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Agenda and Speakers

Innovators in Coastal Tourism Symposium
Stanford University, January 20-22, 2010

Bechtel Conference Center at Encina Hall
Stanford University
616 Serra Street
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

The schedule for this 3-day symposium is, at the moment, as follows. It is anticipated there will be some final modifications, but the main structure will remain the same.

Wednesday, January 20:

3 – 6 pm: Registration
5 – 6 pm: Opening Reception
6- 9 pm: Opening Dinner & Plenary Session: “Innovation and Tension in Coastal Tourism: A Case Study in Costa Rica”

Welcoming remarks:

Dr. William H. Durham, CREST Co-Director and Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
Dr. Martha Honey, CREST Co-Director, Washington, DC, Introductory remarks on film and CREST’s coastal tourism research project

Premier showing of new CREST documentary on coastal tourism in Costa Rica: “Cracking the Golden Egg: (un)Sustainable Tourism on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast.” The film draws upon findings of a 2 year CREST research project of tourism on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast

Panel Discussion (with audience participation):

Manuel Ardon, Operations Senior Director, Peninsula Papagayo/Four Seasons Resort
Eduardo Villafranca, CEO, Grupo Punta Islita, Costa Rica
Peter Jordan and Charlene Music, filmmakers
Dr. William H. Durham, Moderator
Dr. Martha Honey

Thursday, January 21:

9:00 – 10:30: Plenary: Innovative Business in a Time of Crisis

Dr. William Barnett, Director, Center for Global Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business, “Pragmatism or Greenwashing? Ideological Competition in Coastal Tourism”
David Butterfield, President of the Trust for Sustainable Development, Vancouver, Canada and Scottsdale, Arizona; former Chairman, Loreto Bay Company, and Chairman of Hummingbird Energy LLC “Practical Lessons from the Loreto Bay Company and Other Experiments with Sustainability”

10:30 – 10:45: Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:15: Plenary: Innovative Green Finance

Dr. William Barnett, Director, Center for Global Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business (Moderator)
Jorge de Vicente, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), “Sustainability Scorecard: A Tool for Tourism Lending”
Dan Berrien, Canopy Development and CREST consultant, SIFT (Sustainable Investment and Finance in Tourism) Network
Lisa Galley, Galley Eco Capital
Jesse Thompson, Business Development Director, Strategic Initiatives, Johnson Controls

12:30 – 2:30: Luncheon Plenary: A Conversation with Chris Blackwell, Founder and Owner, Island Records and Outpost Resorts, Jamaica

Led by Brook Wilkinson, freelance travel writer and former associate consumer news editor at Conde Nast Traveler magazine

2:45 – 4:15: 2 concurrent workshops

Workshop 1: Architecture: Sustainable Sighting, Design and Construction

Richard Franko, architect and Principal, Mithun, Seattle, (Moderator)
Antonio Pares, Mithun, San Francisco
David Sklar, Chief Architect and CEO, Star Island Resort, The Bahamas
Kevin Parkhurst, Cheif Associate/Design Coordinator, Eric Lloyd Wright & Associates

Workshop 2: Responsible Coastal and Marine Recreation

Bill Eichbaum, Vice President, Oceans Program, WWF, Moderator
Dean LaTourrette, Executive Director, Save the Waves, “Surfing and Sustainable Coastal Development”
Jess Ponting, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, San Diego State University, “San Diego’s Green Marina and Other Good Coastal Recreational Practices”
Terry Gibson, Sportfishing writer and researcher, "Fish on!: Examples of sportfishing tourism businesses that improve local environmental and economic conditions"

4:15 – 4:30: Coffee Break

4:30 – 6:00: 2 concurrent workshops

Workshop 3: Community Engagement

Mark Spalding, President, Ocean Foundation, Moderator
David Leventhal, Principal, Playa Viva, Mexico
Eduardo Villafranca, Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) and former CEO, Grupo Punta Islita, Costa Rica
Manuel Ardon, Operations Senior Director, Peninsula Papagayo/Four Seasons, Costa Rica
Deborah Szekely, Co-founder, Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico and founder of Golden Door, Escondido, CA.

Workshop 4: Good Practices through Certification

Martha Honey, Co-founder, and Director of CREST Washington, DC office, Moderator
Ronald Sanabria, Vice President of Sustainable Tourism, Rainforest Alliance, "Launching the New Tourism Sustainability Council"
Linda Chipperfield, Vice President of Marketing & Outreach, Green Seal
Guido Bauer, CEO, Green Globe

6:00 – 7:00 Cocktail reception

7:00 -- 9:00: Dinner Plenary: Impacts of Coastal and Marine Tourism on Ocean Ecosystems

Presenter and Moderator: Margaret (“Meg”) Caldwell, Executive Director, Center for Ocean Solutions and Sr. Lecturer in Law, Stanford University and former Chair, California Coastal Commission, remarks on “Challenges for Coastal Tourism in California”
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ocean Explorer, Founder, CEO, Deep Search Foundation

Friday, January 22:

9:00 – 10:30: Plenary Session: Climate Change and Coastal Tourism Development

Dr. William H. Durham, CREST Co-Director and Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
Dr. Walter Vergara, Climate Change expert and Lead Engineer, Latin America Environment Department, World Bank, “Innovative Coastal and Marine Responses to Climate Change”
Dr. Murray Simpson, Co-Director Caribsave Partnership and Sr. Research Associate, University of Oxford, “Caribsave Network on Climate Change”
Lisa Curran, Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment, Roger and Cynthia Lang Professor in Environmental Anthropology

10:30 – 10:45: Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:15: 2 concurrent workshops

Workshop 5: Consumer Demand for Alternative Models of Coastal Tourism

Dr. Martha Honey, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), Washington, DC
Richard Kiy, President, International Community Foundation, “U.S. Retirement Trends in Mexican Coastal Communities”
Dr. Pat Tierney, Chair, Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, San Francisco State University, "Consumer Trends for Green Practices and Alternative Coastal Development"
Jonathan Tourtellot, Center for Sustainable Destinations, National Geographic Society and Geotourism Editor, National Geographic Traveler, "Geotourism Consumer Surveys and Destination Surveys"

Workshop 6: Innovative Models

Brook Wilkinson, Freelance travel writer, Moderator
Roger Lang, CEO, Sun Ranch Group, Montana and Chair, CREST Board of Directors
David Sklar, Cheif Architect and CEO, Star Island Resort, The Bahamas
Alphy Johnson, Cheif Operating Officer, Candela Hotels, Seattle

12:30 – 2:30: Lunch & Plenary Session: Creating Sustainable Destinations

Presenter and Moderator: Jonathan Tourtellot, Center for Sustainable Destinations, National Geographic Society and Geotourism Editor, National Geographic Traveler, "Why Destination Management is Important"
Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College, "Creating a Greener Destination in a Hotter Time"

2:45 – 4:15: Plenary: Lessons Ecotourism Holds for Large Coastal Resorts
A conversation between big and small coastal properties

Moderator: Richard Franko, Principal, Mithun, Seattle, Washington
Big coastal/island resorts:
- Garrick Isert, Director, Strategy - The Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group

Eileen Donnelly, Group Sustainability Manager, Virgin Group

Small coastal resorts:
- Dana Krauskopf, owner, Hamanasi Adventure & Dive Resort, Belize
- Ronald Sanabria, Vice President of Sustainable Tourism, Rainforest Alliace, Costa Rica

4:15 – 4:30: Coffee break

4:30 – 5:30: Closing Plenary: Challenges of Coastal Tourism in Mexico
Panel discussion on challenges and innovations in Mexico.

Martin Goebel, Executive Director, Sustainable Northwest, Portland, Oregan (Moderator)
Vicente Ferreyra, Sustainable Tourism Coordinator, WWF, Mexico
Deborah Szekely, Co-founder of Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico and Founder of Golden Door, Escondido, CA
Sandra Guido, Executive Director, CONSELVA, A.C., Mexico
Bry Sarte, Principal, Sherwood Design Engineers
Alejandro Robles, Executive Director, NOS Noroeste Sustentable A.C.

5:30 – 6:30: Closing cocktails with Mexican theme

Revised: 1/15/10