Carbon neutrality, zero waste, and serving seafood exclusively from responsible suppliers: Many boutique ecotourism destinations—especially those that cater to a small number of luxury travelers—can reach or come close to sustainability goals like these, but what about a decades-old resort that manages 97 properties in 14 countries?
As global director of sustainability at Iberostar Group, Megan Morikawa sets out to prove that large travel agents can be better stewards of the planet. The Stanford-educated marine biologist is applying science to achieve these goals and more, including helping the private hospitality company build coral research labs and use artificial intelligence-powered trash cans to reduce kitchen waste.
In a nearly two-hour video chat, Dr. Morikawa talked about her career path from academia to hospitality, the importance of collaboration across the travel industry, and her new role for the Travel Foundationa non-profit organization that provides destinations with sustainable tourism research, strategy and education.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What led you to research coral reef disasters for your PhD?
Basically, my technical background is about how we can use genetics and genomics technology to better conserve species on the planet.
My Ph.D. consultant, Stephen Palumbi, focused on genetics, genomics and coral reefs. His whole proposition was: We could find the world’s toughest corals, learn what makes them tough, and use that to help predict the winners and losers of climate change so managers can better understand how to restore the reefs?
How did you get into traveling?
It was at the end of my Ph.D. when at Stanford I met Gloria Fluxá Thienemann, vice president and chief sustainability officer of Iberostar. My advisor and I scratched our heads asking, “What does a Spanish hotel owner have in terms of interest in our research?”
Our initial conversation showed that he was genuinely interested in science. Gloria’s passion for ocean science has facilitated so much of what we do now.
I moved from academia to Iberostar because really passionate people want to use the private sector to scale solutions for critical ecosystems like coral reefs.
Iberostar now has three coral laboratories and seven underwater nurseries in three countries. How did this start?
The first year I joined, we built our first coral lab on a property in the Dominican Republic. It would take us four or five years to do this from an academic standpoint.
The coral lab is three things in one. It is a communication hub where visitors and others can go and see—for many of them—coral for the first time. But it’s also a gene bank: corals in the Caribbean face many challenges, including widespread disease and bleaching. Having a gene bank is a major asset saver for genetic diversity. Our third goal is to recreate coral bleaching: The lab has a sophisticated system that recreates heat waves with small tanks, so we can stress individual corals and predict winners and losers, as I did for my Ph.D.
Iberostar has divested hotels of fossil fuels, partnered to create a waste management system in Brazil and more. How does it make these changes?
The question is always around how you scale sustainability. Scaling is an interesting combination of being able to speak strategically at a high level about business goals and then being able to translate that into the actual actions that a hotel manager needs to take.
Because it’s not just our executive leadership. From our operations to our procurement team to our head of human resources, we all recognize the risk climate change poses to our business. So the passion and excitement to do something about it is there and it wasn’t what was supposed to be triggered.
Tell me about those garbage cans.
We do a lot of work on our food waste — we serve around 45 million meals a year.
With our collaboration with I’m fanning, an AI waste management company, we have placed devices in our kitchens that have a camera and an AI-assisted scale that allows the chefs to spend the first month or so training the model on what the camera sees. Over time, the system automatically records what is wasted.
With this data, we can get feedback on these economic losses as well as carbon footprint losses. And finally what is it that we fly? And how can this help inform how we produce food the next day?
What are the top challenges to Iberostar’s sustainability goals?
Travel consists of a bunch of different businesses in different sectors. And how it all comes together can be really hard to understand – especially in the role we all play in protecting natural resources. Because we’re a beach resort company, when we see the erosion and other impacts in these areas, it’s really clear and obvious. But one of the tour operators may not think about it so much in their daily life.
As a scientist, I recognize that many discoveries about how to do things that have never been done before require quick absorption of new materials and the ability to speak multiple languages. And by that, I don’t mean lingo languages. I mean talking from a research point of view from a government point of view to a business point of view. A large part of the barrier to collaboration was the inability to communicate effectively with each other.
Are any of these changes something a visitor would see?
We’ve said somewhat boldly that we’re proving that a luxury hospitality experience doesn’t require single-use plastics. What I like to say is that when you see a room that doesn’t contain single-use plastics, it’s kind of hard to see. Many times it may be thought – at first – that you need to remove objects. But I think our business team thought critically about ways to elegantly deliver an experience that was a better product. This is perhaps the most tangible way we can look at it.
What is the purpose of the Travel Foundation?
The Travel Foundation is a UK-based NGO providing research, strategy and support to tourism’s aim to deliver the greatest benefits for every destination around the world so that local communities and environments can thrive . The role I have taken on is chairman of the board.
A recent research paper they published looked at how to model pathways to net zero emissions, looking at aviation, transport and hotels. The Travel Foundation also supports destinations in producing management plans. For Lake Tahoe, California, they’ve done a great job of helping the region think through its new boom in tourism and how residents can have a voice.
What steps could travelers take to change human impact on the environment?
One of the best things tourists can do is to inspire caution in their decisions. I know it sounds really silly, but the more meaning we derive from the choices we make in our consumption, the more likely we are to be able to maximize the value that comes from it and make them memorable experiences.
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