DR. MEGAN MORIKAWA
GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE DIRECTOR, IBEROSTAR GROUP
will be participating in the
panel, The Price of Sustainability
– balancing the cost of experience
vs. the cost of the environment,
from activist investors to just
doing the right thing. She will be
talking about Iberostar’s Wave of
Change movement where they are
aligning themselves with the United
Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, focusing on people and the
environment, in particular, the oceans.
Their action plan includes addressing
single-use plastics, promoting
responsible seafood consumption and
improving coastal health.
Megan has also been instrumental
in Iberostar’s newly opened land-based
coral lab in the Dominican Republic to
help protect ocean life from rising global
temperatures in the future. Their project
had to be accelerated as Stony Coral
Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has been
threatening coral from Central Florida
to the US. Virgin Islands, St. Maarten
and recently the Dominican Republic.
Iberostar, along with the Dominican
government, NGO’s and other people
from the scientific community have
been working to build a refuge for the
threatened Caribbean coral and the lab
serves as a genetic bank protected from
hurricanes and disease.
JACLYN RILEY
will be our emcee for the event and is also holding a session on How
to Build an Emotionally Intelligent Guest Journey. She tells us that
experiential marketing is a hot topic these days and hoteliers are becoming
increasingly aware of the need for an emotionally intelligent guest journey
as guests seek an authentic emotional connection - based around service and a
unique sense of place. Jacque explores success stories and innovations to advance
your customer experience strategies, including emerging boutique experiences,
meaningful interactions with staff and how to measure emotional response.
12 ILHA