891 --> 00:44:41.052
but we weren't capturing

00:44:41.092 --> 00:44:42.032
the data related to the

00:44:42.072 --> 00:44:43.514
trainings or how much time

00:44:43.554 --> 00:44:44.454
our staff spends on

00:44:44.514 --> 00:44:45.815
volunteering in the community

00:44:46.235 --> 00:44:47.016
So there were a lot of

00:44:47.056 --> 00:44:48.036
things that were happening,

00:44:48.056 --> 00:44:48.597
but that we weren't

00:44:48.697 --> 00:44:49.878
documenting that allowed us

00:44:50.358 --> 00:44:51.340
to begin to document.

00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:53.322
It's a great, great system.

00:44:54.023 --> 00:44:55.103
And you're telling your

00:44:55.184 --> 00:44:57.646
story along that journey, right?

00:44:57.766 --> 00:45:00.869
It just makes so much sense

00:45:01.411 --> 00:45:03.233
as to why you would go down that path.

00:45:04.561 --> 00:45:05.822
And we're engaging our team

00:45:05.902 --> 00:45:07.043
in that process too.

00:45:07.143 --> 00:45:07.443
Yes.

00:45:07.902 --> 00:45:09.063
Yes, absolutely.

00:45:09.884 --> 00:45:11.905
So for the sake of time,

00:45:12.164 --> 00:45:14.985
let's talk about a couple more things.

00:45:15.365 --> 00:45:17.005
What's it like a day at the resort?

00:45:17.065 --> 00:45:19.306
Tell us what a day at Playa Viva is like.

00:45:20.514 --> 00:45:21.054
Funny you should.

00:45:21.195 --> 00:45:22.235
I mean, you know,

00:45:22.775 --> 00:45:23.496
the first thing we tell

00:45:23.516 --> 00:45:24.396
people before coming down

00:45:24.496 --> 00:45:25.876
is don't schedule anything.

00:45:26.137 --> 00:45:27.038
Like everybody's like, well,

00:45:27.077 --> 00:45:28.239
I need to schedule this and this.

00:45:28.278 --> 00:45:28.998
I need to get this in.

00:45:29.018 --> 00:45:30.159
It's like, no,

00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:32.380
your life is already overscheduled.

00:45:32.501 --> 00:45:35.202
Come in and do nothing for 24 hours.

00:45:35.222 --> 00:45:35.722
As a matter of fact,

00:45:35.742 --> 00:45:37.384
since you asked that question, 48 hours.

00:45:37.824 --> 00:45:40.065
So our average guest comes,

00:45:40.085 --> 00:45:40.846
I think it's 4.8 days.

00:45:42.527 --> 00:45:43.708
Most local Mexican guests

00:45:43.748 --> 00:45:45.849
come for about three days, long weekends.

00:45:46.329 --> 00:45:47.809
Americans generally come for a week,

00:45:47.849 --> 00:45:48.610
although we've had guests

00:45:48.630 --> 00:45:49.251
stay for a month.

00:45:51.231 --> 00:45:55.353
And all of the meals are included.

00:45:55.695 --> 00:45:59.317
So we start out with going

00:45:59.597 --> 00:46:00.878
to see the turtles being

00:46:00.918 --> 00:46:02.518
released at dawn.

00:46:03.980 --> 00:46:05.481
uh so that's available then

00:46:05.521 --> 00:46:06.661
we have yoga we have three

00:46:06.681 --> 00:46:07.824
different platforms we do

00:46:07.864 --> 00:46:08.844
yoga and we include that

00:46:08.905 --> 00:46:09.865
with your stay as well and

00:46:09.885 --> 00:46:11.447
yoga is you know it's not

00:46:11.487 --> 00:46:14.971
hardcore yoga this is um just uh

00:46:16.768 --> 00:46:17.128
You know,

00:46:17.668 --> 00:46:19.210
we match your level with that so

00:46:19.250 --> 00:46:20.110
you can feel comfortable.

00:46:20.769 --> 00:46:22.831
Then always, even before that,

00:46:22.871 --> 00:46:24.411
we have like a light breakfast available.

00:46:24.431 --> 00:46:26.112
Then we have a full breakfast available.

00:46:26.672 --> 00:46:29.391
Everything from chilaquiles, next order,

00:46:29.612 --> 00:46:30.552
to even pancakes.

00:46:31.952 --> 00:46:34.114
And our food, I've been told,

00:46:34.213 --> 00:46:35.813
is we undersell our food.

00:46:35.833 --> 00:46:38.235
So I want to throw that out there.

00:46:39.474 --> 00:46:39.835
Generally,

00:46:39.914 --> 00:46:40.635
Johnny will show up for

00:46:40.655 --> 00:46:41.635
activities at that point.

00:46:41.675 --> 00:46:42.755
There may be an excursion up

00:46:42.775 --> 00:46:44.637
to the Sierra or surfing or

00:46:44.717 --> 00:46:47.338
snorkeling or fishing with the locals.

00:46:48.018 --> 00:46:51.079
And again, lunch,

00:46:51.838 --> 00:46:55.681
there are spa with massages

00:46:55.960 --> 00:46:56.721
that are available.

00:46:57.161 --> 00:46:59.902
Then we have Kike who works the bar,

00:47:00.342 --> 00:47:01.262
who does a great job.

00:47:01.461 --> 00:47:03.822
Our signature basil margarita,

00:47:04.222 --> 00:47:05.184
although Kike has come up

00:47:05.244 --> 00:47:05.983
with an avocado.

00:47:06.552 --> 00:47:10.817
margarita and a ginger mescalita.

00:47:10.976 --> 00:47:11.938
He's a genius.

00:47:13.818 --> 00:47:14.900
And, you know, it's interesting.

00:47:15.601 --> 00:47:17.003
So much of what happens at Plymouth,

00:47:17.023 --> 00:47:17.983
people will come and eat

00:47:18.204 --> 00:47:20.425
and we have the big table.

00:47:20.746 --> 00:47:22.947
It's not table for two, table for two,

00:47:23.007 --> 00:47:24.230
but it's really encouraging

00:47:24.289 --> 00:47:26.472
people to sit together and

00:47:26.612 --> 00:47:27.572
people will spend time

00:47:28.032 --> 00:47:28.253
you know,

00:47:28.432 --> 00:47:29.693
two hours just sitting at the

00:47:29.773 --> 00:47:30.753
table engaging.

00:47:30.833 --> 00:47:32.114
We'll often invite our

00:47:32.155 --> 00:47:33.295
volunteers and folks

00:47:33.315 --> 00:47:36.956
working in the community to

00:47:36.996 --> 00:47:38.476
come and participate with

00:47:38.536 --> 00:47:39.336
guests and then have the

00:47:39.376 --> 00:47:40.898
guests go out and be

00:47:40.918 --> 00:47:41.637
involved in some of the

00:47:41.697 --> 00:47:42.657
activities in the community,

00:47:42.697 --> 00:47:43.739
whether it's on the

00:47:43.778 --> 00:47:44.858
education side or in the

00:47:44.878 --> 00:47:46.498
women's co-op or ag.

00:47:46.539 --> 00:47:48.619
Visiting the farm is a very

00:47:51.141 --> 00:47:52.262
popular program that people

00:47:52.302 --> 00:47:53.342
go out and get the farm

00:47:53.382 --> 00:47:55.063
tour and understand how we

00:47:55.123 --> 00:47:57.286
work in agroforestry and

00:47:57.706 --> 00:47:58.186
some of the different

00:47:58.226 --> 00:47:59.547
techniques we use in permaculture,

00:47:59.608 --> 00:48:00.869
which are super interesting.

00:48:01.489 --> 00:48:03.030
And then see where the food comes from.

00:48:03.090 --> 00:48:04.012
About, I think,

00:48:04.132 --> 00:48:06.693
anywhere from up to 30% of

00:48:06.753 --> 00:48:08.954
our food comes from our farm or locally.

00:48:11.336 --> 00:48:11.777
I'm there.

00:48:11.838 --> 00:48:12.657
You had me at chilaquiles.

00:48:12.697 --> 00:48:12.898
Yeah.

00:48:13.902 --> 00:48:14.181
Well,

00:48:15.742 --> 00:48:17.842
hopefully we got you a long walk on a

00:48:17.882 --> 00:48:19.503
beach with nobody on it, too.

00:48:20.023 --> 00:48:21.545
Yes, yes, absolutely.

00:48:21.605 --> 00:48:22.625
Sounds wonderful.

00:48:23.344 --> 00:48:24.846
So, you know, David,

00:48:24.865 --> 00:48:26.666
you've done so much work.

00:48:26.806 --> 00:48:28.487
You're a businessman at the

00:48:28.567 --> 00:48:29.286
end of the day.

00:48:29.306 --> 00:48:32.429
And what I struggle with

00:48:32.509 --> 00:48:35.028
here in the States is it is

00:48:35.068 --> 00:48:39.070
a constant battle between corporate

00:48:39.963 --> 00:48:41.804
Brand agendas saying we're

00:48:41.824 --> 00:48:43.405
going to implement sustainability.

00:48:43.885 --> 00:48:45.686
These are the promises we're making.

00:48:45.746 --> 00:48:47.226
These are the commitments we're making.

00:48:47.407 --> 00:48:50.068
And yet down to the hotel level,

00:48:50.168 --> 00:48:51.307
it's still not being

00:48:51.367 --> 00:48:52.728
adopted and it's not happening.

00:48:53.349 --> 00:48:55.048
And one of the common themes

00:48:55.208 --> 00:48:56.670
is there's no budget.

00:48:56.730 --> 00:48:57.610
We don't have time.

00:48:57.630 --> 00:48:58.811
We don't have enough staff.

00:49:00.048 --> 00:49:01.929
From a business perspective,

00:49:02.811 --> 00:49:05.293
what advice and what proof

00:49:05.492 --> 00:49:08.134
would you give to some of

00:49:08.173 --> 00:49:09.454
these organizations out

00:49:09.514 --> 00:49:10.576
there that they need to

00:49:10.635 --> 00:49:12.516
start moving it to make it

00:49:12.556 --> 00:49:13.617
more of a priority?

00:49:15.378 --> 00:49:16.920
And what the future of

00:49:18.221 --> 00:49:19.501
tourism and travel looks

00:49:19.601 --> 00:49:21.483
like if they don't do that?

00:49:22.103 --> 00:49:22.364
Yeah.

00:49:22.583 --> 00:49:22.824
Well,

00:49:23.184 --> 00:49:25.106
I think the short answer is

00:49:25.826 --> 00:49:26.666
sustainability and

00:49:26.686 --> 00:49:28.128
regeneration are good for business.

00:49:29.414 --> 00:49:30.817
Using less water, cost less.

00:49:30.956 --> 00:49:32.297
Using less energy, cost less.

00:49:32.597 --> 00:49:34.000
Having less food waste, cost less.

00:49:34.519 --> 00:49:35.340
All the things that you're

00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:37.864
doing are good for business.

00:49:38.063 --> 00:49:39.105
I think that's a short answer.

00:49:39.585 --> 00:49:40.326
I think the other thing that

00:49:40.346 --> 00:49:41.748
I'm seeing out there is as

00:49:41.827 --> 00:49:42.969
I'm speaking at conferences,

00:49:43.148 --> 00:49:45.050
I hear CEOs of these big companies say,

00:49:45.871 --> 00:49:47.532
if we don't do these things,

00:49:48.534 --> 00:49:49.735
if we don't come out with

00:49:50.788 --> 00:49:52.208
this as core to our values

00:49:52.228 --> 00:49:52.769
and our branding,

00:49:53.389 --> 00:49:55.791
we can't attract the next

00:49:55.831 --> 00:49:56.813
generation of the best and

00:49:56.833 --> 00:49:58.594
the brightest because they

00:49:58.634 --> 00:49:59.434
want to work with the

00:49:59.514 --> 00:50:00.596
companies that are doing

00:50:00.635 --> 00:50:01.737
something good for the planet.

00:50:02.818 --> 00:50:03.657
And they're getting

00:50:03.777 --> 00:50:06.880
frustrated that we may talk about this,

00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:08.121
but it's not being implemented.

00:50:08.262 --> 00:50:08.862
And in hospitality,

00:50:13.081 --> 00:50:14.601
We're in the people business.

00:50:14.661 --> 00:50:15.822
It's a service business.

00:50:15.942 --> 00:50:17.422
And so you need those top

00:50:17.461 --> 00:50:18.983
people involved in it.

00:50:19.643 --> 00:50:23.043
So I think the other one is

00:50:25.465 --> 00:50:26.445
you look at regeneration,

00:50:26.485 --> 00:50:27.405
look at the concept of

00:50:27.445 --> 00:50:28.445
regenerative agriculture.

00:50:28.565 --> 00:50:31.086
It's all about creating more fertile soil.

00:50:32.547 --> 00:50:34.248
And so if you've got

00:50:35.518 --> 00:50:39.242
you have to put in outside expenses,

00:50:39.422 --> 00:50:40.141
fertilizers,

00:50:40.262 --> 00:50:42.784
to make that give life or

00:50:42.963 --> 00:50:46.907
create a product.

00:50:47.847 --> 00:50:49.588
But if you invest in good soil,

00:50:50.268 --> 00:50:51.329
all the nutrients you need

00:50:51.349 --> 00:50:52.128
are in that soil.

00:50:53.088 --> 00:50:54.809
And so I think if businesses

00:50:54.829 --> 00:50:55.650
look at that point,

00:50:55.690 --> 00:50:57.731
that they're investing in

00:50:58.731 --> 00:50:59.632
more nutrition so they

00:50:59.672 --> 00:51:01.512
don't have the costs coming

00:51:01.552 --> 00:51:03.934
in from the outside, that in the long run,

00:51:03.974 --> 00:51:04.534
it pays off.

00:51:06.057 --> 00:51:07.818
And that's a good metaphor.

00:51:07.838 --> 00:51:08.860
It's a good way to put it.

00:51:08.980 --> 00:51:10.201
It's just I think it's so

00:51:10.260 --> 00:51:11.442
hard for them to see.

00:51:11.961 --> 00:51:13.463
You can't visually see those

00:51:13.523 --> 00:51:15.304
tangible results right away.

00:51:15.344 --> 00:51:16.525
You have to wait for it.

00:51:16.686 --> 00:51:18.927
And I think that's something

00:51:19.168 --> 00:51:22.130
the United States may have

00:51:22.150 --> 00:51:23.251
a little struggle with anyway.

00:51:25.134 --> 00:51:28.355
they need instant gratification, right?

00:51:28.414 --> 00:51:29.675
In our personal lives and in

00:51:29.715 --> 00:51:30.755
business sometimes.

00:51:30.835 --> 00:51:31.516
So hopefully.

00:51:31.757 --> 00:51:32.916
So where do you see,

00:51:33.356 --> 00:51:35.838
do you see net zero being possible?

00:51:35.858 --> 00:51:37.498
Do you see these commitments

00:51:38.139 --> 00:51:38.978
being achieved?

00:51:39.059 --> 00:51:40.480
What do you see in the future?

00:51:41.519 --> 00:51:42.840
Well, I'm an optimist.

00:51:42.880 --> 00:51:44.041
If I weren't an optimist,

00:51:44.101 --> 00:51:46.302
I wouldn't be an entrepreneur.

00:51:46.842 --> 00:51:48.222
So, you know, again,

00:51:48.302 --> 00:51:51.704
I think all these things are possible.

00:51:51.744 --> 00:51:53.445
I look at COVID and, and,

00:51:54.329 --> 00:51:54.929
Humans,

00:51:56.050 --> 00:51:57.911
we changed our habits and we

00:51:58.012 --> 00:51:59.153
changed them in a matter of

00:51:59.213 --> 00:52:01.675
weeks in a significant way.

00:52:02.577 --> 00:52:05.099
And when we need to, we can adapt.

00:52:06.849 --> 00:52:09.769
And so I think, you know,

00:52:10.510 --> 00:52:11.831
as the climate crisis gets

00:52:12.010 --> 00:52:12.731
worse and worse,

00:52:14.532 --> 00:52:17.213
we will have to find ways to adapt.

00:52:17.733 --> 00:52:19.414
And eventually we will get there.

00:52:21.114 --> 00:52:24.976
You know, the the prognosis is, you know,

00:52:24.996 --> 00:52:26.536
the earth doesn't need us,

00:52:26.637 --> 00:52:27.418
we need the earth.

00:52:28.597 --> 00:52:30.498
And as we figure that out,

00:52:30.918 --> 00:52:32.199
we will begin to make those

00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:33.320
the right moves.

00:52:33.679 --> 00:52:35.181
So I'm an optimist.

00:52:36.222 --> 00:52:36.503
Good,

00:52:36.563 --> 00:52:38.384
I like to leave it on a positive note.

00:52:40.123 --> 00:52:40.463
Well,

00:52:40.483 --> 00:52:45.346
I am so glad that I finally was able

00:52:45.405 --> 00:52:47.726
to get you on the show and

00:52:47.827 --> 00:52:49.086
that we are going to

00:52:49.146 --> 00:52:50.246
hopefully have inspired

00:52:50.387 --> 00:52:52.088
everyone to book their next

00:52:52.168 --> 00:52:55.289
vacation with Playa Viva or

00:52:55.309 --> 00:52:57.548
to go to Regenerative

00:52:57.608 --> 00:52:58.730
Travel and check out some

00:52:58.849 --> 00:53:02.110
of the amazing locations and hotels

00:53:02.815 --> 00:53:05.197
and resorts that you have available,

00:53:06.016 --> 00:53:07.077
as well as if you're a

00:53:07.157 --> 00:53:08.496
travel agent or if you're a

00:53:08.556 --> 00:53:10.418
business to join that community,

00:53:10.978 --> 00:53:12.577
to gain best practices,

00:53:12.838 --> 00:53:14.998
to talk about the struggles,

00:53:15.119 --> 00:53:17.159
the good things that come, you know,

00:53:17.599 --> 00:53:19.579
it's probably a lot about that as well,

00:53:19.659 --> 00:53:19.980
right?

00:53:20.019 --> 00:53:21.440
Having people to talk to

00:53:21.601 --> 00:53:23.340
about this journey that they're on.

00:53:24.605 --> 00:53:25.045
Yeah,

00:53:25.204 --> 00:53:28.905
the key term we use here is all the

00:53:28.965 --> 00:53:30.186
luxury, none of the guilt.

00:53:30.806 --> 00:53:33.068
So hopefully we'll have you

00:53:33.188 --> 00:53:34.307
visit Playa Vida soon.

00:53:34.347 --> 00:53:35.909
And as you said, everybody will,

00:53:36.688 --> 00:53:37.969
your network will become

00:53:38.028 --> 00:53:39.030
aware of regenerative

00:53:39.050 --> 00:53:40.710
travel and their part that

00:53:40.730 --> 00:53:42.871
they can play in making

00:53:43.050 --> 00:53:44.992
travel a force for good in

00:53:45.032 --> 00:53:45.952
these communities that we're in.

00:53:46.909 --> 00:53:49.349
Yes, yes, we have to,

00:53:49.530 --> 00:53:51.130
otherwise we won't be able

00:53:51.190 --> 00:53:52.150
to experience these

00:53:52.190 --> 00:53:53.170
incredible people and

00:53:53.231 --> 00:53:55.811
places and animals that are

00:53:55.972 --> 00:53:57.931
out there for us to

00:53:58.012 --> 00:54:00.693
responsibly take part in.

00:54:01.253 --> 00:54:02.793
David, it has been a pleasure.

00:54:02.813 --> 00:54:04.853
I can't thank you enough for your time.

00:54:05.034 --> 00:54:06.394
Any last words?

00:54:07.804 --> 00:54:08.846
Amy, no, thank you.

00:54:08.865 --> 00:54:09.907
This has been marvelous.

00:54:10.146 --> 00:54:11.148
And yeah,

00:54:11.248 --> 00:54:12.548
I look forward to hosting you at

00:54:12.568 --> 00:54:13.449
Playa Viva so you can have

00:54:13.469 --> 00:54:13.951
that experience.

00:54:13.990 --> 00:54:15.192
And then after that,

00:54:15.231 --> 00:54:16.273
we'll do another one of these.

00:54:16.373 --> 00:54:17.954
Yes, absolutely.

00:54:17.994 --> 00:54:19.034
We might have to do it in

00:54:19.114 --> 00:54:20.376
Playa Viva though, I think.

00:54:20.637 --> 00:54:21.918
That just seems more fitting.

00:54:22.378 --> 00:54:22.797
Perfect.

00:54:22.978 --> 00:54:23.259
Done.

00:54:24.190 --> 00:54:26.311
Everyone, as always,

00:54:26.510 --> 00:54:27.891
we are incredibly grateful

00:54:27.992 --> 00:54:29.192
for your support.

00:54:29.331 --> 00:54:31.893
Please continue to listen and tune in,

00:54:32.514 --> 00:54:33.494
like and subscribe.

00:54:33.574 --> 00:54:35.215
And don't forget to sign up

00:54:35.235 --> 00:54:36.054
for our newsletter.

00:54:36.135 --> 00:54:41.277
You can find us at www.greenluxinc.com.

00:54:41.297 --> 00:54:45.760
That's G-R-E-E-N-L-U-X-E-I-N-C.

00:54:46.260 --> 00:54:47.940
For all of those breaking

00:54:48.021 --> 00:54:50.581
sustainable hospitality news, tips,

00:54:50.822 --> 00:54:52.882
resources, and our favorite podcasts.

00:54:53.402 --> 00:54:56.786
So until next time, we will see you soon.

00:54:57.306 --> 00:54:58.106
Take care, everyone.

00:54:58.126 --> 00:54:58.648
Bye-bye.