At the eighth annual Points of View Summit, everyone seems to be simply comfortable to be there. Which is to not say that that is not often the case for this assemblage of journey specialists and editors. But flight delays from the authorities shutdown left many of these often unfettered frequent fliers unsure as as to if or not they’d make it to New York. The undeniable fact that turnout is excessive means morale is the similar, and the day is off to a stable begin.
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After welcome remarks from senior options editor Rebecca Misner and Global Editorial Director Divia Thani, we had been off to the races with a day of panels regarding all the things from foodways in the South Carolina lowcountry to the altering face of tech in journey (hiya, AI!) and the worth of discovering these “in-between” areas. Read on for a recap of the days’ occasions.
Authenticity in journey
The morning’s first panel, on the topic of authenticity in journey, was hosted by Articles Director Lale Arikoglu. Panelists included Julie Earle-Levine, media strategist and founder of Julie Earle-Levine Consulting who’s deeply embedded in Australia’s tourism business; Thierry Teyssier of Dar Ahlam and regenerative journey firm 700,000 heures Impact; and David Rockwell, founder of Rockwell Group who has designed extensively for hospitality.
“The modern traveler is eager,” stated Arikoglu, “more so than ever before, to dig into a destination. They’re looking for real, authentic travel experiences. But what does that mean exactly?” The consensus amongst the panelists was clear: travel cannot be considered “authentic” without intentional connection to the people that live in a given destination. If you will, the relationship between traveler and local must be symbiotic. As an example, Earle-Levine spoke about the transformation of Australia’s tourism industry with regard to the country’s Indigenous peoples. “Not long ago, you might have seen ‘indigenous tourism’ represented as a didgeridoo player, perhaps even a white player,” she said, “and now you’re seeing Discover Aboriginal Experiences, a collective of more than 50 Indigenous-owned operations, kind of running the show. [Travelers can] walk with the Palawa people in Tasmania, or learn about rock art in Uluru.”
For Teyssier, connection is a matter of scale. “When we were younger and backpacking,” he says, “we were naturally connected to communities. But we were young and we had time.” Now, overtourism and the shortening lengths of trips—”we used to travel for months!”—make organic connections difficult to stumble into. Rockwell felt similarly, and plans his own travels such that he can spend 10 to 15 days in a single place, getting to know the “in-between places” where life actually happens. Using Guadalajara, where he spent the formative years of his childhood, as an example, these spaces may be the market where locals shop or the interior courtyard of a home as residents and guests come and go.
Foodways and culinary connections in the lowcountry with Hilton Head Island
Next up was Hannah Towey, affiliate editor of transportation & journey information for Condé Nast Traveler, who was joined by Andrew Carmines. Carmines is a fixture on Hilton Head Island for his work at Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks. It’s a formidable operation: 90% of the seafood served at Hudson’s is harvested immediately from the surrounding waters (the restaurant sits, as its identify suggests, dockside on Skull Creek). Their Shell Ring Oyster Co. grows, in line with Carmines, “half a million oysters every year” in addition to “about half a million clams.” In current years, Carmines has noticed elevated client curiosity in the place their meals comes from, and subsequent delight that a lot of the recent seafood on the menu has solely simply been pulled from the water.