Anna Pollock, DestiCorpDarwin, March 30th, 2012

PRODUCT MATCHING IN TODAY’S MARKETSInsights into marketplace realities and opportunities

1

Farmer - Banker

Elder Visionaries - Mentors

Dee Hock

“We are at that point of time when a four-hundred-year-old age is rattling in its deathbed and another is struggling to be born – with a shifting of culture, science, society and institutions enormously greater and swifter than the world has ever experienced…. Dee Hock, Founder of VISA and author The Birth of a Chaordic Organization

Scientist - Philosopher

Elder Visionaries - Mentors

Willis Harman

We are living through one of the most fundamental shifts in history – a change in the actual belief structure of western society.

No economic, political, or military power can compare with the power of a change of mind. By deliberately changing their images of reality, people are changing their world. Willis Harman, Founder World Business Academy

Accelerated Consumption

Climate Change

Energy & Fuel

Material Resource Scarcity

Food scarcity

Water Scarcity

THE PERFECT STORM

Accelerated Consumption

Climate Change

Energy & Fuel

Material Resource Scarcity

Food scarcity

Water Scarcity

Ecosystem Decline

Disparate Prosperity

Government Debt

Lack of Global Governance

Political Instability

Pandemics

THE PERFECT STORM

How do you de-couple human progress from resource use and environmental decline?

Is economic growth essential, desirable, unavoidable?

What’s the relationship between wealth and well-being?

Are we measuring the right things? GDP or GNH?

How do you solve global problems when national mindsets prevail?

What’s the role of business?

How do we tweak /modify capitalism to make it benefit more than the 1%?

BIG QUESTIONS

Growth

Demand Volatility

Commodification - declining yields

Increased Costs

Complexity – market fragmentation

Guest incompatibilities

Congestion & Backlash

TOURISM ISSUES

TOURISM ISSUES

Source: UNWTO

Growth

Demand Volatility

Commodification - declining yields

Increased Costs

Complexity – market fragmentation

Guest incompatibilities

Congestion & Backlash

TOURISM ISSUES

Impact

Impact

Growth

Demand Volatility

Commodification - declining yields

Increased Costs

Complexity – market fragmentation

Guest incompatibilities

Congestion & Backlash

Sameness

Fewer Exotic Places to Discover

Destination Management

Reduced Government Funding

Fragmented Fringe

Lack of Leadership

TOURISM ISSUES

Irresponsiblity

Growth

Demand Volatility

Commodification - declining yields

Increased Costs

Complexity – market fragmentation

Guest incompatibilities

Congestion & Backlash

Sameness

Fewer Exotic Places to Discover

Destination Management

Reduced Government Funding

Fragmented Fringe

Lack of Leadership

TOURISM ISSUES

Changing Consumers

•Youthful, wired, highly educated, majority female

•Three times more likely to try new things

•Three times more likely to reward or punish a brand based on corporate practice

•Dedicated “box turner” but doesn’t trust corporate declaration

•One in four says they have no way of knowing if the product is green or does what it claims

•Even in the recession, the majority believe it important to make choices based on environmental and social benefits

•More than half are willing to pay more for sustainable brands

The Conscious Consumer

The Conscious Consumer Report, 2009, BBMG

The Conscious Consumer Report, 2009, BBMG

Source: Richard Barrett, Values Centre

Search for Meaning& Purpose

A transition from material want to meaning want is in progress on

an historically unprecedented scale and may be the principal

cultural development of our ageGregg Easterbrook:

The Progress Paradox

Conscious ConsumersWired to CARE

“Purpose is the new passionParticipation in the new

consumption”BBMG

Search for Meaning & Purpose

Source: Edelman Good Purpose Study

Differentiate by Making a Difference

Strive to be the best for the world not in the world!

Conscious Travellers...the essentials

1. Wired to Share2. Wired to Care3. Seek purpose and meaning4. Want to engage & give back5. Seek authenticity, local,

homegrown, one-off, artisan6. Want immersive, transformative

experiences,

Impact on Business

Conscious Capitalists•Whole Foods

•Southwest Airlines

•Zappos

•The Container Store

•Google

•Amazon

•Joie de Vivre

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

THE REALLY BIG QUESTIONS

What Kind of Destination do you want to be?

Which guest is right for you?

How are you going to measure success?

Quality or quantity? Short term wins or long term gains?

Growth + volatility OR sustainability + resilience?

Who do you care about – developers or operators?

Two Roads: Two Kinds of Travel

Micro Conscious Travel

Considered, cautiousSeeking VALUE & meaningTravellers want to engage, participateTransforming

VALUE & YIELD

Uniqueness= scarcityAdvertising as SupportHigh ValueExperiences Not ProductsLocal sourcing, hand madeDiversityPersonalCustomers are Co-creative PartnersPromise of an Experience that PULLS

SUCCESS = NET BENEFIT TO HOST COMMUNITY

Mass Industrialised Tourism

Impulse, Frequent, “a right”Comfort & ConvenienceThe Packaged ProductPRICE a key decision factor

VOLUME

Abundance of ChoiceAdvertising as SpinCommoditizationStandardizationHomogenizationAutomationSamenessCustomers as TargetsNo Frills or No Surprises

SUCCESS = VOLUME OF VISITORS

THREE KEY CONCEPTS

1. Mindset

2. Place

3. Transformation

Why Mindset?

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved with the

same level of thinking or consciousness we used to

create them.”

Worldview as a Set of Lenses

Mainstream tourism borrowed its operating model from manufacturing

Product Centric. PackagedStandardization, Homogenization,

Economies of ScaleConsumers segmented & targeted

Transactional & Adversarial37

Assumptions Underpinning An Industrial Worldview

It’s a material world – we’re physical beings & value lies in things The universe is like a machine with separate parts that can be

disassembled & measured We’re separate objects Only the fittest, strongest survive – It’s compete or die The earth is a lumberyard with resources to be used to make and

sell things The sole purpose of business is to make a profit Success is about having & doing more and status is related to what

you have or have achieved (money, power) Technology will solve all our our problems GDP measures prosperity

An Alternative Worldview We’re not matter but energy (waves and particles) The universe is alive, not dead Everything is connected The earth is a living organism – natural law supersedes human

laws All beings are kin and we take only what we need and do so

with respect We prosper through cooperation and collaboration – a process

of give and take Wealth is not about stuff but well-being or “wellth” Status does not come from what you have but from what you

give away.

The Power of PLACE Each place is unique 13.5 billion years of evolution – cannot be re-created or

replicated A blend of past, present, future Culture = relationships between people and earth Personality not brand Antidote to sameness and commoditization Stimulates all senses Satisfies needs of the whole person: body, mind, spirit and

soul Each place is Sacred – subject of wonder & awe

From PRODUCT to PLACE

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE THE CUSTODIANS

HOSTS as AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORM GUESTS

Help guests to switch lenses Engender reciprocity, respect Ignite a sense of wonder & awe

TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES Hosts as agents of change Create Places that CARE

ROLE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Midwives Guides, Custodians

Thank You!Anna Pollockwww.slideshare.net/AnnaPwww.conscioustourism.wordpress.comEmail: annapollock@me.com