Costas Christ has always been a travel junkie. He studied overseas in Guatemala, England, Kenya, and India while getting an international environmental studies degree from Friends World College (now called LIU global), and went on to become the regional director for Africa and Asia at the School of International Training, developing and organizing study abroad educational travel programs in those areas. In 1997, the White House appointed him the country director for the Peace Corps to help establish ecotourism in Uganda’s national parks after years of civil war. “I was already deeply involved with the ideas and concepts that would become sustainable tourism, and after the Peace Corps, I continued on this path,” Christ explains.
Beyond his role as editor at large and senior advisor for sustainable tourism at National Geographic Traveler, Christ founded sustainability tourism consulting firm Beyond Green Travel, which “advances the transformation of the travel industry as a force for good,” and serves as global sustainability strategist at Virtuoso Travel Network, while still finding time to write for its Virtuoso Life magazine and, of course, travel—he names Botswana, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and the Greek islands as some of his favorite destinations (he’s made it to 130 countries).
Here, he talks about taking on the Tanzanian government, collaborating with the Maasai people in Kenya, and what’s still on his bucket list.
What started the pairing of sustainability and travel that has defined your career?
I was a wildlife researcher on a Harvard University project in Kenya long before terms like eco-travel or sustainable tourism existed. I was in a remote area living out of a tent and witnessed a growing conflict between local people struggling to survive, park rangers with few resources tasked with protecting some of the most endangered species on earth, and rapidly growing safari tourism that was making business investors rich, with very little of that income going to protect the wildlife in Africa that tourists were coming to see. I thought to myself that if properly planned and managed, tourism could become an economic engine to help alleviate poverty and protect nature. It was this idea that led to my involvement in the birth of sustainable tourism, based on three key pillars—environmentally friendly practices, support for the protection of cultural and natural heritage, and social and economic benefits to local people—as a way to harness one of the largest industries in the world, travel and tourism, to become a positive force for people and the planet.
What do you find rewarding about working for National Geographic Traveler?
I have learned that great storytelling can also help make a positive difference. I have had the opportunity to be involved with many inspiring projects. For example, I worked closely with National Geographic explorer-in-residence Dr. Sylvia Earle in Belize on a project that successfully established a vitally important marine protected area in a country that is home to the world’s second largest barrier reef. In Armenia, I spearheaded a National Geographic sustainable tourism initiative to help protect cultural heritage sites. Perhaps I am most proud of a hard-hitting column I wrote in National Geographic Traveler calling to stop a planned highway from being built across the Serengeti. After my story appeared, letters from readers age 13 to 86 poured in asking how to help. Two weeks later, the Tanzania government tabled plans for the highway.
Are there any upcoming projects you are particularly excited about?
The project in Kenya that I am working on with [actor and conservationist] Edward Norton and Luca Belpietro [founder of Campi ya Kanzi in Kenya] quickly comes to mind. Luca, Edward, and I have joined efforts to advance a groundbreaking partnership with Six Senses and Campi’s Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT), with the aim being to secure hundreds of thousands of acres of critically important wilderness habitat under protected status in a partnership with the Maasai people. It is the ability to provide travelers with an incredible wildlife safari, deliver lasting conservation of rare and endangered wildlife, and provide meaningful benefits to the Maasai—a win-win-win. I am also working with Ted Turner Expeditions to secure Ted’s conservation vision for restoring more than 2 million acres of North American wilderness. And Virtuoso held its first Sustainability Summit last August, which was attended by a who’s who of sustainable tourism leaders in hospitality and travel. I am excited about advancing the outcomes from that summit, as Virtuoso elevates sustainable tourism as a core value of the organization.
What can hoteliers and other hospitality professionals be doing differently to make sustainability more of a requirement?
Understand that business success is dependent on protecting the places travelers love to visit. Have you ever heard someone return from a private island vacation and say how wonderful it was to be on a beach filled with plastic trash and snorkel amid dead coral reefs? Or imagine what would happen to the growing safari tourism industry if lions, elephants, and rhinos all went extinct. Sound farfetched? Hardly, all three of these iconic species are now fighting for survival. And who wants to go on holiday to see the amazing Summer Palace in Beijing if it means having to wear a facemask because the air is so polluted? All of the travel industry, including hospitality, has a major stake in supporting sustainable tourism, both for protecting our planet and their own business future.
Who is doing sustainability right in hospitality?
The new Six Senses Zil Pasyon Resort in the Seychelles has embarked on an important conservation project to create a safe haven for some of the rarest species of plants and animals found only in the Seychelles. Jetwing Resorts and Hotels in Sri Lanka, a local family-owned company, are world leaders in sustainability. For example, Jetwing Yala resort is powered entirely on solar energy and has the largest solar project in the country. [Virtuoso’s] the Brando in French Polynesia pioneered the innovative seawater air-conditioning system (SWAC), pumping deep seawater to cool the lodge’s 35 villas, powered entirely by renewable energy, and Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat in South Africa is protecting more than 130 ancient rock art sites dating back as far as 10,000 years. All are inspiring examples of sustainable tourism in action.
You have visited more than 130 countries across six continents. What’s still on your bucket list?
I have never been to Patagonia or Antarctica. And I want to walk the Kumano Kodo—the ancient spiritual pilgrimage trek in Japan. There is so much beauty in this world, which is why we need to take care of our fragile planet.
