Connecting People to Iconic Places: The Pursuit Approach to Experience-Led Travel

Travel is being rewritten in real time, and it’s not being led by hotels or airlines. It’s being led by experiences that create real connection to place.

Dan sits down with David Barry, President and CEO of Pursuit, to unpack how a true “category of one” company gets built. With a 40-year career across hospitality, aviation, and travel, David shares how Pursuit has evolved into a global portfolio of attractions, lodging, and transportation designed to connect guests to some of the world’s most iconic destinations.

We break down Pursuit’s concept of experiential infrastructure, why owning access to extraordinary places, and building the systems around them, is becoming one of the most valuable strategies in travel. From Banff and Jasper to Alaska, Iceland, and Costa Rica, David explains the criteria behind expansion: iconic, hard-to-replicate locations paired with strong local teams and long-term demand.

The conversation also explores how Pursuit’s model turns experiences into a compounding growth engine, where great guest moments drive demand, reinvestment, and sustained growth over time . We also discuss Promise to Place, responsible tourism, and the operational realities of scaling experiences while protecting authenticity.

David closes with practical leadership insights you can apply immediately, from simple decision-making frameworks to how to build and lead high-performing hospitality teams.

Learn more at pursuit.com.

The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 

https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Why Experiences Matter

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Travel Trends Podcast. This is your host, Dan Christian, and today we have a very special spotlight episode for you. Joining us is someone who has really helped shape modern experiential travel across North America and the world. He is David Berry, the president and CEO of Pursuit. He is known throughout the travel industry. He is a true industry legend, not just in the world of travel hospitality, but especially in the mountain resort business where he absolutely needs no introduction. He's had an incredible career building and scaling some of the most iconic destination and experience-driven businesses in the industry. From his roots in skiing and mountain culture to helping grow Intro West Resorts into one of the great North American success stories in destination travel, David has spent decades thinking deeply about how people experience places. Today, he's leading Pursuit through what may be one of the most exciting transformations happening in the travel industry right now. Pursuit has evolved into what they describe as a category of one: a company focused on connecting people to iconic places through what they call experiential infrastructure. And honestly, when you hear this conversation and look at their portfolio, the strategy, and the growth story, it's hard to argue with that positioning. Pursuit has become a standalone public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under PRSU, and they've been sharpening their focus around iconic attractions, hospitality, transportation, and immersive experiences across destinations like Banff and Jasper in Alberta, but also Alaska, Iceland, Costa Rica, and beyond. It is an incredible story that I can't wait to share with you. And what I find especially interesting about Pursuit is that this isn't just a traditional hospitality business. And it's not simply tourism either. This is really about building the infrastructure behind unforgettable experiences. It's how travelers connect emotionally with destinations, how experiences increasingly drive travel decisions, and how the future of travel may belong to the companies that can create meaningful, authentic, and scalable moments in some of the world's most iconic places. We're also going to explore why David believes the future of travel isn't just hotels or flights. It really is all about experiences. We're going to talk about the evolution of experience-led travel, what experiential infrastructure actually means, how pursuit scales these iconic experiences while protecting the integrity of the destinations. This is really important, and we get into that in great amount of detail. The operational realities of building in iconic places and what the next decade of travel may look like as traveler expectations continue to evolve. David also shares so many valuable insights from his career and his journey, which is something I'm always keen to cover in these conversations to benefit all of our listeners in your career and building your companies. And on a very personal note, as a fellow Canadian, it's especially fun to have David on the show today. I've admired his work for many years. I have a great respect for what he's accomplished and the team that he surrounds himself with, as you'll hear in our conversation today, has the greatest respect and admiration for David. So it's a real honor to have this opportunity to sit down with him and discuss my shared appreciation for the mountains, outdoor culture, and the role that travel can play in helping people connect more deeply with the world around them. So on that note, David, welcome to the Travel Trends Podcast. It's so great to have you with us.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Dan, it is so good to be here. Thank you so much. We're thrilled to uh share our story. We we listen, we're listeners, longtime listeners, first-time attendees, and uh we're excited to uh be able to share Pursuit's story. So thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

For sure. And what an impressive story it is. I think people got a good sense there from the introduction about this extraordinary uh company that you have built and the legacy that uh Pursuit is going to have long term on the travel industry. It's an amazing story, and so I'm really keen to do this spotlight episode together and specifically to meet you, David. I've met a number of your colleagues who've raved about your leadership and the company that you've built, and just absolutely love working at Pursuit and working with you specifically. So I'd like to start there because obviously there's a very personal story to David Barry and how you got to the position that you are. But let's let's rewind to begin for all of our listeners about how you got into the tourism and hospitality industry in the first place.

From Ski Coaching To Hospitality

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Uh, I think it falls in the category of dumb luck. And uh I've, you know, I think you go back in time in your life and you think about decisions. And so I'm a I'm a young guy in Quebec. I love skiing, not really that happy with school. I don't, I'm not ready to keep studying and pursue an academic career. And I have a bunch of wild oats to sell, so I I want to go sell them. And I how I do that is I enter the ski industry. And I was a good ski racing kid and then was excited about the teaching and coaching side, and that was the first avenue that I followed and was excited about that and wanted to get really good at it. So my first journey was on the teaching and coaching side of going through my levels in Canada, which you can do. And Canada has a really organized and effective uh series of levels with the CSIA, which is the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation, where if you've got some talent and you want to learn, and it's a great way if you like coaching and the human dynamics and people that is something of interest. And so that was the first tiptoe into the hospitality world. And then when I got there, I discovered wow, there's, you know, you can ski in the winter, but you need to do something in the summer. And so I became the most industrious bellman you've ever met, because you know, you're 19, you need a job, you'll you'll do anything. And the context of what's it like to be in this show? And if those of you that like movies, you know, I'd encourage you to go back and watch. It's a funny, funny movie and lots of poignant storytelling. It's Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze. And I worked in a hotel that was like that. It was that three meal a day, a couple of hundred room on a lake in the summertime, ski resort in the winter, very famous ski school program, a place called Grey Rocks in Quebec and Montrembla. And uh that's where it started. And so that combination of teaching skiing in the winter, going through my certification levels in Canada, and then doing a different hospitality job every summer. I got the bug and the bug just stuck.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

That's amazing. I mean, I it's one point of commonality, certainly, between us is that, you know, having grown up in Toronto, I would often go to Tromblanc for my uh snowboard holidays. So I was a huge fan of Tromblanc and in Quebec, my wife's from uh Montreal, but I would go up uh once or twice a year to Tromblanc with my crew of snowboarders. Started when I was at the University of Western Ontario, where I would take our snowboard club up to Tromblan every year. And then what's really fascinating about your background is I became not only a huge fan of Tromblanc, but IntroWest, when IntroWest then bought those beautiful properties and created these remarkable villages, and Tromblon still has that European charm. And then Whistler as well, which was part of IntroWest. And obviously, you were the chief operating officer at IntroWest. You know, you have this incredible legacy in the ski industry and the resort industry, and how you've transformed that into then pursuit that we're going to get into. But I I love that you came up through the skiing side of the industry, loved the industry, and wanted to create a lifestyle out of it. Because at the core of it, that clearly was your passion. But uh bring us up to speed with your current role. Because obviously, being the CEO and president of Pursuit, and it's a really amazing story about how this company has evolved and even the last couple of years, how you've become a standalone organization and growing so significantly. But yeah, take us a little bit through the those years at IntroWest and how Pursuit came to be.

IntraWest Lessons And Servant Leadership

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Sure. Well, IntroWest was a great place to learn. And one of the great benefits of some of the pioneers, if you think of Joe Hussein, the founder of IntroWest, truly a visionary guy, think of Hugh Smythe, who was the operating leader across the company, a legend in skiing in Canada. I'm still very close with Hugh and uh very connected to Dave Brownley, who was a colleague, very famous guy in Western Canada. Dave Brownley ran Whistled Blackholm very effectively and then has subsequently been involved in a variety of different projects. Uh Dave was the chief operating officer in Canada. I was the chief operating officer in the US. And that kinship is really interesting because you have a belief fundamentally that there's nothing in the world you can't figure out. And if you work hard enough and you learn enough, you can sort whatever problem it is that you go through. And both Dave and I worked for Hugh Smythe, one of the most visionary creative leaders you could ever work for. So Hugh set a tempo. And honestly, Dan, we were just trying to keep up. And so we just stayed on it to the extent we could. And, you know, you always felt like at work you were coming around the corner on two wheels, you know, scraping the car on the on the guardrail. But it was a great training ground. It was a great learning experience. 1997, we bought our first resort in the US. So I'm a Canadian, I live in the US. Um, there's a whole bunch of stuff we could talk about there. But um the interesting thing then of the journey, and then your dream is to run one place, and then all of a sudden you're running two, and then you're running three, and four, and five, and six, and so on. So you grow, you learn, you develop. And then you get better at leading and you understand that leadership is about support and being a good shepherd and being more of a servant leader than some crazy demanding leader. Because people, you know, they ask the three questions of leaders all the time. Who are you? You know, what do you believe in? Second question is where are we going? And the third question they ask is, Do you see me? Meaning, are you focused on who they are that helps then drive to the mission? So IntraWest, great place to grow up, great place to learn, multiple opportunities. Um, in 2006, there was a transaction where IntraWest was sold as a public company, went private. I went to the Alpine and CMH worlds, so Alpine helicopters based out of Kelowna, but also operations in the U.S. with Kachina Aviation and then CMH, the world's largest helicopter skiing company, very famous, amazing brand, incredible people, fantastic experiences. Did that through 2011, spent some time in finance and tech. That's a whole other podcast, no one will believe. And then uh in 2015, got one of those phone calls. There's this guy at uh Spencer Stewart, Bob DeFries, and he leads the search practice for hospitality for the world. And he called about an opportunity at a company called Vod. And the division was their travel and recreation division, not yet named pursuit. And folks in Western Canada would recognize it included Brewster, uh, Brewster uh, you know, sightseeing and you know, part of the bus company and also those attractions. But foundationally, what was there was an opportunity to create an amazing, iconic attractions and hospitality company. And that's what we've been focused on since the spring of 2015.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Yeah, it's such a remarkable

Canada And The Borderless Traveler Mindset

SPEAKER_00 11:40

story. And actually, I do want to just touch on, especially your Canadian heritage and the fact, you know, you're based in Denver. One of the things that I think we both see, especially in our modern times, is some of the geopolitical challenges. And the reality, I, as I say on my podcast, I mean, half our listeners in the U.S., about 25% in Canada, and the rest globally. And there's obviously a lot more that unites us than divides us. And and many Americans and Canadians are such great friends. And uh, you know, we have family on both sides of the border, and we've worked on both sides of the border, and there's lots of commonality we have between each other. So I've loved working in LA and living and working in the U.S. I spent a lot of time traveling in the US. You see, Americans come up to Canada to go to those ski resorts, and I think there's just something that a common bond, especially amongst travelers and people that work in the travel industry, that's just above borders or just beyond borders. And so I think it's, you know, there's the one side of it that says to what I say, how cool is it that a Canadian like you has gone on to such great success in the US, which is one thing to be a proud of. But at the same time, you know, the American market, you and uh and us together, you know, we're complementary. And so, you know, once you're in this world, you know, even living in Denver, in many ways, I see Colorado as very similar to Alberta, you know, geographically and with the mountain range and the divide. I mean, and so yeah, maybe if you wouldn't mind, David, just touch on that for a moment because I think it will be interesting to our listeners just to understand, you know, your Canadian background and living in the U.S., because clearly you obviously love living in both and you travel extensively.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Yeah, I think that there's uh there's an interesting thing. One is that when you're born in Canada, the there's a certain Canadianness that you have. And that is uh the you have some of the stereotypes that people laugh about. Yeah, you know, we do apologize for things we didn't do, just you know, just that's our nature. And there's also a level of humility, which I think is important, and also an aspect of being a good neighbor. And I think being a good neighbor applies broadly in life. Can you be a good neighbor to your actual neighbor, you know, wherever you live? But then when you think as countries, we have a long history as countries of working well together. And, you know, political directions and the winds of change, they come and go. Uh, but in the end, what you have is is people that are very connected through our long histories, and whether that's been through world wars that we have fought together or things that, you know, in times of conflict, we come together and and support each other. And so I think that the interesting thing is also there's a very large working Canadian community within the US. And uh, you don't just notice it on Canada Day when you drive around and see those Canadian flags in neighborhoods, but it's uh a very strongly connected group of expats and and uh a lot of energy there. So I think it's all positivity. And uh there's an energy around the Canadian spirit that's very powerful. And then when you combine that with the entrepreneurial engine of America, that's also something. The American market is large, it's 360 or so million people, of which 320 million of those are adults. And so you take the kids out of the equation. And as it compares to Canada's economy, those are you know obviously different sizes. We also sell in 80 countries around the world within the pursuit context. So we're talking to citizens of countries all around the world, and that's a really interesting segue into what unites. And so what we've learned doesn't matter where you come from, doesn't matter what language you speak, doesn't manage matter who you worship or who you love, everybody in the world loves a beautiful view. And so what pursuit does is connect guests from all over the world with iconic, unforgettable, and inspiring locations.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Well, and just on that, I mean, uh one last thing just to share that I'm sure that will resonate with you given the number of comedians that come from Canada or people that work in media from Canada. Um I joke about media because uh oftentimes Canadians have a neutral accent, although there are certain words uh out and about, or a can of pop. Certain things give us away, it's a tell, and people say, wait a second, you're Canadian, they figure it out. Um but there is a unique vantage point uh being a neighbor, and and I think this doesn't just unique to Canada, but unique to certainly your experience and uh and mine as well, is that when you're on the outside looking in, you see things from a different perspective, and then you get a chance to be a part of the American business, the American market. And I think there is value to being an observer and then being able to be an actor because you have that vantage point, you kind of come with that lens. And um, and so one of the things you just mentioned there, though, as far as what unites us, and I'm clearly as travelers, and this is where you know you not only are able to look at the American market, but the global market and recognize the commonalities amongst travelers and realize business opportunities uh that people might not otherwise see or might be as obvious to others. And this is where you know when I was so keen to bring this episode together to meet you, understand your story, and really share where pursuit has gotten to as a business because it is quite fascinating. I think most people are not to say familiar with pursuit and and and the portfolio that you have and these iconic destinations and how you make very intentional decisions, having met a number of your team. So let's let's uh uh roll back to the story of how you kind of spun this company out of an existing entity to be a standalone business that is now getting the attention and recognition it deserves.

Building Pursuit From Disparate Assets

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah, sure. So I can start it and travel back with me, Dan, to 2015. So in 2015, we had a very disparate group of assets that had no real connection. They were called different things, they were part of a division of an overall greater holding company, but they had no real operating platform, there was no shared values, there was no shared mission. And so that was the first step, obviously, was to create a fabric, a context that would bring everyone together because we were all in the same business, but nobody really talked to anybody else, and it was a lot of room to improve. So, first was creating a shared mission, connecting guests and staff to iconic places through unforgettable inspiring experiences. Then a common set of values that everyone could understand. There's only four of them. They're not written by committee. Uh, they're really easy. If you're a 19-year-old kid, you can remember what they are, and that really matters because it's about driving behavior. And so those are values that are simple. Safety first, honor place, anticipate, bring your best. So those are our four core values. We're very focused then on what we do, and we want our vision is to be the leading um, you know, uh experiential attraction and hospitality company in the world. And so by doing that, then our focus for the business itself was to create a name and a platform. So that was really important. We spent a lot of time choosing a name. There's a great character in Pursuit's history. His name is Steve Manning. I'll give a big plug for Steve Manning on the podcast. He's a guy who uh has a very interesting company and he helped us find a name. And so I would get these random names every week. You know, I'd get five or ten random names, and we ended up working through them. And that's how we came upon Pursuit. And it was really about who we were and what would we create. And very different. Having come from skiing and having some friends in golf and other things. Our first premise was no athletic ability required. Certainly, if you were going to hike, that was helpful, but we wanted to create opportunities and experiences that everyone could enjoy. You could be a three-year-old or you could be a 103-year-old grandparent that you could enjoy them. Second was truly connecting with authenticity. So much of the world is the same. Same stores on a high street in London as they are in downtown Toronto. And uh, same stores in New York, same stores in other places. And so, could you maintain authenticity while being connected? So, pursuit is a house of brands. We're not a branded house. Everything's not the same. It's all very different. We have 17 attractions spread out in four countries, 29 different lodging experiences, retail, food, transportation, all of those, you know, in four countries now: Canada, US, Costa Rica, and Iceland. Um, you know, there's an interesting thing. We are uh a publicly traded company on the NYSE and in New York Stock Exchange, but we're truly an international company because we operate in so many different countries. Uh we've invested heavily since 2015 to today, and we've deployed about 575 million of capital investment into the business, and that's created obviously a strong economic result, but it also does things in communities like provides stability, improves experiences, improves our promise to place, provides well-paying, good jobs in places, and also modernizes facilities. Uh, majority of our investments have been in Western Canada, in the Banff to Jasper Corridor. And that's important to know just because we we reinvest heavily. And uh people think, oh, you know, American public company, those profits have left Canada. Actually, they've just round-tripped right back in. And when you look at the projects that we're working on, including the Jasper SkyTram and others, we're heavily investing again because we're huge believers in the potential of Canada as a destination and specifically on the global stage. And then looking for opportunities to grow as we uh look to expand. Yeah, so that's that's been our story and our journey of growth really since 2015. Um, there is no way I could take credit. It is not, it's not the David show. It's a show of an entire team working super hard. And we are the 11-year overnight success story that you may never have heard of. And I joke about that, but people are like, oh my gosh, where'd you come from? And we've been toiling away in the background. Um, one last point on that. We were part of a larger company. There were two companies within that larger company. One was called Pursuit, one was called GES, which is a trade fantastic business, just a tougher public company business. And and uh it did trade shows and expositions and those things. Our board, after a long strategic review, made the decision that we would sell the GES business, use those proceeds to pay down all of our debt, and emerge to the world in the beginning of January of 25 as a pure play attractions and hospitality business, which we have, and then focus the energy pursuit was the business that was growing. And so we assumed the responsibilities that come with being the public company. And off we go. And we did our first acquisition as the new company, acquiring Tabacón Resort in Costa Rica. And boy, if you ever want to learn about hospitality, just spend some time with the Ticos, the friends of Costa Rica, as we call them, the citizens of Costa Rica, who have within their DNA incredible hospitality chops.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Well, I definitely want to speak to some of these examples of where you have invested and these businesses you've either built or acquired. But I wanted to make sure we established for all of our listeners that important backstory because Pursuit is certainly in a category of one. And I mentioned that in the introduction. You're certainly not a team of one, given how highly everyone who works inside the business speaks about Pursuit. And as I mentioned in the introduction, you know, this is truly a transformational growth journey, and you are very well positioned to become the world's leading iconic attractions and hospitality company. And I love the combination of two of those things, and specifically the background in hospitality. But the reality is people are looking for the most scenic and iconic destinations to travel to, to have truly transformative travel experiences. As we're having this conversation, this is the year very much of transformative travel with Joe Pine writing the transformation economy book, someone that likely inspired both of us, but with the experience economy. And now I think the word transformation is really entering the zeitgeist, and you guys were already onto that in 2025 when you positioned uh Pursuit to be a standalone publicly traded company. And as you mentioned, and one thing I do want to encourage all of our listeners, I know I mentioned the website Pursuit.com, but on Pursuit Collection, on the LinkedIn page in particular, there's actually a fantastic video that uh where David actually describes the journey that they've been on. And what's amazing to me when I meet your colleagues is how not only positively everyone speaks about the organization, but they're all talking about the same key points of what attracts them to the business, what keeps them engaged in the business. And Samuel Auk, who works closely with you as a chief platform officer, and as he said to me, you know, I'll work for David as long as he continues to do this, and I'm like, you know, he's fully committed and bought into pursuit and your vision. And he was talking about the resort in Costa Rica when we were at a conference together recently, and we were talking to two of the executives from the company Exotica, and instantly they knew the resort, they knew the investments that have been made, they were so impressed uh that it was actually part of the collection. But this is where you mentioned something very um intentionally that I wanted to underscore, which is that you're a house of brands. So people may not be familiar with pursuit, but they're likely very familiar with the brands under your umbrella, especially given some of the iconic destinations uh that you're investing in. So let's let's break that down a little bit, David, for our listeners. And maybe we'll start with Canada, because I had the privilege to go to Calgary recently and spend time in Banff. I stayed at one of your hotels. I had a great snowboarding day on the on the mountain and um and met some of your team, including Jessa Harcombe, who was just a fantastic, uh terrific addition to your team. And so tell us a little bit about the Canadian portfolio, and then we'll do US and international so you can highlight some of these incredible places that are part of the portfolio.

Portfolio Tour Across Iconic Destinations

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Well, think of the trends, and let's start there, and then we can go into talking about the geographies and and but the secular trends in leisure and travel are incredibly powerful. Number one, this transfer of wealth from one generation to another is driving uh economic growth in the leisure travel space. Second is the search for authenticity. So, you know, if someone's got their laptop open and they're planning their summer trip and they start searching in Banff, the first thing they do is great things to do in Banff. And that drives a set of search results, and then they're excited to come and meet us because we're in that category quite heavily. Then I think what you have in that search for authenticity is people want experiences more than just buying more things. And so seeking experiences over things is a powerful force. And doing it in a way that feels connected with companies that are real and that are telling the authentic story of place is something that's really powerful. I think the trends to wellness, well-being, mental health, you know, stability, feeling connection is also something that's very motivating. And then also as technologies get better, what does that create for people? More free time. So think of pre-COVID, right? You might have stuck around the office to take that call. And but you know, post-COVID, I'll take that call from my computer. I'll be on a train in Belgium, but I'll take that call and I'll dial in with the team. And it doesn't matter if I'm somewhere else in the world, I can I can make that connection work. So those are the secular trends. And so you take that then and look at what we do. We believe that experiences are really important, but they've got to be connected to where you are. And so, Banff, if you live in Banff and you run a business in Banff, and you live in Jasper and you run a business in Jasper, to the world, they may seem like similar places. To the residents of Banff and Jasper, they are very different places. And the identity in Jasper is very strong. And folks in Jasper want to be Jasper, and folks in Banff want to be Banff. Both are iconic destinations, but quite different. So what you learn over time is that protecting authenticity, protecting what's unique about the place is really powerful. So within Banff, we have obviously the Banff Gondola, Lake Minamanka boat tours, we have the Mount Royal Hotel, we have a base for our sightseeing operations, we have uh the Elkin Avenue Hotel, and then we have a variety of food and beverage experiences that are really meaningful. Sky Bistro being one on top of the Banff Gondola or Farm and Fire, um, you know, on uh the main street in Banff. Those are some meaningful experiences that that we have. Then as you travel, you go up the Columbia Ice Fields. That was a long time, I would say, uh, you know, leaseholding that we had. And but we've invested heavily to make that experience so much better. So combination of food and beverage investments, investing in the Glacier View Lodge and creating that sense of place, investing in the ice explorer fleet. And um, you know, there's some fantastic new developments in equipment uh at the Columbia Ice Field, the Glacier Skywalk, traveling on to Jasper, where we announced uh before uh in late 24 the Jasper Sky Tram and the type of refreshment we're doing there. The Jasper SkyTram is a 60-year-old aerial ropeway, but it has an amazing potential. And so it was time for that equipment to be retired, and we're working on that and time to create a new experience that will be there for the next hundred years. And we're really excited to have the privilege to do that and have a strong support within communities and continue to work hard on that. And then obviously, we own uh lodges, we operate Malene Lake Boat Tours, uh, we have the Golden Skybridge in Golden BC, which is a phenomenal attraction, very family-oriented, amazing place. If you've got rambunctious teenagers, take them to Golden. Uh, they have lots to do. And uh, you know, trying to do all of those things in a connected way. No one goes to Jasper to experience icing. It's funny. Uh they go to Jasper to experience Jasper. So you want to make sure you're connected to Jasper. Then when you travel further afield, we in Glacier National Park in Montana, in that whitefish glacier area, we have numerous hotel properties, attraction properties, Glacier Raff Company is a good example of that, and a variety of different retail and food and beverage. And then from Alaska, basically from Seward, Alaska, all the way to the backcountry of Denali. And then in Iceland with Sky Lagoon, which is an amazing product, and our most recent expansion into Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a destination that truly has the pura vida spirit, the amazing energy and positivity that comes from discovering place. Costa Rica is unlike anywhere in the world. And so Tabacon Resort is the first of what we hope to be many opportunities within Costa Rica to provide a really unique experience. We are attractions first, so meaning these iconic sightseeing attractions, and then we connect in with lodging, guest experience, hospitality, et cetera. That was a mouthful, so I'll stop there.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

No, I appreciate you sharing that because I think it's really helpful for all of our listeners to kind of to wrap their head around the portfolio. You're absolutely right to start with what are the trends that are driving this behavior and generational wealth transfer, obviously, before. And it's something that's very interesting. I'm glad you pointed that out because it's something that I often speak about on the podcast and why we're seeing so much private equity interest in the travel industry, and this is more of a 10 to 20 year horizon. And uh certainly when you look at you know the number of travelers that are, you know, 2025, when the year that you guys became a standalone business, you know, your business is $500 million a year. And the reality is over the next 20 years, the expectations is total number of travelers is going to double, you know, from 400 million to 800 million, which is another thing that really stood out to me about your approach, which is this promise to place. And I want to make sure we talk about that too, David, because when um uh meeting some of your additional colleagues, including the managing director of the Sky Lagoon in Iceland, uh, one thing that uh Sam was telling me is that the key for you and your success is to have a great management team in place that really is committed to running that property. And and and it the more I learned about your business, the more I understood why it has become as successful as it is and and why, from you know knowing about the team and finally getting a chance to meet you, you know, I think it's got such a bright future to continue to grow and expand. And so, but but in terms of the destination, we talked about Canada. Let's just talk a little bit about the US market, and then I want to go back to Iceland and and definitely Costa Rica as well, as you expand internationally. But what are some of the commonalities with the in the the US in terms of, you know, as you mentioned, lodges and uh and obviously that still has to be a market for continued expansion for you.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Sure, and also you're constantly looking for ways. So give you an example.

Alaska And Glacier Park Magic

SPEAKER_01 32:34

In Alaska, we own and operate Kenai Fjords tours. So you're in Seward, you may have come off a cruise ship or you may be traveling by land, and you get on a boat, and you go off down Resurrection Bay, and then you make a hard right turn across the Gulf of Alaska, and and then you're in the the Kenai Fjords, which is a national park, but you're on the water, and you travel up the fjords, and what do you see? Who in the world does not want to see a whale reaching the water? It is one of the most majestic things you will ever see. So, wildlife, the opportunity to see the Harding Icefields is an example from the water. Um, beautiful, amazing scenery that you couldn't see. You know, maybe if you had your own helicopter or you had wings, you could go see that, or your own vessel, your own boat to take you there. But it's pretty far distance, and you know, most folks are not going to do that. So the opportunity to go to places that truly are iconic and to bring guests there in a way that's sensitive to the environments that they're in, to be respectful of those environments, is why one of our core values is honor place, and that's where promise the place came from. And then, if you think then we have lodging in Seward, and then you travel northwards to Talkeetna. Talkeetna, Alaska is this amazing, funky, original Alaskan town. And guests on the Alaska Railway, they stop and they get out of the train and they look around and go, wow, this is this is Alaska. And then if it's we're blessed with a beautiful sunny day, they get to see um Denali poke out of the clouds and to see that mountain is quite something. And uh as close to you know, Everest as you're gonna find on the North American continent, just an incredible power there, an amazing hotel property, amazing team, very hospitality focused. Travel a little further north and the Denali Backcountry Lodge, which is an opportunity to go all the way into the backcountry, into an isolated backcountry lodge that you fly into, and then to hike and experience that environment with the backcountry up close. And so there's all the magic that comes from that. And uh then from there, traveling obviously in our Montana businesses, uh, Glacier Raf Company is one of the premier rafting operators on the Flathead River in uh the West Glacier part of Montana. Just an amazing experience, one of the highest net promoter scores. If you follow that as a business, if you're in hospitality, I'm gonna bet if you're listening today, you know what net promoter scores are. The Glacier Raft Company has the highest net promoter scores I think I've ever seen in my life. And people fall in love, they want to change their life, stop being a stockbroker in Toronto and go be a rafting guide in Montana. And they experience that. And then broadly, lodging experiences that are connected to the national park environment. And we have, you know, basically everything at the west entry of Glacier National Park and on the east side of Glacier National Park from the lodging and support services and other perspectives of, you know, retail, food, um, all of the different things that make your stay magical. And then working on further attraction development and working on lots of other things in that environment.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Well, and this is what really stood out to me is the fact that the strategy across the group, I mean, obviously there's the three core elements, um, which uh I think most people will find inspiring just to begin with, um, which is the idea that it has to be iconic, unforgettable, and inspiring, and that applies to all of the uh destinations in the the entire portfolio. They have to fit those three criteria. And I would what I didn't rap uh understand, David, as I was starting to uh uh familiarize myself with pursuit, the team, and all the different projects you have, is that in certain cases you uh refresh properties, you buy or you build. And so there's these interesting uh approach where there's not it's whatever best meets the moment. If there's an existing partner there that you can acquire that you can uh invest in, and that's obviously a big uh consideration uh for long-term investment, but even into the community to be able to invest in uh the infrastructure. But then you also build, and that was the part when I mentioned when I heard about the Sky Lagoon. What I didn't understand is that Pursuit built Sky Lagoon. This was actually yeah. So tell us a little bit about that. Because then when you expand internationally, a lot of these uh assets, if you will, that you have in the US and Canada, um, you've invested in, you've acquired, you've you know, you're scaling them, but then now actually you're expanding internationally and building very intentionally a you know incredible wellness retreat in uh in Iceland, and then this remarkable lodge uh Tabacon in in Costa Rica. So this is what excites me about the future growth potential of Pursuit, because you can just see how this can scale. But yeah, tell us a little bit about, if you wouldn't mind, in that example where you're actually building a new business in a new destination. You bet.

How Sky Lagoon Went From Rocks

SPEAKER_01 37:36

So think of our growth as something we think of in four different levers. So, first, we're always focused on guest experience growth, team member engagement growth, and as well as like we're not simply financially focused, we're focused on those three things as well as our role within communities. So that's a four-legged stool. It's got to balance. Um, and we we let we think that each business performs better each year. And so that would be improving guest satisfaction or team member engagement, or it's financial performance, or it's a community giving a role. So that's really important right at the at the base level. Then we like investing in ourselves. And so we invest, and that's where we talk about refresh, but we invest in ourselves by making experiences better. So people ask, why do you travel so much? Well, you travel because you can see where the experiences might have friction, and you can listen and work with the teams in each of our locations around the world to fully understand, okay, we have some guest friction here. How do we make it better? And you might see that, okay, we've we you know renovated those rooms 10 years ago, we replaced carpet and FF and E, but it's time to do it again, and it's now 10, 11 years later, and so we're back in a cycle. So we think a cycle of constant focus and attention to improving experiences is really powerful. And that is also picking the best opportunities that exist within pursuit. Team members and leaders compete for capital funding within the company. It's a bit of a beauty pageant. They are focused on what they can do to have the best idea, and the best idea gets funding. We're a meritocracy. So you might not be the most senior person, but if you have the best idea, that's the one, the improvement that's going to get funded. And so we're quite focused on that, creating an environment where that's encouraged. And we teach folks, we we have some great young operators that are really good at managing, you know, operational costs and labor and focused on the day-to-day, but they have no concept of investing and how investment math matters. But if you can teach capital allocation and what to do wisely, their career accelerates. And that's part of the gift we give back, which is we want pursuit to be a great place to work and a great place to learn. So then back to acquisitions, we look at things that can be strategic and beneficial that are iconic, are unforgettable, are inspiring, like Tabacon, have what we call perennial demands. So that a place like Banff or Iceland or Costa Rica, you don't have to convince people to go. People are going. You just have to convince them that coming to the Banff Gondola is a great idea because they're already searching Banff. So we we like to be able to surf behind the power of the destination. Then we look for things that are really unique in their location, and uh that uniqueness stands out. And then obviously all the other criteria, countries with good rule of law, good property protection, and so on, when you think about where we invest. Um, for a place like Sky Lagoon, we were fortunate to meet an amazing set of local entrepreneurs and local partners. It would be unfair of me to take credit for the entirety of anything because we worked hand in hand. Gester Thorison and I met, we we discussed it, we drove out to a pile of rocks, and he said, uh, in the Cope of Or Harbor, literally, ladies and gentlemen, may I tell you, it was a pile of rocks. And uh he looked at me and he said, We've acquired this land and we're gonna turn this into something. And we began to talk about what that something might be. And luckily, I think we had enough imagination, we could see the vision. And the vision was to create something connected to the deep history of bathing culture in Iceland to create the ritual, to create something where an environment would feel very natural, very beautiful, um, not crowded. Um, there's some amazing lagoons in Iceland and some very big and popular ones that you've known about for 30 years that everybody goes to. And they're a little bit like the Eiffel Tower, right? Everyone goes there once and then they discover the cool things that exist on the side streets, you know, away from the main drag. And so Sky Lagoon is a place that is so close to the center of Reykjavik, you know, you're less than four kilometers. So you could do it in the morning before you go on your big trip. You could do it in the afternoon when you come back. And um, it's so close to where the hotel bed base is, but it's so far away in terms of its uniqueness that it's just a magical experience. Helga Albert Sotyr, who runs it, is uh an amazing hospitality leader and someone who cares deeply about the guest experience. And so this to her is uh a connection to national pride and providing guests from around the world, an authentic Icelandic experience that they're the entire team is very proud of.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

And should be, yeah. It was a pleasure to meet Helga and to wrap my head around that particular uh property and how that came to be. But just as you've uh described, David, obviously our listeners have gotten uh an understanding of your background, and a part of that is I would say incredibly unique. And I don't I'm not sure that anyone else could have uh quite created the company that you have without that background, that knowledge, the expertise. And then, you know, you with this focus on iconics. So there's a couple other things that I um uh really stood out to me. The iconic, obviously, being what travelers are seeking today. They're looking for truly iconic experiences, but they're also looking for something that is more immersive, that they have a deeper connection to. Um and the travelers are changing. And one of the things I know I was keen to ask you about is whether companies are changing or travelers are changing. The reality is certain companies like Pursuit are meeting the moment in terms of what travelers are looking for today. Um, but one of the things that really stood out to me in your overall business positioning is this concept of a category of one. I know I alluded to that, and then when I've heard your team members reference it and yourself as well in some of the videos about pursuit, I really would love to understand what that means and uh and why it's so hard to replicate, because what you've built is not something that uh someone listening to this can say, I'm just gonna go create a pursuit. You've done something really special and unique that really now can scale. But if you wouldn't mind, tell us a little bit about that category of one concept.

Category Of One And Integration Choices

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Well, I think it stems from, you know, what happens when you're a public company. First, I think you want to be a really good steward of shareholders' money and don't and don't think about a lot of people have misconceptions about Wall Street, right? Where they go, oh, you know, billionaire rich guys. Um, majority of our shareholders are institutional shareholders. So what that means is those are people who put money away each week or every two weeks in their RSP, and they're investing in funds that are investing in us and their 401k in the US. So, you know, vast majority are institutional shareholders for us. And so we view it as we are being good stewards of folks' retirement money, and that's pretty important. So you don't, you don't want to mess that up. So then you're very focused on then the journey forward and how can you stay connected. And so what I mean by a category of one is there's no other company similar to us that is very focused on experiential attractions that then connect in with the hospitality side of the business. And so connecting in with hotel and then connecting in with food and beverage. Food is love for us. So that's a very important part of the guest experience. And uh I am the reincarnation of your Italian Nona. And then the first thing I want to do is I want to feed people. And so that's this element of how these pieces fit together. And then it's it's being mindful that, you know, we we sell an awful lot of Pendleton blankets. And why we do that is because they're synonymous with national parks and the connection to national parks. And that's something that people care about. And you want to have things that are great souvenirs for folks to take home. And then we have some of the most, I'll give you another example. Our driver guides in the Canadian Rockies are legendary. And the way they can tell the story as driver guides, taking guest sightseeing is astounding. And I watch guests on a frequent basis sit there spellbound and hear those stories. So a category of one is that there's no one really like us. And when we meet investors, like, oh, you're like a hotel REIT company, and like, nope, we're really not like that. Oh, you're like an amusement park business. I'm like, no, we're not really like an amusement park business. And we are very focused on the iconic, the natural, the experiential, and really what makes places special. And the other thing is we're not trying to be cookie cutters. One of the most important things for Tabacon when we bought that business was the founders were very focused on protecting the legacy, their legacy, their family legacy. Would we rename the resort? And one of the questions I got asked is, David, will you come to the Long Service Awards and holiday party? And I said, absolutely, I will. And that was important for Sam and I to go and to be there and to cheer on our team members and to be, you know, very focused on that culture and to provide that culture room. So rather than imposing a strict integration policy, we made sure one, obviously financial controls are important and technology and security as a public company. That's quite important. But we allowed integration to take its time to evolve. Giving the team in Iceland a chance to welcome the team from Costa Rica. Andre Gomez, fantastic leader, leader, our leader in Costa Rica, one of the most energetic hospitality leaders, I think, anywhere in Latin America, very, very strong leader. It was Andre's first time seeing snow. So that's enough of something when you have a big snowstorm in Iceland. But it gets better, Dan. Then the snow stops. Guess what happens? Boom, the Northern lights come out. Like who queued that up? So the Northern lights have come out, and then he's at Sky Lagoon, and he gets this chance to have this amazing experience. And so he went back and he said, you know, we're not telling the story of Costa Rica enough here at Tabacon, and we're going to tell it even more. And that's exciting because it's energizing a team to seek their full potential. And those are the types of experiences that really help the businesses connect.

SPEAKER_00 48:25

For sure. And it's like fire and ice. You kind of, you know, you've got the two different extremes with Tabacon being a thermal resort at uh near RNL, Mount Arnell or the RNL volcano, a stunningly beautiful part of Costa Rica and obviously purely natural hot springs. And so when I look at that property, and then I heard the Exotica team raving about their experience there, and then not realizing it was part of pursuit, and then meeting Helga and hearing about Sky Lagoon, I was like, I've heard about Sky Lagoon. I didn't know that was part of Pursuit. It was like all of a sudden the stars were aligning to say there's something special happening here, which is again why I was so keen to meet you and uh to bring this spotlight episode together. And so the one of the thing for our listeners as well, if you're multitasking, it's tabacon t-a-b-a-c-o-n.com. So you can get an idea of just one of these uh uh house of brands rather than the branded house approach to allowing that to stand on its own. Um one of the things that I uh became very familiar with, David, in uh my corporate world was uh the travel corporation. We had 40 brands, we were doing 2 billion in revenue. Um, and one of my big focuses was the power of one and trying to bring the benefits of the group together. And obviously, there's different ways to do that. There's obviously the uh financial strength of the overall business that can invest and give uh every traveler traveling to any of one of these the confidence that you know they're gonna be well taken care of and um and they're gonna have a consistently great experience when they see that pursuit connection. And I was just curious if uh in that case with the travel corporation, but is there an intention to make the pursuit brand more consumer-facing, or really is the focus very much pursuit is the parent company? And as you explained, I mean, all these brands really stand on their own. It's always I just what I was keen to ask you that question because I've seen both sides and different approaches, and sometimes it happens in the back end as just you have a great formula of how you approach it. And so how much of it is centralized and how much of it is pushed out into the individual businesses?

SPEAKER_01 50:28

Well, I'll I'll start with first the question on brand.

Earning Trust Through Hospitality Culture

SPEAKER_01 50:31

So brand is the promise of an experience. And so if you have an activity or a place, I'll pick the Banff Gondola. The Banff Gondola brand is this amazing, you know, a castle in the sky that people are traveling to, that you can hike along the ridge, you can have an amazing meal, you have this beautiful viewpoint, you can see the sunset at Sunset Festival, the hospitality is phenomenal. And so we built upon that. And so think of pursuit in that case as an endorser brand because we're we're an ex the Banff Gondola is an experience by pursuit. Over time, for pursuit to resonate and to gain traction as a consumer-facing brand, we got to earn it. What I mean by we got to earn it is we need to consistently deliver amazing, incredible experiences everywhere across the pursuit world and earn our spot. And so every time we get a review, we obsess about it. The good ones we celebrate. Reviews really matter. We get a bad review, we obsess about that as well. And we get them. And let's be honest, we all get them, right? If you're in hospitality, you're gonna have a day where things didn't go quite the way you hoped that they would, but it's how you respond and how you get focused. So what we try to create first is a mindset. And the mindset within pursuit is connected to our mission. So connecting guests and staff to iconic places. Then you have a mindset of there's a difference between service and hospitality. Service is something you provide to people. Hospitality is how you make people feel. And how people feel produces an emotional moment, an emotional connection, an emotional reaction. And if you can create that sense of emotion, and then in very simple terms, if you treat people the way you would like to be treated, that will resonate and connect with them. So you don't have to go to Wharton or Harvard to come back with the thesis of what does it take to create a great hospitality experience? You just have to think like, what do I like? And okay, how do I replicate that and how do I deliver it at scale and training and investment and the right things and the right uniform and satisfied team members and the right leader, and all those things are sort of a munging up of all the ingredients. And in the end, though, you come back with a winning mindset and culture that wants to deliver that. And then I think it's encouraging the culture to be the culture and allowing team members to shine, supporting them, because you can't direct from an office somewhere, you know, today the experience will be this. It has to be defined in a way that's unique and authentic and connected to place. So the head of the company, the head of pursuit is not in Denver, Colorado. The head of the company is where guests and staff are meeting in an experience. And all of us support that. That's what we work on every day. And if you can give team members that level of support, they will go and create great guest experiences. People will then talk about it. And then if we follow up well in a non-invasive way and we tell stories that people are excited about, they'll be encouraged to go from one place to another. If you enjoyed geothermal water in Iceland, you will really enjoy geothermal water in Costa Rica. And so you got to make that connection and it's got to be real. You got to earn it. But that's where we're headed.

SPEAKER_00 53:58

You know, what one of the things that really stood out to me there when you said that is when I met uh Samuel and I asked him where he was based, and he said, Denver, and I said, Oh, so you're in headquarters. And he said, actually, we don't use that term. We don't have uh HQ. And he said exactly what you just shared, which was our business is where the customers meet our staff, and that's that's the that's the magic, and that's the moment in our business. And so I uh this is where when uh I find it fascinating to have the these types of conversations with uh executives and uh uh individuals like yourself that when you start to unpack it, you realize just how intentional every aspect of the business and the decision making is, and this is what's core to the success. And so all along those lines, one of the things I want to talk about is how pursuit will continue to scale. And when you talk about experiences, the reality is you also have a very asset-heavy business, which fantastic. You've got you know, um, the investors behind you, you're acquiring these assets, and obviously those assets are very likely going to increase in value over time, especially as you continue to invest in them. But it's all about the experience of the guest. And so I one term that I came to understand and I was preparing for our conversation is this concept of experiential infrastructure and how you actually implement that, especially when you look at integrating different experiences that you know, you you stay at the hotels, you dine at the restaurants, and you travel up the mountain with one of your gondolas. And so even though people may not be aware of pursuit, there is an intentionality to make sure that you are meeting the guest in all these moments in their stay. And so I'd love to understand that concept of experiential infrastructure and how that actually looks on the ground.

What Experiential Infrastructure Really Means

SPEAKER_00 55:42

You bet.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

I think um the way to look at experiential infrastructure is you have iconic, irreplaceable, amazing assets and experiences. And so um part of that is what you're providing to folks is an ability to access an iconic place in a way that they could not normally. And so Maline Lake is a great example. If everyone had to canoe down Maline Lake, very few people would do it. But the ability to get on a boat with an amazingly articulate, trained, naturalist guide who can tell you the story of the flora, the fauna, the history, the indigenous culture, the journey through the Canadian Rockies. You come off that trip, you're spellbound. And you got to see a place that's incredibly powerful and special for me, which is the Hall of the Gods, which is the area just a little bit past Spirit Island in Maline Lake. So Lake makes a big turn. And when it turns, um, Mary Schaefer, you know, 100 years ago or more, called that called that area the Hall of the Gods because it looked like the Hall of the Gods. And it's an environment that you know you can't see from the roadside in Jasper. You've got to go there. So that's part of the experience that is just what makes things unique. If you can walk out the door at Tabacon, you can hike up a trail that takes you to the base of the Ar and all volcano. That experiential infrastructure is something that connects you with a place. So then you think about the infrastructure isn't just like infrastructure like plumbing and heating and you know, an HVAC system. It really is about an experiential infrastructure that's iconic, irreplaceable, uh once-in-a-lifetime places that you want to see. And that's what makes it unique. And so then the power perennial demand. So I ask you, you know, as a Canadian, do you think that a hundred years from now, people will want to be visiting the Canadian Rockies? The answer is yes. Yes, definitely. And in 500 years from now, yes, we might be on jet packs. I don't know, that'll be interesting, but we will be visiting in the Canadian Rockies in a thousand years from now, if civilization still exists, knock on wood, I think you know, people from around the planet and maybe other planets will be visiting the Canadian Rockies because it's just so stunningly beautiful. So our job is to protect those places and to provide a way to see them that is integrated well with you know the intentions of Park Can Parks Canada and our own intentions.

SPEAKER_00 58:24

And one question I'll follow up is what's from your experiences harder? Designing a great experience or delivering it consistently at scale?

SPEAKER_01 58:34

Oof, great question. Experience design is a big part of what we do. And so we call it internally the definition of success and then connect it into experience design. So we ask, what do you want to be famous for in a particular location? And that's right down to what do you want guests leaving or thinking? And and again, in our world, they're not customers, they're guests. And so what do you want guests leaving this place thinking about? So depending on the location, you want them thinking about, wow, I had no idea that this place was such a sacred place for Canada's indigenous people, and that this legacy is protected and carried on forward. Or this place is amazing because the views are this, or you know, et cetera, et cetera. Whatever you want to be famous for, you've got to deliver on that. And then it's it's being clear about how experience design and you're being thoughtful about what you build. And if everything's the same, then nothing's different and unique. So you really do want to pay attention to what makes a place special and then build on that.

SPEAKER_00 59:38

No, that's fascinating. The other part I wanted to touch on too is given that you are a publicly traded company, and I'm not going to ask you anybody in forward guidance, I'm not going to get you in any trouble at all with this conversation, this podcast. But I have one of the things that you have mentioned in the videos I've watched is about compounding the value over time to 20%

Compounding Growth With Community Impact

SPEAKER_00 59:57

growth. And I think there's so much potential, so I will say that. Um, but can you just walk us through for those people who are wrapping their that are I would imagine a number of eyes got wide when you started to talk about being publicly traded and people investing in the business, and you look at the size of the business today and what it could grow to, at least from my vantage point, um what is actually driving the growth? Is it um increasing demand by uh is it the yield that you would then have access to to be kind of manage the uh the flow and to make sure that you are you know selling through on certain properties and occupancy rates? Is it expanding the portfolio? I'm sure it's a combination of all of those things, but if you wouldn't mind walking us through what you know the long-term value is for these investors that are deciding to get involved with uh Pursuit.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:47

Well, I mean, we we talk a little bit about our vision 2030, and all of this information is on you know, pursuit.com. If you click on the investors tab, you can go see it. But we articulate a vision into the future. And our vision is that we believe that we have a head start compared to any other company in terms of organizing and creating amazing experiences around the world and owning them and operating them. And so we see growth, growth into the future. So growth in our own learning, growth in guest experience, growth in team member engagement, but also financial growth. And for investors that are investing in pursuit, they're looking into the future and saying, you know, can the company continue along on its growth trajectory? So without talking about the future, I can talk about what we've done since 2015. So 2015 to 2025, we quadrupled the size of the company and improved guest satisfaction dramatically, improved team member engagement dramatically, improved our connection and performance to community dramatically. And so each of those things, if you're not growing and evolving, you're generally going backwards. And I'll share something where people might say, oh, you know, they're just money oriented. I'll give you the other example. If anyone on this, you know, listening to the podcast has worked for a company that's struggling, what's the first thing a struggling company does? They cut investment.

unknown 1:02:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

And then they cut their community support. And then people stop getting raises. And then they, you know, aren't paying their suppliers, which affect a bunch of small businesses all the way down the line. And the economic effect is catastrophic because as a company struggles, it can't deliver on its promises. So when a company is strong, that supports many, many different avenues in a community. It supports everything from education and volunteerism to well-paying jobs that are successful in good companies, not just our own, but broadly. It supports many independent operators, the young couple that decides, hey, and Jasper, we're going to take a risk and we're going to open up a coffee shop. Well, if the ice fields wasn't open and Maleen wasn't open and successful and the SkyTram wasn't open, there'd be less visitors to Jasper, which affects the young couple that just opened the coffee shop. So we're all in it together. And I think that that's the important thing to remember that with performance from a company perspective, you've got to look at all the different dashboards. It can't just be about money, but it also can't just be about community, because then you're a not-for-profit. And, you know, not-for-profits have an ability, but it's different if you're able to support more broadly economically. We pledged significant support to Jasper post-fire. And together with some of the leading companies, including uh great partners at Fairmont and Oxford Properties and others, that, you know, together we were able to come together and um just really create a level of economic support for Jasper post-fire. That we're not the federal government. We're not able to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the community, but we were able to pledge five and a half together with the other fine companies. And uh that goes straight to community support. So that that's an important also piece of what we do.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:14

Well, and part of the reason I wanted to ask that is that concept of compounding growth and that model. I think most of our listeners are savvy enough to know about the uh value of compound interest. And so the idea that it's growth on growth, when you're compounding growth on a tourism business, and I think this is where uh when we look at not only private equity, but VC firms and the interest in the overall travel category where we started this conversation, um, that there is a strong appetite there, given the fact that this growth it there is the potential for growth on growth, that more customers experience. And let's look at Sky Lagoon, that's a perfect example. When you think of some of these properties that uh that you've introduced, the fact that they have become iconic, word of mouth spreads, and even the proximity to uh being the uh the downtown core, that was one of the other things that you know when you look at the um, I won't call out some of the other ones, I've been to a few of the different um lagoons in Iceland, um, but their location is more challenging to get to, or they're near the airport, or it's like so all these considerations. So one of the things I'm I'm keen to ask you, David, you know, we've talked about Iceland a little bit about uh Costa Rica. But as you continue to expand, what are you looking for? And how are you deciding where you go next?

Where Pursuit Expands Next

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

Well, it's really easy. It's a very simple calculus. It's uh is it iconic? Is it unforgettable? Is it inspiring? First question we ask. And it is or it isn't. And we decide, and you can, you know, I get called every week about um a family entertainment somewhere, somewhere in the Midwest of the United States, which is like, you know, in a church basement with pinball machines, and I have to explain that's not us, that's not what we do. Um so is it iconic, is it unforgettable, is it inspiring? Second, does it have perennial demand? Meaning, do people wake up every day and they they're reading about Iceland, they're searching Iceland? Find they're interested to go or Costa Rica or wherever it is. Then is it something that is by its very location unique and then hard to replicate? And so there's some great examples of that. And then when you look further afield, you'd say, okay, great. And you want to be in countries with good rule of law, good property protection. And I'll give you some examples. Japan, amazing tourism mindset, cultural richness, incredible geographic locations, incredible iconic locations. Japan is a phenomenal market. Australia, New Zealand, Chile, parts of Latin America, Western Europe, the Nordics, Hawaii, these are all places that have incredible vistas, incredible iconic locations. And so we have the ability, as a global company, to go and do global things. And our leadership team, and you know, Canadians, we're we're ready to go anywhere in the world. It's it's the same sort of mindset of, you know, we see opportunity. And then each time we do something, we're not looking, we don't have a warehouse of freeze-dried folks here in Denver or Banff that, you know, we add water and send them somewhere. When when we buy a property in Costa Rica, one of the first questions we think about is, wow, what's the potential of this team? And so I can tell you, Andre Gomez and his team in Costa Rica, they have the leadership acumen, the strength, the cultural connection, the energy, the skill set to go and build out broadly across Costa Rica. And so we can build and support that team. Um, but we want a Costa Rican team focused on Costa Rica rather than, you know, we dropped a bunch of folks in from somewhere else that maybe don't understand the cultural ethos and the mindset in that particular environment. Uh you've met Helga. Helga is very obviously from Iceland. And so it's very important in terms of her leadership and, you know, supporting the Icelandic culture. And so it doesn't mean that you're not going to move people around from a company perspective, but you're very focused on respecting authenticity.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:09

Well, as soon as you started talking about um the criteria, the first thing that started to me was like they have to be expanding to Japan. So it's interesting, the first thing you mentioned is Japan, and obviously places like Australia. And that's where I think about all the different opportunities, even Chile. Certainly, I spent uh I was there for the Adventure Travel and Trade Association conference uh a few months ago and did a most incredibly uh uh inspiring cycling trip through Patagonia, and it was just extraordinary. And so when I look at the experiences that people can have in destination with pursuit, obviously I see so much opportunity for expansion and growth. And so that's why I was keen to ask you about that. And um, but one of the things I'm also keen to understand, and we touched on this briefly, but I do want to go back to it, which is the promise to place. And so one of the things that always comes up for us in the travel industry is what responsible growth actually looks like. And I can even think to some of those examples of other lagoons in Iceland when Iceland, you know, was the top desk, I mean, Iceland is one of the top destinations in the world, but Japan is having a moment, Iceland has had a moment, and it was, you know, the when you go to a destination expecting a certain experience, you get there and it's overcrowded and you're overwhelmed, and it's this is not the experience I'm looking for. Obviously, you have to be like anyone in this industry that um looking at responsible growth, mindful of the guest experience. And so it can't just be about you know filling in a capacity or you know having a managing a long uh wait list. How do you approach responsible growth when it comes to expanding the portfolio and getting it to a point where you know it's an it's a uh uh a nicely profitable business, but it's still a great guest experience. And and tell us a little bit more, too, David, because I I get the sense it is genuinely meaningful for you. There's certain people that you meet that if you know what it's like to experience the beauty of the mountains um and to be out in nature, you also want to protect that. And so there's n there's there's something also I think that uh I get the sense that's instilled in you that you actually want to make sure that these places remain great places to visit. So tell us about how you look at that.

Promise To Place And Honest Sustainability

SPEAKER_01 1:10:14

So where did Promise to Place come from? And if you recall, earlier on the podcast we talked about our four core values safety first, honor place, anticipate, bring your best. Honor Place has a direct thread connecting to Promise to Place. Honor Place means that we get to live and work in some of the world's most beautiful places. And we honor them with our stewardship, we honor them with our care and attention to detail. And it's everything from how do you manage fuel, because if you have a boat company in a really pristine place, then you're managing fuel, or if you've got a vehicle fleet, et cetera. Um, so you're mindful about all those things. Promise to place came from a desire for us to tell our story to the world unvarnished and tell the truth and articulate on a yearly basis here's what we're doing well, here's what we're not doing very well that we're working on, here are things that are in progress that are taking longer or they've gone faster than we we hoped they would, and they're better than they were, and here's some other things that have been slowed down. We have very different societal, what I call societal infrastructures. So, you know, I personally live in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder, Colorado, you could, through the composting program that's run by the city of Boulder, basically compost anything organic. And they do it at scale, and it's unbelievable the impact it's had on reducing waste going to landfills. Well, not every municipality or community has that. And you have parts of the pursuit world that communities don't even recycle. And if you're in a backcountry lodge in Alaska, the how you get your recycling out is you fly it out, or you truck it out when the road's open. And then when you truck it out, what do you do with it? Well, there's nowhere to put it in Alaska, so you have to figure out a way and find your own recycling mechanism and build from there. So some parts of Pursuit are very advanced and others are still catching up. Um, you know, we've been pioneering technology and reducing energy consumption, and that's a powerful place for it. So, in simple terms, Promise to Place is about our commitment to get better every year. We don't profess to be perfect, we don't try to tell the world that, oh, yeah, look at us, we're fantastic. We we invest and we focus and we work hard and then we do it some more. And so I think you earn it every day. And you got to go out and earn it again tomorrow, no matter how well today went, and keep focused on getting better each year. And so that's what we do. And now we update the website website on a continuous basis. So if you look again on pursuit.com, a couple of clicks in, you'll find our Promise to Place. And that's the latest, and we now update that with stories as they develop and so on. It's also some promise to place is also about supporting community-related issues. And I'll give you a good example. If you're involved in your community and you've got young kids and you're working two hospitality jobs, you and your partner, managing childcare is pretty powerful. It's pretty important, you need it, but at the same time, it's expensive and it's hard to obtain. Things like supporting that at a groundroots level, both financially, but also with the time of our colleagues. So allowing someone that every Tuesday they've got to go to a board meeting to support daycare or whatever the initiative may be. And that's the quiet, the quiet side of Promise the Place, where we're really supportive. And then it's outreach to our various indigenous communities and keeping things real and just being the best partner that Parks Canada or the National Park System could ever have. And you just got to work at it every day.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:58

Well, and the reason I wanted to ask you about that, I mean, ever since we started our podcast three years ago, and I've been very mindful and intentional with asking every executive about sustainability because what we saw pre-COVID versus post-COVID, and obviously that's the um the genesis of this podcast, is how traveler behavior has changed post-pandemic. And I think we're only still uh understanding all of the impacts it's had on society. I mean, we're only a few years out of um what you know, never in the course of human history have we experienced anything like that. Um and so the fact that most of us have all kind of came to the determination that you know when we lost the ability to travel, we never want to be in that situation again. And we also saw what the world looked like when planes stopped flying for a period of time and how pristine the world can be and how mindful we have to be about traveling going forward. So I think I well, we've certainly seen there's been uh a major change in consumer behavior where it's no longer just a um a nice thing to add on to your offering that you are responsible, sustainable. And to the point that um uh David was speaking to, it's uh on the top navigation of the pursuit website. The second one is impact. And it's like you've about us, impact, and then it's careers, work with us, and then trade partners. Those are kind of like investors that are to the far right. But the whole idea is like focus on the impact you're having. And when I was preparing for a conversation, I was like impact, and I was reading through all the different ways, and I was like, this has to be core not only to the business, but also to the what consumers are looking for today. They're they're looking for that validation that if they're gonna spend uh their hard-earned dollars on a travel experience, they want to have a great time, but they also want to know that they're doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:39

Um you know what what's fascinating is that yes, we know it's important to guess, but that's secondary to why we're doing it. Because if we do it and we do it well, guests will learn and guests will understand. But we're doing it because it's the right thing to do in the communities that we're in. And people care deeply and they're passionate about these places. I have a long history in mountains, you know, whether it's from the ski world or the heliski world, or I was on the board for a long time for the American Institute for Avalanche Education and Awareness. So avalanche safety, snow safety. Um, as we saw the growth in mechanized, you know, certainly in the United States, and I mean snowmobiles and snowbikes, where folks were going into the mountains without a ton of training and the right equipment, and then you know, fatalities would spike. So that's an aside from what we're doing at pursuit. But there's an example of, you know, you pay attention to things and then you work to what can I do to help solve them. So I think our mindset was, well, we just need to be better at this for ourselves and to make sure that we're honoring our own values. And then that just started to just build momentum. And we thought as we have this momentum, well, we're going to tell the world about it in an unvarnished way. So you you'll see some things where I think we're very candid and we, you know, we don't pretend to be better at something that we're not.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:08

Well, it's interesting, and that's a point of connection there too. Like Jessica Jessica Harcomb, who I came to know at the um uh Adventure Travel and Trade Association, and I feel very aligned with the values of ATTA, uh, with both my background in travel and and I would say commitment to the industry. And and um Jessica obviously has similar values, and she it's one of the reasons she's chosen to uh take on a role with pursuit. And a lot of companies are, you know, there is this concept of greenwashing, and they're you know, they're finding a way to kind of um uh rush up on their credentials. Um but if it's secondary, it's actually a more powerful story to be able to share because the benefit to you, as you highlighted, is in the communities that you serve, first and foremost. You gave that example of uh Banff and Jasper to starve, because the reality is most people who work in Banff can't afford to live in Banff. They live in Jasper, they live south, they live out of town, they live in Canmore, I should say, right? And they they commute in uh to Banff. And if you work in Banff and you have businesses in Banff, there are certain more stringent uh restrictions that are applied because of the need to protect the environment. And so once you get operating, there's a lot of different things you need to be aware of, all things that obviously you know, David, about operating in these environments. So it's interesting you call that out. That the first is the community that you serve. And then the benefit of that is that travelers uh like myself that then see an opportunity, that they feel good about the decision they're making.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:37

Yeah, it's

Team Member Housing And Operational Details

SPEAKER_01 1:18:38

it's interesting. I think you go back to your roots too. I um I think I might be the only public company CEO in the hospitality space that has actually lived in team member housing. And so when you got your three meals in the employee dining room and you lived in team member housing, uh when I started at Gray Rocks in you know 1981 and 80, 81, and you know, I lived in a in a house with uh 16 other fellas, and uh we we are all teaching skiing. We had one one toilet and two showers, you know. So it was some intimacy there in terms of uh in terms of how you live your life. But I think it keeps you focused on the most important things that if you want team members to show up and deliver great experiences, you're gonna invest in the things that help do that. We're not perfect. We've got a lot of employee housing that we have built. We're building more, we've improved a lot. We have some that substandard, we're working on those and we're looking for more. And it and it just is an element that you stay focused on. And then as your career advances, well, where's the housing opportunity to help someone get in with a down payment? And what can you do to do that and get into housing markets that are escalating very dramatically? So we take a holistic approach, we work hard at it, um, and we've always got to be doing more on the housing side, and employee meals are the same, uniforms are the same. If a uniform fits good, or fits well, I should say, and and uh feels good and you're excited to wear it, you're gonna feel a lot better on your jobs than you are if you know you feel like you look dorky and it doesn't fit well and it's not warm, and you know, you're on the bow of a ship in the Gulf of Alaska and you're soaking wet. So, I mean, all those things align and they sound really simple till you start to do it at scale, and you gotta make sure you get it right.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:28

Yeah. Well, I know quite a few friends that the best year of their life was staff housing in Whistler and the experiences that they had. And and and uh my brother-in-law, I've I've countless friends that have had that experience, uh really a rite of passage, um, either before university or after university to move to a truly iconic destination uh like Whistler, live in staff housing, make all these great friends, then get a house. And it's uh and you know, obviously there's a lot of Australians and uh Aussies and Kiwis now that come across and take up those jobs and have that experience of a lifetime. Uh one more question on the travel industry side, and then we'll finish talking about the future and what's ahead for our industry, uh consumers, how they're changing, and and specifically what's ahead for pursuit.

Working With Travel Advisors And Partners

SPEAKER_00 1:21:13

But one of the areas that we haven't covered yet that I want to make sure we do for all of our listeners that work in the industry, we have many travel advisors, travel agencies that listen to our podcast, and that's certainly part of my background. And when people are looking to uh sell the pursuit portfolio, um I want to just to speak to those listeners to help them understand about the opportunities to partner with you to be able to sell uh the different properties in the portfolio, the experiences in the portfolio. If you wouldn't mind just giving us a bit of an overview, I'm I've gone through the partner section of the website, and so I've um have some understanding, but I'd love to hear it from your vantage point about the distribution of these, because clearly people book direct, and and really people have heard from me, David, over the podcast that one of the great things about our industry is the fact that if you are channel agnostic, people can book through travel agencies, they can book through online travel agencies. The whole idea is to make sure that these experiences are relevant where customers are spending their time and also how they're going to get recommended to book these experiences. So I'd I'd love, if you wouldn't mind, just to speak to the travel industry and travel agencies specifically and how you partner and work with them and how important that is to your business.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:28

Well, I think firstly, reputation matters more than anything. So when you we work with gosh, oh I would say more than a thousand tour and travel partners around the world. And, you know, in eighty eighty countries and at varying levels and sizes. And to do that effectively, you have to be very focused on finding ways to work well together. And as you're developing markets in new countries, think of the countries that are emerging. First, the situation in Canada with Chinese group travel re-emerging post-the-the cold shoulder period, I call it. Um, you know, as that re-emerges, then that presents opportunities for all Canadian destinations as they think about how they're going to grow into the future and the US as well. And then you imagine, okay, well, what's a country that has a growing affluent class? And that's India. And from a population size, it's a it's a huge population that now is ready to travel, is more affluent, and is excited about the journey ahead. So working in partnership at a whole variety of levels across the economy is quite important. You've got your online travel agencies, you've got your tour and travel partners, you've got your consumer direct function and how you're providing experiences. There's some guests that will only book directly and they want to book digitally. They don't want to talk to a human being. Other guests want to talk to everyone that they possibly can about everything, and then you want to try and accommodate them. And then there are others who are bringing an itinerary that's much greater than just pursuit. And so they really value the services of a receptive operator or a different tour and tropical partner. Or they're they're doing a trip from a country where this would be very hard to organize on their own. And so culturally, it's very connected. And they're going to embark upon a package and they're going to visit all these different things in Canada, maybe from Bouchard Gardens all the way to Anna Green Gables, right? And they're seeing everything in Canada in between. And so those are examples. And you want to work well with everyone. You want to work well and in integrity with everyone and support them. And at the same time, you're balancing limited inventory. So you can't over-allocate more to one country than you you possibly should. So you've always got to keep things in balance and to do that in a way and work hard to be the partner of choice. And that's very similar to guest reviews. You've got to work at earning that every single day.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:58

Yeah. And that that that's where I'm obviously still a firm believer in uh the role that travel advisors play since there are a lot of those people that still want to um speak to you and and and have as much hand holding. Uh, and it's that's the one part I still find really fascinating about our industry is just how much the human touch still matters. And um and you see companies like Forum and some of these uh advisor networks having great success because people want to deal with a person to help them with their travel bookings. And and so and think about the why.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:32

Why is that? And I have an answer and I'll share it with you. But I think one of the reasons why is that for those that have limited free time, for those that are time constrained, the greatest resource of anyone that's really busy is your time constrained. You don't want to waste it by doing something that's not a great experience. And so if they talk to someone like you or they talk to someone with deep experience in a destination, they know they're not gonna waste their time. They're gonna go somewhere and do something that truly aligns with what they're looking for. And if they want to see bears in a particular way, or if they want to see water in a particular way, they're gonna get focused on that. So I think there's space for everyone. And I think the real value there is can advisors in the travel space really communicate that really what you do is you help people protect their time and the investment that they're making in their vacation, and you give them backstage access to destinations that it's harder to find on your own.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:33

I think you're a hundred percent right. I think people trust people. And the only reason we've gotten this far on this planet is the fact that um people give each other shortcuts. It's how we have gotten to where we are today, made our way through uh the valleys, the canyons, uh, across oceans. Um, is you've had to trust others on that journey. And it's not at a point yet. We spend a lot of time talking about technology in our podcast and agentic AI in particular, especially in 2026. And one of the uh the chasms that that technology has to cross is trust. People will use it for research. They're not using it for booking because they don't trust it yet. And that's that's the difference between people So I 100% um agree with what you just shared, David. And I I and I appreciate that insight, especially from someone like you that really gets this industry, this space, and understands the human nature. So on that topic, let's talk about how the industry is going to evolve. I've got a few last questions to ask you on this topic, but I'm keen to get your your insight and wisdom here. And I know we can't speak about four projections of the business, so I won't definitely go down that path. But I just want to talk about customers specifically. Since you've built a company that is very uh much meeting the moment of what customers are looking for today, and you're, you know, you serve millions of customers a year as it is, you're able to look across all those experiences and be able to have a better understanding of what customers are looking for today. You see them booking at Tabacon for wellness. You know that wellness, and when when you started the conversation, you were highlighting, you know, the um, you know, there's a generational wealth transfer, but before that, of course, that happens. People are living longer, they're more active than they've ever been, and they're they're focused on trying to make the most out of their years and adding as many years to their life at the same time. And so this is you know uh really changing consumer behavior and the decisions they're making about where they travel to and what they do. So when you look at consumer behavior, tell us how you see this industry evolving in the next four or five years.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:35

When you think about you know consumer behavior and the future, I think it's a fascinating topic.

The Future Traveler And The Power Of Story

SPEAKER_01 1:28:43

And I think there's a couple of things to think about. First is this again, back to the secular trends, the transfer of wealth allows a lot of things to happen. The next is this search for authenticity. And and I'll remind us that think of boutique hotels. You know, you're driving around with your folks in the early 1970s, you say it a Howard Johnson's because your parent parents knew what it looked like, andor a holiday inn. They they booked it because predictability. And then with the advent of the internet and technology and pictures, all of a sudden websites became very powerful because then you could see what the property was like and experience it. Then the advent of guest reviews that were highly published everywhere. That changed consumer behavior. So then you think about what's coming. If technology is going to be this liberator of time and energy, it's going to provide opportunities for people to travel more because they can work from anywhere. But also, if the work week condenses, as predicted, many futurists have talked about that, that probably will end up at a you know three or four-day work week, uh, that also provides more free time. So then for those of us in the business of finding fun things for you to do in your free time, uh, that can be very beneficial. And it leads then to longevity, wellness, well-being. And I think we'll see a transformation from things showing up in the maintenance of life. And I'll share something with you that's a theory we have at pursuit, but please do. Day to day in the maintenance of life, you're going through the motions, you know, do this, do that, you do it at the same time every day. What happens when you start to plan a trip is all of a sudden you go from maintenance to momentum because you book something and you're excited about it. Then you're digging in, you're reading about the textile designer in Copenhagen that you you never would have imagined because you're digging into a destination, maybe with your advisor, maybe on your own. So the future becomes a much more well-informed visitor, looking to seek deep connection, looking for all the things we talked about in the secular trends. And the world continues to be a place that evolves. And it's how do you maintain authenticity without making everything the same and continue to tell the stories of place, which I think is the most important thing. We're storytellers. We're not just hosts, we're not just hoteliers, we're not just attraction operators. Um, you have to really think of yourself as we are storytellers of place and helping people connect in a way that's really meaningful.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:32

Yeah. Well, you certainly embody that, David. And I, you know, I'm so enjoying our conversation. And David had said to me at the beginning, um, because I always want to be mindful of time, of executives that uh join us. And he said to me just before we hit record, he said, so long as I'm providing valuable information that your audience will find interested, for those people that love this industry or want to work in this industry, I'll keep going. So I was I've been indulging David very much in that because I think that you have clearly so much to offer. And but I will I'll finish off with a couple last questions here. And so, you know, let's first talk about the future of pursuit, and then I would love to finish off with some of your insights for those people like myself that you know listen to podcasts uh as you're trying to advance your career or grow your company. Um, and you've done that so successfully. I would love for you to share some advice from your career and your journey with our listeners. But before we do that, in terms of pursuit, and you mentioned the 2030 plan, tell everyone a little bit more about what's ahead for the company.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:35

Well, we felt it was important to articulate our vision because, you know, we'd had this period of time where from 2015, you know, through we got to COVID, boom, we made it through, we survived, we came out the other side. We had a period of time where the company that we were a part of before our reinvention, you know, had a challenging balance sheet. We had to work through that. Uh opportunities were more limited, finding ways to grow. And so through the sale of a sister company, we were able to reposition ourselves and emerge as a pure play attractions and hospitality business with dry powder to grow. So the ability to invest and to keep growing. That was an important step. And so that point of inflection causes you then to think about okay, well, what's what comes next? So after a record-breaking year in 2025, um, you know, great guest satisfaction, great team member engagement, good, you know, great financial performance, um, hard work in our communities, that led to then, okay, let's articulate our vision to 2030. And what we've tried to share is we are going to basically do what we did in growth from 2015 to 2025, where we grew at a 6% compound annual growth rate and and you know, drove uh pretty magnificent outcomes, and then transfer that and to really grow into 2030 in ways that are meaningful. So deploy capital, grow organically, and then grow through investment, and then from the bottom line perspective of the company, also achieve remarkable growth. And we articulate that well. If you go to pursuit.com and you click on the investors tab and you go into the detail on the investor presentation, um, that is something that I think you'll find articulates our story. And, you know, those investor presentations are there for a reason. They're not just for investors, but they're for anyone who's curious about the company to understand what has been our trajectory. And uh it's a great way to kind of learn and look at the decisions we made and why we made them and go from there.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:47

I was just gonna encourage our listeners to please do that because whether you are looking to invest or just understand more about pursuit, especially for those people that are actively looking to advance in the industry, clearly at one point, David, you weren't presenting to boards and and pitching investors. And this is where you know you've honed these uh remarkable skills over time to be in a position where people can look at that and make informed decisions and also be inspired. And so that's what I wanted to close off on is that given where you've gotten to in your you know 40 plus years in your career and everything you still have to offer this industry, what would be some of the insights that you would like to share with our listeners that would like to follow in at least a few of your footsteps to advance in their career or find great opportunities to work with companies like Pursuit?

Career Advice And Self-Assessment Tools

SPEAKER_01 1:35:38

You bet. So I'll share a couple of lessons, and these are personal. These are things I learned and I found them to be helpful to me. Uh, but by all means, would encourage everyone to, you know, share within the community broadly um the things that have worked for you and you know, be kind and generous to others who may call you and say, hey, could I have a 15-minute informational interview? Because I had a bunch of those where I called, I was uh, you know, not very shy and I would I didn't know very much, so it was easy. I could just be the dumb guy that called and say, hey, how does this work? And people were very kind to me and they explained things in ways that were very helpful. So first, I would share that um belief in yourself. And so, firstly, when people tell you that things are impossible, ignore them. Just ignore them. You could do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it. You just have to want it bad enough and you have to be willing to do the work. So that's the first one. Second one is ask yourself this series of questions every quarter. Book two hours, go for a hike, go for a walk, sit in the woods, do something, but ask yourself these three questions. What are you doing personally, professionally in your career or at work that you should stop doing? What are you not doing that you should start doing? And what does your life or the business need now? And if you can ask yourself honestly and give yourself an honest answer on those three things, you will find it incredibly revealing because very often, as you work your way through a structure, you've got to leave certain things behind. Maybe your bad habit is impatience. And you've got to learn how to leave that behind. Maybe you're great at telling everyone what to do, but you're not very good at asking questions. But you know what? People learn better when you ask great questions than if you just walk around telling everybody what to do. Because then they just let you do it. Like, all right, he feels like he's influencing the outcome here. He's just telling everybody what to do. Um, there's a real difference between leadership and followership. Followership means that you've you've answered that early question we talked about at the beginning of the podcast. Who are you as a person? What are your values? What do you believe in? Then where are you taking your particular team? And you might be a supervisor in a hotel housekeeping department listening to this podcast, but if you make it clear, these are my values, this is what I believe in, I believe in you guys, I work here for you, and this is what we're gonna try and do. We're gonna try and deliver the best performance within our housekeeping team. And and then the third one there is do you see me? Where they want to know that you know them, you know their names, you're interested in them, and you're being a good shepherd of whatever team you lead. I did not start with 4,000 people. You know, I started with a team of five or six, and then my team got to 25, and then it got to 50, and then a couple of hundred, and then a couple of thousand, and then it got bigger. And, you know, with the intrawest world in in 2006, I had 14,000 team members across the US. So when you're going to lead at scale, it has to be about that, being scalable. And being scalable means asking great questions and uh helping people see the vision that you're trying to create and communicate that endlessly over and over and over again, and help people understand it, but also listen to them. And I'll give you one final thing, which I think is really powerful, but it takes some work. But you need some really sophisticated tools to do it. You need a pad of paper and a pen. And so you take an eight and a half by 11 pad of paper, split it in four boxes, like a SWAT box, like a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. But rather than doing it for the business, I'd encourage you to do it for yourself. What are your own strengths? What are your own weaknesses? What are some opportunities for you? And what are some threats to your success? And if you answer it honestly, you might be someone who, wow, your strength is this, you're really passionate, you got a lot of energy. Maybe your weakness is that you know you're good at operating math, but you don't understand investing. And you don't understand the basics of making a capital investment in a hospitality business, but you can learn that. And so then you think about that, and you think about opportunities, you think about threats to your success. The second part of the exercise, you take a second piece of paper in that eight and a half by eleven pad, you draw the same four boxes, but now you got four different titles. What are your passions? List three of them. Then I want you to list three undermining liabilities that if you work hard, you can neutralize in the coming year. So maybe you have to go take a public speaking course because public speaking terrifies you. Or maybe you've got to learn to be a better listener. So you got to think about that. Maybe you've got to ask better questions. Maybe you've got to learn how to be more grateful. You know, um early on in my career at Gray Rocks, you know, uh one of the great leaders there handed me um 10 bright and shiny pennies when I had my first management job. He said, put these in your right pocket. And by the end of the day, I'd like them to be in your left pocket. And the only way they travel from your right to your left is if you tell someone they're doing a great job, find something where someone's doing something great and thank them. And that's how you move the pennies from your right to your left. So when you think about your three undermining liabilities, maybe it's financial acumen. So you got to learn about that. But you know what? You've come this far. You can learn how to do these things. They're not hard. You just got to get the right book, the right podcast. And when I started, the internet didn't exist. There were no podcasts. You couldn't, yeah, I was reading months-old fortune magazines trying to figure out what to do. So you guys have access, you know, anyone listening, you have access to the greatest treasure trove of information. You have the internet, you have AI, you have podcasts, you have inspirational leaders around the world. You just have to hook into those and figure out what you can learn. Then think of alternatives, right? So passions, undermining liabilities you can neutralize. What are the alternatives that you could consider? And what are some fears that you might have? And if you're honest with those, like I'll share one. If you've got a real fear of public speaking, well, don't pretend you don't ever have to speak publicly. I have to speak publicly all the time. I always have a butterfly in my stomach. I'm like, okay, I gotta stand up and you know talk to a room full of people. But you work through it, and the more you practice, the better you get. And so encourage you that investing in yourself. Do you need to make yourself more articulate? If English is a second language for you, you can practice that. There's all these things, and and don't be shy to reach out to people. LinkedIn is fantastic. You could send a message, hey, could I have a 15-minute informational interview? It's very rare that someone of integrity and leadership skill will deny you a short informational interview. But be organized, have the right questions, keep it crisp, keep it snappy, get in, ask your stuff, and move on and send a thank you note. And uh that that's just basic, simple things. And just don't wait for the perf, oh, you know, if it gets better next week, I'll do some of these things. There is no better next week. It doesn't get better tomorrow or next week. It's now. Get up, don't negotiate with yourself. Go start some of these things if you want to improve your career. And I'm evidence that I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I just decided I wanted to have a journey in hospitality. And I think hospitality, Dan, you know this. It's one of the few industries left where you can come from nowhere out of the blue and have an exciting, amazing career and encourage everybody to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:42

What an incredible journey it has been and obviously continues to be. You shared so many valuable insights, and I you've inspired me to think about creating a special podcast uh just on leadership and to bring you back to have that conversation because yeah, that's you know, um, I've so thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. I really appreciate making time for this. I'm you know, I'm uh I now understand what all your team members had said to me, and I'm uh and I appreciate you making the additional time for me and for our listeners to be able to share as much as you have. And I'm I'm incredibly uh excited for the future of pursuit and to continue to see you leading the way. And so, first of all, just thank you, thank you for being a part of this uh to you and the team. And uh I I certainly look forward to experiencing some of these amazing places uh as I continue my travels. And so just to close off of that one, David, in terms of your future travels, what's next? What where are you headed next on a project?

SPEAKER_01 1:44:44

I just got back yesterday and I leave again on Tuesday. So yeah, it's it's you know what? But I think it's if you don't want to be a picture on a website and you don't want to be some guy that somebody heard about, but you actually want to, you know, be someone that's in the fabric of the company, it means you got to get up and move around. And so what inspires me, people ask, like, whoa, what inspires you? You know what inspires me is I meet someone that it's their first year in hospitality, they're excited, they're asking great questions, you see the gleam in their eye, and they're starting to realize just what I realized 43 years ago. It's like, whoa, I think I found my peep. Yeah. And when you see that and you see the energy, and you that is motivating. And I'm so fortunate that I get to work with some of the smartest people I know, and it's a real gift. And they're passionate, they care deeply, they do amazing things every day. They're my superheroes. So it's uh to the team members across pursuit, thank you so much because they they just bring so much to what makes our company special.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:43

That's that's wonderful and special it is. So thank you, David. Thank you for joining us, and I look forward to meeting you in real life in the near future.

Final Thanks And Where To Learn More

SPEAKER_00 1:45:50

And that's a wrap on this latest spotlight episode of Travel Trends. I just wanted to say a special thank you to David for joining us for this conversation and for all the amazing insights that you took the opportunity to share with us. That was such a thoughtful conversation and honestly a masterclass in where experiential travel is heading. I really appreciate you sharing not only the pursuit story and vision, but also those lessons and perspectives from your incredible career building a destination and experience-driven business over so many years, from interest to pursuit. You have been at the forefront of some of the biggest shifts in the travel industry. And I think our audience is gonna take a ton away from this conversation. What stands out most to me is the idea that travel is increasingly about connection, emotion, and meaningful experiences and how pursuit is helping define what that future looks like and how it can scale. For anyone listening that wants to learn more, you need to check out pursuit.com to find out more about what David and the team are building. You can also find clips and highlights from this conversation on our social channels at Travel Trends Podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. And if you enjoyed this special spotlight episode, then be sure to check out traveltrendspodcast.com slash spotlights for amazing conversations like we've had today with leaders, founders, operators, investors, and innovators that are really helping shape the future of travel around the world. And of course, a huge thank you to all of our listeners for supporting travel trends and being a part of our community. We truly appreciate all your support and love seeing this community continue to grow globally and especially throughout North America. Thanks again for joining us. And until next time, safe travels.