Podcast
Podcast
Episode 14: The Allure of Sustainability in Luxury Travel with Nayara Resorts
From carbon neutral resorts in the rainforests of Costa Rica to solar-powered overwater villas on a private island in Panama, Nayara Resorts paves the way for ecotourism.
Joining me at the Bellagio during Virtuoso Travel Week, Leo Ghitis, CEO and Co-Founder of Nayara Resorts offered an inspiring outlook on human-focused hospitality and, frankly, made me want to hop on the next flight out to explore the Latin American wilderness. Our conversation provided a fascinating insight into the sustainability efforts the company champions, as well as a look into the once-in-a-lifetime experiences offered at each destination.
Leo was born and raised in Cali, Colombia until moving to the United States at age 17 as a result of the Cali Cartel’s rise to power and the subsequent danger that followed. Ultimately, he landed in Costa Rica with his family after falling in love with the country. His background is in real estate and development; however, a “midlife crisis” unveiled a desire to champion sustainability efforts and he got involved with a 24-room, limited service hotel in the middle of Costa Rica. The beginnings of what would eventually become Nayara Resorts was born—a true family business, with his two children and wife involved.
His stated purpose of Nayara is to create opportunities. All hotels are located in rural areas, places where it’s difficult to find good, well-paying jobs, and part of the business’ social mission is to create jobs in those areas to lift the standard of living. Most of the employees come to the hotels with no previous hospitality experience, and Nayara creates opportunities to learn, advance and grow fully-fledged careers. In Leo’s words, they develop (not train) people, so that they can grow personally and professionally. Once they are a part of Nayara, they become a part of the family.
“We don’t train people. We develop people so that they can grow personally and professionally.”
Latin American culture is well known for being hospitable and that comes through in the warmth of the staff at every Nayara property. Sustainability is another passion for the company. Their three hotels in Costa Rica (Nayara Gardens, Nayara Tented Camp and Nayara Springs) are carbon neutral. Nayara Bocas del Toro in Panama is 100% sustainable, with all power generated by solar panels, plus purified rainwater used throughout the property. Nayara Alto Atacama, an oasis located in the middle of the Atacama Desert, had to solve for a lack of government-provided infrastructure and will have a completed solar panel system this year. And the Easter Island property, Nayara Hangaroa, has been able to provide enough energy via solar panels to power the homes of 48 local families in addition to the resort.
The story behind Nayara Tented Camp, specifically, is one of rebirth and harmony with the natural environment. 10 years ago, Leo purchased a mountain in the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest. It had been totally decimated and destroyed by cattle ranchers. Nothing grew, not even grass, and what many people do not realize is that when trees are cut down, the root system that keeps top soil down is killed. So when it rained, it became a mudslide. Nayara made the decision to bring back the forest on that mountain, which entailed hauling thousands of rocks and large boulders to create terraces, then planting more than 40,000 trees and plants. Today, it’s filled with wildlife—monkeys, sloths, birds, frogs—and is a real ecosystem, and also home to what is consistently voted the number one resort in the world.
The typical Nayara guest wants to be in nature and have a vacation that is filled with adventure. They want to hike, explore and learn about different cultures, all while prioritizing sustainability and social responsibility. Down the pipeline, Nayara just announced a new property in the works in Manuel Antonio National Park, as well as future developments in Mexico, Chile and Puerto Rico. Nayara Springs is expanding to include additional hot springs that will ultimately create an open spa-through-the-forest experience, as well as new spa springs villas, which include oversized plunge pools, private treatment rooms and gardens.
Experience-focused travel is arguably the biggest industry trend, and Nayara Resorts embodies this in and within their unique locations. The hotels in Costa Rica reside in the rainforest, surrounded by extraordinary wildlife including hundreds of species of birds. The Panama resort comprises overwater villas complemented by a fleet of boats that can pick guests up directly from their private dock and take them to explore a collection of islands nearby that have never been inhabited by human beings. The Chilean hotel located in the Atacama Desert (considered the driest desert in the world, even over the Sahara Desert) has almost no light pollution, so in-house astronomers can guide guests to observe the Milky Way. And on Easter Island, the hotel is located just a short walk to the Moai monumental stone statues, carved from volcanic tuff between the 13th and 16th centuries by the island’s original inhabitants.
From a technological innovation perspective, Leo offered perhaps the most unique answer of all our previous podcast guests. In short, technology is not a primary focus for the company, following the premise that they do not make any changes that will discourage human interaction. And while many hoteliers are implementing AI to streamline and optimize the bottom line, Nayara remains focused on guest experience over cost (although they do utilize AI to project occupancy to enhance maintenance on property).
We finished our conversation with LTI’s signature rapid fire questions. For personal travel, Leo is excited to go to Japan with his wife in October, with a focus on learning about their 2000-year-old spa culture (with the hopes of drawing inspiration for the Nayara Springs spa renovation mentioned earlier). When reminiscing about the glamour of travel in the past, Leo remarks on the incredible sense of anticipation that existed, which is difficult to achieve in the modern world with the availability of numerous digital platforms that can highlight the destination in great detail pre-arrival. For future innovation, Leo hopes that the concern about air travel and carbon emissions will grow, and that technology will allow planes to be more fuel efficient and eventually carbon neutral so that we can travel anywhere in the world and not worry about the environmental impact.
Thank you, Leo, for joining me on this episode of Luxury Travel Innovators, available to listen to and watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.
