I'd like to introduce you to Sharilyn Amy. She is the developer, co-owner, and operator of the award-winning eco-hotel, Océano Patagonia, located on the beach in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site and biosphere reserve in Patagonia, Argentina. I recently interviewed her to learn more about travel as a world citizen.
Sharilyn started her communications career in oil and gas before transitioning to the Red Cross where she managed disaster response communications, publicity, and government relations strategies around the globe. She then founded a research and facilitation consultancy specializing in community economic development and social enterprise.
In 2012, Sharilyn took a leave of absence from her work to spend some time in Argentina, where she quickly fell in love with the culture and the challenges of doing business and making a difference within its complex society. In addition to developing her sustainable tourism initiative, Sharilyn has recently established another startup, ElementPatagonia, to help rural and traditional Argentine artisans reach broader markets and create more sustainable livelihoods. Sharilyn holds an MBA and is a recipient of the Women of Inspiration – Humanitarian Award in Canada.
Responsible or sustainable travel are terms that get used a lot these days, but we may not all have the same understanding of their meaning. What does it mean to you?
We see terms such as sustainable, green, and eco used a lot in the world of marketing. It’s important to understand what they mean in order to help us decipher whether or not a service provider aligns with our values and has the positive impact we seek as travelers.
Sustainability considers not just our environmental footprint and natural resources but our impact in our communities both socially and economically. Sustainable tourism strives to ensure that our activities do not negatively affect future generations.
But there is a budding, more comprehensive focus in our sector: regenerative tourism. This takes our desire to not negatively impact an area to the next level. It is the idea that tourism should leave a place better than it was before. Under this mandate, tourism operators provide a way for visitors to have a positive impact on their holiday destination. This is the essence of what it means to travel as a world citizen.
From my perspective, in addition to making sure that the tourism industry operates in an ecological manner, it’s important that we also measure our positive impact on our destinations, whether it be to help re-wild an area, create sustainable livelihoods within the communities in which we work, or take responsibility to educate our clients and our communities regarding our collective role to protect the earth, and contribute to social justice globally.
I read that your humanitarian work changed your views on our personal social responsibility. How did those experiences influence the way you travel now?
I worked with the most vulnerable people in our society, in their worst possible moments. That experience elevated my sensitivity to the reduced resilience that is created by disparity in our communities. My work became focused on increasing individual capacity and resilience, and one excellent tool for this is to create and support sustainable livelihoods. When basic needs such as food and shelter are met with certainty, families begin to save and better support learning opportunities for themselves and their children. Now, whether travelling or at home, I support community-based initiatives, offerings from the local community and cooperatives. I get to know the projects, the people behind them, and the families involved, asking detailed questions such as what’s hard about what they are trying to accomplish and who is involved. I make sure to learn from their experience, share support for what they are working towards, and share from my learnings, too. This focus makes for a richer travel and life experience filled with personal connection.
I love the concept of travel as a world citizen. What is one thing that all travelers can do to support local communities in the areas they visit?
The most important decision you make is where you spend your money. Avoid participating in extractive tourism. Know who owns the place you are staying, the tours and services you are buying, and do your best to support ecologically-aware, locally-owned, and owner-operated or community-based cooperative initiatives. Our financial support is critical to the families that rely on the tourism industry, so the more we can ensure the circulation of our dollars within their communities for the benefit of their communities, the better.
What was special about Argentina that drew you to establish deeper roots there?
I have traveled the world, and this is one of the most beautiful and diverse countries that I have had the privilege to explore. In Argentina, independent and solo travel is easy. Each province is a world in its own right, with different nuances to culture and language, amazing natural environments, and curious, friendly people. After 10 years of living and traveling consistently, and most often on my own, throughout this country, each trip surprises me with even more beauty than the one before and reminds me that you do not need to travel far to be deeply impacted by your journey.
Tell us a bit about Océano Patagonia and the community economic development tourism project you established in Argentina.
Océano Patagonia is an eco-hotel, located on the beach in the heart of the Peninsula Valdés biosphere reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Constructed sustainably, my Argentine associate and I have won awards for our investment and operating philosophy. From how we built the hotel using solar, geothermal, and other ecological methods, to how we operate creating career paths for our staff, focusing on local suppliers and reducing the impact of our supply chain, our guests know they are leaving less of a footprint while experiencing the awe-inspiring wildlife of the area, including the whales, orcas, and penguins that come to the reserve to breed, birth, and raise their young.
During the pandemic tourism shutdown, I launched a new initiative called Element Patagonia with another Argentine associate. It’s a sustainable livelihoods project to help our amazing rural artisans reach the marketplace. Some of these artists live so remotely that they have to travel 15 hours or more with their goods on their backs to sell their products. We’re working directly with these individuals, cooperatives, and other artists to help them bring quality handmade goods to the market in a way that provides more stable income and helps build skills and capacity.
