Climate Friendly Travel – Details, episodes & analysis

Balancing Tourism with Marine Environmental Protection: Conversation with Patrizia Patti, Founder of Ecomarine Malta

In this episode of the Climate Friendly Travel Podcast, host Ged Brown discusses with marine biologist, Patrizia Patti, the balance between marine conservancy and tourism. Patti is the founder of Ecomarine Malta, an organization aiming to increase awareness about marine ecosystems through tourism. Besides offering tours for educational purposes, Ecomarine Malta actively collects scientific data for use in marine biology research. Patrizia emphasizes the potential of tourism to work for conservation and discusses the significance of shared knowledge for increased awareness and purposeful travel. She believes that education and collaboration can make a significant impact on environmental conservation.

00:16 Meet Patrizia Patti: Marine Biologist and Founder of Ecomarine Malta

00:54 The Intersection of Marine Biology and Tourism

01:32 Patrizia's Journey and the Birth of Ecomarine Malta

02:24 The Importance of Marine Education and Awareness

04:05 Ecomarine Malta's Sustainable Marine Tours

06:41 The Role of Ecomarine Malta in Conservation and Tourism

09:55 The Impact of Ecomarine Malta's Tours

16:39 The State of Malta's Marine Environment

19:06 The Role of Tourism in Marine Conservation

20:39 Patrizia's Optimism for the Future of the Environment

22:32 The Power of Meaningful Travel

24:00 Conclusion and Invitation to Join Ecomarine Malta

Today I’m joined by Suzy Hutomo who is the Chair of Body Shop Indonesia and co-founder of Eco Tourism Bali.

With a vision to ensure Bali is viewed as a Preferred Sustainable Tourism Destination, Eco Tourism Bali aims to put Bali as a sustainable tourism destination in the world by 2030 and to contribute on Achieving Climate Neutrality in Travel and Tourism by 2050.

After meeting up with Suzy recently in Bali, I was keen to learn more about the work of Eco Tourism Bali to learn how they were progressing towards their goals.

And if you’d like to learn more about Eco Tourism Bali then please do visit: https://www.ecotourismbali.com

And you can join Suzy, Eco Tourism Bali and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Registry at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today we're delighted to be joined by Julie Cheetham who is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Weeva in South Africa.

Julie is one of tourism’s leading sustainability consultants with over 20 years of experience in sustainable development and business transformation. Having worked for a range of clients across the hospitality and corporate sectors, in 2021 Julie drew from her diverse insights and together with an initial group of thought leaders, established Weeva – a SaaS platform that enables the travel industry to adopt a measurable and holistic sustainability practice.

In this episode we speak to Julie about the origin story of Weeva, the challenges faced by her clients and the steps she recommends that every travel and tourism organisation can take to get started on their own sustainability pathway.

And you can join Julie, Weeva and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Registry at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m delighted to be joined once more by Chalana Perera who is the Founder of RETRACE Hospitality in Sri Lanka.

In this second episode, I talk to Chalana about the concept of capacity in tourism destinations. Do we know how many tourists we can safely welcome before there is a negative impact on the host community, the environment and the traveller experience.  We also discuss poverty, it’s role in climate resilience and how this links with the wider climate change crisis.

Big issues and thought provoking discussions…

My thanks again to Chalana for sharing his insights with us today and if you’d like to learn more about RETRACE Hospitality and the work they are doing in Sri Lanka then please do visit https://www.retracehospitality.com

And you can join Chalana, RETRACE Hospitality and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SUNx Program at climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m delighted to be joined by Chalana Perera who is the Founder of RETRACE Hospitality in Sri Lanka.

RETRACE Hospitality is an advisory practice which works together with investors, developers and operators in the hospitality tourism space to bring more regenerative practices into the sector.

In this first episode of two, I talk to Chalana about what it means when we talk about regenerative tourism, how is it conceptualised in Sri Lanka today, have things changed since the onset of the financial crisis in Sri Lanka last year and is slow travel replacing mass tourism in Sri Lanka?

You can hear the second episode with Chalana next time where we delve into capacity studies as we try to establish just how many tourists can a destination safely accommodate before the experience becomes a negative one for the host community, the environment, and the travellers.

For now, my thanks again to Chalana for sharing his insights with us today and if you’d like to learn more about RETRACE Hospitality and the work they are doing in Sri Lanka then please do visit https://www.retracehospitality.com

And you can join Chalana, RETRACE Hospitality and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SUNx Program at climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m delighted to be joined by Prerna Pasad who is the Founder of Ecoplore in India.

Ecoplore is an aggregator of hotels in India which all have one thing in common. They are all built from natural materials such as mud, wood, stone, bamboo or any other natural and locally sourced materials. And they are all wonderfully charming.  

In this episode I spoke with Prerna about how she transitioned her desire to change the world from being a journalist to becoming India’s champion of sustainable accommodation.  It’s a wonderful and inspiring story. 

And if you’d like to learn more about Ecoplore and indeed see "Van Bhoj" for yourself, then please do visit https://www.ecoplore.com

You can join Prerna, Ecoplore and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SUNx Program at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today we have a special episode for you after my visit last week to Kenya where I met up with Kenya’s former Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala. 

Najib has served as Kenya’s Minister for Tourism and Wildlife since 2008 and is credited to having led the development and implementation of Wildlife policy in 2020, the National Wildlife Strategy 2030 and the National Tourism Blueprint 2030, as well as the conducting of the first National Wildlife Census in Kenya in 2021. 

In this episode I speak to Najib about the state of sustainable tourism in Kenya, what has been achieved so far and what more there is yet to do.

Huge thanks to Najib for taking the time from his busy schedule to share his insights with us today.  We’ll share some more podcasts from our Kenyan travels in the coming weeks so do look out for those.

And you can join hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Registry at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

Remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m joined by Victoria Erasmus who is the Owner Director of Glen Mhor Hotel & Apartments located in the heart of Inverness.

Victoria is relentless.  We have been privileged to speak to many industry experts, hotel owners and managers over the years but Victoria is something else.

In this episode Victoria tells us how they are not yet a finished product but instead working on changing the mindsets of all their staff as they figure out the best way forward and how they can address the climate emergency in a meaningful way. 

Last year Victoria and the team opened Scotland's First Water Source Energy Centre which extracts the heat from shallow wells on their site allowing them to have their own water source along with providing all heating and will remove all gas from their site over the next year.  This £8 million pound project is located at the back of their new brewery and distillery Uile-Bheist (pronounced Ewl-Uh-Vhest and means monster in Gaelic).  Uile-Bheist was built with sustainability at its core.  Heated by their own energy, using water from their own source and solar PV for energy - making it one of the lowest carbon footprint brewstillerys in the country.

With a robust green policy, green team and climate action plan, Victoria and the team are clearly determined to do things the right way.                                                      

And if you’d like to learn more about Glen Mhor and their ethos and indeed see the property for yourself, then please do visit www.glen-mhor.com  

You can join Victoria, Glen Mhor  and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Program at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m delighted to be joined by Hylton Lipkin who is the General Manager of Alba Wellness Valley in Vietnam.

Set at the foot of the Truong Son Mountains, spanning over 50 hectares of lush gardens and pristine lakes, is Alba Wellness Resort by Fusion. The nature-inspired destination which combines rest, relaxation and the healing qualities of Thanh Tan hot springs to form a quiet respite just 30 kilometres north from Hue.
The wellness resort features 30 Deluxe Rooms and 20 Bungalows. Surrounded by manicured gardens with calming waters and tranquil bamboo paths, guests can embrace a holistic lifestyle while lounging by the pool bar, enjoying massage and spa services and rejuvenating in the onsite Japanese onsen baths. 

With a long and illustrious career in the global hospitality industry, Hylton who is from South Africa, eventually settled in Vietnam at the Alba Wellness Resort where he clearly takes immense pride in the holistic wellness and sustainable approach which they have become renowned for in recent years.

In this episode I speak to Hylton about the essence of what makes Alba Wellness Valley so special.

And if you’d like to learn more about Alba Wellness Valley and their ethos and indeed see the property for yourself, then please do visit fusionhotelgroup.com/albawellnessvalley

And you can join Hylton, Alba Wellness Valley and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Registry at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com 

Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together… 

Today I’m joined by Kyle Taylor from Eco Lifestyle Lodge in Barbados.

Tucked away on the hills overlooking the dramatic seascape of the Bajan east coast, ECO Lifestyle + Lodge is the realized dream of New York native Kyle & his partner Maryam, who traded the hustle of city life for a slower, more meaningful pace when they moved to Barbados several years ago. With their young family in tow, they’ve firmly established themselves in the local community.

With numerous awards already won for their eco endeavours, Kyle tells me how they established themselves as the number 1 eco resort on Barbados.

And if you want to be truly inspired, I highly urge you to check out their Eco Sky Water project which just might be the solution to water shortages around the world very soon – it’s truly incredible.

If you’d like to learn more about the Eco Lifestyle Lodge and their ethos and indeed see the property for yourself, then please do visit ecolifestylelodge.com

And you can join Kyle, Eco Lifestyle Lodge and hundreds more like-minded people and organisations by joining Climate Friendly Travel and indeed become an ambassador by signing up to join The SunX Registry at , climatefriendly.travel or email us at info@thesunprogram.com

That’s our show for this week. Thanks so much for your company and remember, when it comes to Climate Friendly Travel, every small step forward, is giant stride when we all step together…