Hotel is a good place to stay and invest in the community
With its panoramic, riverside views and perfectly Instagrammable interiors, on first appearances, the Good Hotel seems to be just another of London鈥檚 many trendy boutiques.
But the neon sign 鈥淪leep Good, Do Good鈥 on the floating hotel鈥檚 entrance wall is not just a backdrop to guests鈥 selfies 鈥 it signals the company鈥檚 mission as a social enterprise. To give back to the community as well as make a profit.
鈥淗otels are often internationally owned, and often times filled with people who are quite far removed from the local setting,鈥 said the hotel鈥檚 founder, Marten Dresen.
Ethical tourism is increasingly popular among socially conscious travelers who want to minimize their environmental footprint and boost local economies, rather than global hotel chains or cruise companies that repatriate their profits.
Growing numbers of people are on the move, with 1.4 billion international tourists in 2018, according to United Nations data 鈥 equal to the population of China 鈥 up 53 percent in a decade, as travel becomes cheaper and easier.
Yet locals often bear the brunt of overcrowding at popular sites, pollution caused by cruise ships or soaring rents driven up by tourists paying more for accommodation via sites like Airbnb.
London鈥檚 container-like Good Hotel started out as a detention center for illegal immigrants in the Netherlands before becoming a pop-up hotel in Amsterdam in 2015 and then was towed up the River Thames by tug boats in 2016 to its new home.
Situated in East London鈥檚 Royal Docks, where ships unloaded their cargo a century ago, the 148-room Good Hotel invests all of its profits in training and education to create jobs and opportunities for locals in one of the city鈥檚 poorest areas.
鈥淭he more we grow as a business, the more we can reinvest,鈥 said Dresen. He runs a similar Good Hotel in Antigua, a city in the highlands of Guatemala, which has a scheme to train and hire single mothers and provide apprenticeships for local schools.
More than 80 London locals who struggled to find work have completed the Good Hotel鈥檚 four-month hospitality training scheme since 2016. Almost all are now in full-time jobs, including nine who work at the hotel.
On the path to helping others
Shaqueen Wilson set her sights on working at the Good Hotel after her mother completed the training course and got a job in the kitchen.
Two years on, Wilson is one of the senior bar staff. Managers have made sure her shifts do not clash with her mother鈥檚 so they can share the care of Wilson鈥檚 young daughter.
鈥淭he job means so much to me. I feel very comfortable here,鈥 Wilson said.
鈥淲e are definitely on a good path and helping others.鈥
The funding for the training schemes is included in the Good Hotel鈥檚 operating costs, and the business donates any profits after that to its charity partner Ninos de Guatemala. It has given more than US$100,000 to the charity, which runs three schools for poor Guatemalan children.
London鈥檚 Good Hotel sources food and drink locally where possible, offers Newham residents a 20 percent discount in its bar and restaurant, and occasionally hosts open bar events for them.
But many guests do not know about its social business model until they check in, choosing to stay at the hotel because of its proximity to London City Airport and the ExCeL center, host to events such as the 2009 G20 summit and the London Boat Show.
However, Brad Garrison, an IT executive from Staffordshire in central England, said he seeks out businesses like the Good Hotel when he travels.
鈥淧laces like this feel less price gouging 鈥 it is cheap for London and the quality is high,鈥 he said.
It is not just locals that want a different kind of tourism 鈥 consumers are starting to demand it.
鈥淭ravelers are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they are contributing to environmental issues by traveling around the world,鈥 said Marloes de Vries, a travel analyst from British research firm, Mintel.
鈥淭ravelers are increasingly seeking novel activities that enable them to get 鈥榰nder the skin鈥 of the destination, or unusual experiences outside of the parameters of traditional mass tourism.鈥
Planeterra Foundation is a Canadian charity that seeks to tap into this growing demand for purpose-driven travel.
Founded by adventure travel company G-Adventures in 2003, Planeterra describes itself as an incubator, helping to fund and establish 75 social enterprises, including cultural experiences and souvenir makers, in 42 global tourist destinations.
In Peru鈥檚 Sacred Valley of the Incas, for example, it helped establish a social enterprise restaurant, Parwa, for groups to have a traditional meal as part of a tour of the famed ancient ruins of Machu Picchu.
Tourism to Machu Picchu over the past decade has surged to more than 1 million visitors in 2018, with a ticketing system in place to regulate the stream of tourists.
Aside from local souvenir sellers, porters and cooks who accompany tour groups, 鈥渧ery little money goes into the community from tourism鈥, said Jamie Sweeting, president of Planeterra.
The off-the-beaten path restaurant 鈥 which employs 65 people, sources local products, sells souvenirs from local artisans and reinvests its profits in community projects 鈥 hosts about 16,000 tourists a year.
鈥淲e are trying to... take advantage of tourism volume to some of these places, but spread the wealth to people that aren鈥檛 necessarily benefiting from that tourism,鈥 Sweeting said.
鈥淭he tourism industry, when done right, has the phenomenal ability to raise people up... It has made tremendous strides in getting more responsible, but there is a long way for us to go as an industry.鈥
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