A word from Amanda Wills

A word from Amanda Wills, Managing Director of Virgin Holidays, headline sponsors of the Responsible Tourism Awards:

"Hi, good morning everyone, it’s really fantastic to be here again – I look forward to this event every November, and I’m always inspired by the innovation and creativity of the finalists.

While I think it’s safe to say we’re all feeling the pinch and it would be easy for us to become distracted by other concerns, I for one love having the opportunity to reward the visionary approach of the individuals and businesses we’re celebrating today.

Since we started working with Justin and his team five years ago, these Awards have become the cornerstone of Virgin Holidays’ commitment to responsible business because of the platform they provide for the issue of sustainability – during a week when the eyes of the global travel industry are on London. And whenever it comes to writing this speech, I am reminded of why we initially felt it was essential we’re involved.

My own personal story starts in the 1990s, when the industry really opened up long haul destinations to mass tourism. Unfortunately, very few people foresaw the long term impact on both the communities and environment that our industry’s actions would have at that time. For me, it was an object lesson in truly understanding the responsibility we all have to respect the destinations we work with. I became convinced that we could – should – do better, both for the good of local community and our customers. When I joined Virgin Holidays ten years ago, I was determined that we’d not make the same mistakes as others.

So I’m delighted to be standing in front of you once more today in a world that has radically changed for the better. We’ve all witnessed some momentous developments in the way this industry approaches the issue of sustainability, and although there is always more that can be done, we’ve started on a shared journey towards making it an instinctive consideration in everything we do.

Where that journey takes us, I think, is impossible to say. But as a business, and an industry, we should be excited by the unknown.

When we put our own responsible business strategy – the Human Nature Promise – in motion, making the kind of impact we wanted, and which people expected of us, seemed a daunting prospect. But the way it has galvanised Virgin Holidays reflects the way the industry as a whole has embraced the issue.

Whether it’s getting our own house in order and championing sustainability internally and with our suppliers, or the realisation of our multi-million pound, 10-year investment in the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship in the Caribbean, we’ve made great strides in facing the challenge of making sustainability a meaningful – indeed, a central – focus.

The Centre, which saw its first intake of 14 amazing entrepreneurs in September, in particular answers the question I still get asked of ‘why do you do it?’. My experience in the 1990s showed me that we need the destinations with which we work to be prosperous. A place that is ripe with opportunity for the people who live there, and where those who deliver the experiences that we sell receive a fair price and fair working conditions is good for our customers and suppliers. But most importantly, it’s good for the people who welcome those customers in to their communities.

Not long ago, making a positive impact on the future of those communities seemed an impossible task – it was too complex, too far reaching. Now we know that we can use our resources as a positive force that allow us to work directly with individuals or in collaboration with partners, to create initiatives that will make that kind of sustainable prosperity achievable. They might take years to come to fruition. There might be some mistakes on the way.

The way travel differs from other commodity-based industries might not make the solutions obvious or easy.

But what’s most important is that we work together and create something that changes lives for the better.

ABTA released some research at its Convention last month that showed a growing number of consumers – 50 per cent in fact – expect holiday companies to ‘do the right thing’ and look after the environments and communities they love to visit. The days of being paralysed by the scale of the problem, or pretending it is someone else’s issue to deal with – someone bigger and better resourced – are long gone.

As individuals, business leaders and an industry we can only deal with the challenge of sustainability and fairness in travel through collaboration and cooperation. At Virgin Holidays we’ve shown that we can and we will use the power of collective effort to meet our responsibilities. I urge all of our colleagues in the industry to be inspired by the efforts of today’s finalists and work together to prove that large or small, there are thousands of ways we should be able to make a difference.

Speech delivered at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2011, at the World Travel Market World Responsible Tourism Day in November.