for Ben Sherman

1. The Role of Indigenous People in
Re-creating Tourism
Anna Pollock and Ben Sherman

2. VISION
• The choice for humanity is between “breakdown” and
breakthrough”
• Tourism has a responsibility to “re-create itself”
• Breakthrough depends on “Changing the Dream of the
North” - a major mindset shift
• Indigenous peoples can help that change happen
• Conscious Travel can provide a bridge - a path that connects
two world views
• Becoming a conscious host requires embracing a new
worldview
• Change will occur one community at a time

3. Does Humanity Hang on the Edge?

4. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?

5. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year

6. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year
International tourism targeted to
grow by an additional 800 million trips
over the next 20 years

7. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year
International tourism targeted to
grow by an additional 800 million trips
over the next 20 years
Might it be or become a victim of its
own success?

8. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year
International tourism targeted to
grow by an additional 800 million trips
over the next 20 years
Might it be or become a victim of its
own success?
Are we at a tipping point?

9. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year
International tourism targeted to
grow by an additional 800 million trips
over the next 20 years
Might it be or become a victim of its
own success?
Are we at a tipping point?
Metaphorically speaking, we’re about
to experience a tourism tsunami +
galeforce winds + earthquake

10. Does Tourism Hang on the Edge?
Tourism now supports 1 billion
international trips a year
International tourism targeted to
grow by an additional 800 million trips
over the next 20 years
Might it be or become a victim of its
own success?
Are we at a tipping point?
Metaphorically speaking, we’re about
to experience a tourism tsunami +
galeforce winds + earthquake
Will the tourism capsule hold out?

11. Tourism Hangs on the Edge

12. Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing
diminishing returns for nearly
everybody

13. Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing
diminishing returns for nearly
everybody
This graph shows the fate of
individual destinations - could it
apply to industrial tourism as a
whole?

14. Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing
diminishing returns for nearly
everybody
This graph shows the fate of
individual destinations - could it
apply to industrial tourism as a
whole?
Are we at the inflection point?

15. Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing
diminishing returns for nearly
everybody
This graph shows the fate of
individual destinations - could it
apply to industrial tourism as a
whole?
Are we at the inflection point?
If yields decline industrial
tourism can only succeed by
growing in volume

16. Tourism Hangs on the Edge
Industrial tourism is producing
diminishing returns for nearly
everybody
This graph shows the fate of
individual destinations - could it
apply to industrial tourism as a
whole?
Are we at the inflection point?
If yields decline industrial
tourism can only succeed by
growing in volume
What might put the brakes on
growth?

18. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?

19. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?

20. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?

21. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian

22. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian

23. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian

24. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

25. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

26. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
and land?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

27. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
and land?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

28. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

29. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
How will we protect vulnerable people
and cultures?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

30. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
How will we protect vulnerable people
and cultures?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: Daily Mail

31. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
How will we protect vulnerable people
and cultures?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: China Daily
Source: Daily Mail

32. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
How will we protect vulnerable people
and cultures?
How will avoid residents’ backlash?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: China Daily
Source: Daily Mail

33. How will we handle another 800
million tourists in just 8 years?
How will we handle congestion?
How will we handle waste?
How will we handle emissions?
How will we manage our thirst for water The Queue to Climb Everest
Source: Guardian
Protest Sign Erected by Young Balinese
Source: ABC They Paved Paradise
and land?
How will we protect vulnerable people
and cultures?
How will avoid residents’ backlash?
The Island Where Tourist Garbage is Stored in the Maldives
Source: China Daily
Source: Daily Mail
• see: Can Tourism Change its Operating Model?

34. Is the industrial model working for
providers?
Do any of these issues apply to you?
•declining margins,
•greater income volatility,
•increased risk,
•more regulation,
•higher input costs (energy, food, supplies),
•disengaged employees,
•more complexity - especially marketing, and
•often more demanding guests

35. Do you ever feel like this critter?
Are you are
working harder
than ever before
and making less
return?

36. A Mindset or Worldview Shift
is Essential
• we need to think differently
• see “Changing the Dream -
Why Mindsets really, really
matter!”
• see: Can Tourism Change its
Operating Model?

37. What are world views and why do they matter?
A worldview or mindset acts as a lens
It is made up of values and beliefs that
we use to make sense of our world
We’re often not aware of our lenses or
the beliefs they are based upon
especially when commonly held within
a society
Once you change a mindset, perception
and behaviour shift
That’s Life!
That’s how things are done around here!
It’s the Economy, Stupid!

38. Change The Dream of the Modern
World
Source: The Pachamama Alliance

39. Change The Dream of the Modern World
Source: The Pachamama Alliance

40. Assumptions and Beliefs Underpinning the
Industrial Worldview
It’s a material world, in a dead universe
We’re separate, objects are discrete
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

41. We live in a Material World, part of a Dead Universe
It’s a material world that we can perceive
through our senses
Nature as machine
It’s a dead universe
Primacy of science
“It’s Nothing But” - reductionism
Mechanistic determinism
Reduce to parts, create through assembly
Primacy of transactions & efficiency
Material value - money = worth
Price - the primary motivator of
purchase
Implications for Tourism
Places are points on a map where resources can be
exploited - Planet Earth as a Lumberyard
Focus on what we can measure & what’s real: Tourism
is about jobs, income, foreign exchange
Places become Products; Products are packaged
Price the basis for competition

42. We’re Separate Objects Coping with Scarcity
The universe is populated by “things”,
discrete objects we can measure and
observe because they are separate
Cogito Ergo Sum, Emergence of the
Scientific method
Subject - Object, “I” vs “Thou”
Dualism
Labelism
Subject to fixed laws
Implications for Tourism
Cause and effect
Residents of a place become objects of tourist’s
fascination - The Tourist Gaze
Guests become wallets, targets to be captured
Developers, managers, investors, residents, guests,
focued on own interests & perspective
Environment a resource to be exploited

43. Survival Of the Fittest
All’s fair in love and war
Winner takes all
He who dies with the most toys wins
The universe is a place of scarcity
We compete to survive - Darwin’s
struggle for existence
Look after “number one” sanctioned by
Adam Smith
Only competition will drive excellence
and prosperity
Implications for Tourism
Tourism is fragmented - no one responsible for total
guest experience
Suppliers compete when they could collaborate
Adversarial relationship between buyers and sellers
Lack of trust
No one responsible for the whole - tragedy of the

44. More is Better
More is better
Growth is good
Growth is essential
Green Growth is enough
Implications for Tourism
Focus on volume & benefits, not on costs
No collective sense of limits
Focus on GDP and economic values

45. Race Against Time
Time is scarce
Time is absolute and can be broken into
segments
Time is money
Faster is better
Efficient enterprises run like clockwork
Implications for Tourism
Sense of pressure - not enough time
Service levels deteriorate
Places are not savoured
Length of stay confined

46. The Industrial Mindset Applied to Tourism
Product
Position
Price
Profit
Place
Distribute Promote
19

47. The Indigenous Worldview
Place The universe is alive, magical, sacred
All life forms are kin, connected and
Kinship
interdependent
Respect Respect & Reciprocity
Steward Sufficiency, Maintain the Balance
Time is cyclical, being present, knowing
Time the right time

48. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s a material world, in a predictable dead
universe that can be observed objectively
We’re separate, objects are discrete &
obey fixed laws
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

49. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s a material world, in a predictable dead
universe that can be observed objectively
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
We’re separate, objects are discrete &
obey fixed laws
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

50. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
We’re separate, objects are discrete &
obey fixed laws
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

51. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
We’re separate, objects are discrete &
obey fixed laws
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

52. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Survival of the fittest
More is Better
It’s a race against time

53. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Survival of the fittest
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
More is Better
It’s a race against time

54. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
More is Better
It’s a race against time

55. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
More is Better
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
It’s a race against time

56. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
It’s a race against time

57. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
It’s a race against time
Time is relative, present the only reality

58. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about energy & relationships in an
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
Time is relative, present the only reality

59. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about
It’s all about energy & relationships in an relationships
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
Time is relative, present the only reality

60. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about
It’s all about energy & relationships in an relationships
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities We’re all One
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
Time is relative, present the only reality

61. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about
It’s all about energy & relationships in an relationships
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities We’re all One
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
It’s about collaboration
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
& making things whole
Better as in more resilience, balance,
harmony & diversity is better
Time is relative, present the only reality

62. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about
It’s all about energy & relationships in an relationships
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities We’re all One
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
It’s about collaboration
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
& making things whole
It’s about quality not
Better as in more resilience, balance, quantity, yield not
harmony & diversity is better volume
Time is relative, present the only reality

63. The Big Shift - what happens when you change the
assumptions?
It’s all about
It’s all about energy & relationships in an relationships
alive universe, of which 96% is invisible
Energy packets, indivisible, probabilities We’re all One
no certainties. Invisible spaces not empty
It’s about collaboration
Nature’s drive is towards wholeness,
collaboration, interdependence
& making things whole
It’s about quality not
Better as in more resilience, balance, quantity, yield not
harmony & diversity is better volume
Slow down you move
Time is relative, present the only reality too fast!

64. An Alternative Model Applied to Tourism
People
Play Purpose
Plenty
Passion Pull
Place
22

65. The Role of Conscious Hosts
Enliven. Awaken. Stimulate a sense of Place
wonder at the Sacred. Transform. Heal
Connect - meaningful encounters based Kinship
on reciprocity & respect
Respect
Collaborate - all stakeholders
Steward & Protect, “Keepers of the Care
Earth”
Slow the Guest, Savour the Moment, Slow
Satiate all Senses