At the end of September, I was invited to the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

I was asked to present during a session called “Understanding Key Consumer Trends Driving Sustainable Business Practices,” which fits very well into our wheelhouse here at Mercury. We work hard to understand the Geotraveler better than anyone else in the business, and so I had a lot to say.

My thesis? Don't lead with green, lead with the experience. Travel-focused consumers care about sustainability, but they care about the intrinsic qualities of a place or product more. Not only that, but they're too smart and too good at filtering to be swayed when the message strays away from authenticity and towards self-promotion.

By all means, be sustainable. "Integrating sustainability into the business itself" is one of the core principles that we believe is necessary for our clients' long-term success. It should be part of the story, just not the whole story.

My slides from the presentation: