CV Villas marketing chief says travellers ‘expect’ responsible tourism

CV Villas head of marketing Ben Briggs has said luxury travellers now expect companies to have sustainability and community impact strategies, and “to do the right thing on their behalf”.

Briggs’ comments came after the luxury villa brand unveiled its Positive Impact Collection of 50-plus villas which fulfil various responsible tourism criteria: supporting local communities by encouraging community development; conservation of local customs, culture and biodiversity; energy efficiency, water conservation and waste reduction initiatives; and promoting eco-conscious transportation.

Beyond reducing the environmental effects of tourism, the Collection aims to foster a positive impact on the villas’ surrounding communities, including by hiring local talent, using local suppliers and recruiting local teams and organisations to lead activities and tours.

Briggs said: “It’s about making sure we’re investing in that community and not diverting funds elsewhere so they don’t benefit. The money stays within the community.”

He added “not all travellers just want to go and lie by a pool for a week,” and are instead interested in “supporting the local culture or experiences that are preserving it”.

Some of the environmentally minded strategies being implemented include installing electric vehicle chargers, providing guests with bicycles, installing water coolers to negate single use plastic bottles and planting gardens for local food sources.

Briggs also explained that CV Villas has sponsored recycling programmes in some areas of Greece where recycling is not widespread.

A new partnership with flight-free travel company Byway is furthering the sustainability mission by promoting train and ferry travel to destinations.

Briggs recently took a four-day flight-free route to Corfu, and said: “Rail travel is absolutely an achievable thing, and it’s an incredible adventure. For a lot of people, the journey is part of the holiday.”

He said the flight-free route would be perfect for those who prefer the ‘slow’ approach to travel, or retired travellers with more time on their hands.

Briggs is already looking ahead to the future of the Collection, adding: “Ultimately, we want every villa owner to jump on board.

“We will start to showcase the amazing things these villas are doing, showing that it’s actually commercially viable, and will positively impact their business and their bottom line.”

The company will run annual audits on the positive impact initiatives employed at each of its properties, using them as a chance to take inspiration from successes and provide advice where needed.

Briggs said: “What’s important to us is that it is not a tick box exercise – we’ve put the collection together because it’s the right thing to do.

“Customers expect us to be putting these measures in place. They don’t necessarily expect to pay any more for it, it’s just a given.”

The Positive Impact Collection includes villas across Europe - including Italy, Greece and Portugal - and Sri Lanka.