The Heart of Modern Luxury Travel: Sahara Sunday Spain's Passion for Social Development as the CEO of Sequestered Ecotourism
By Anne Schulze •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur Georgia, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Photo courtesy of JSP Photography
As someone with decades of travel to rural developing nations, Sahara Sunday Spain is perfectly poised as the CEO of Sequestered Ecotourism. This multinational hospitality company specializes in combining the luxury market with rebuilding communities and environments worldwide.
Having grown up with the fine art photographer Elisabeth Sunday as her mother, Ms. Spain spent most of her formative years in tribal communities and rural nomadic herdsman across Africa, Asia, and Australia. Now, going back to those communities in the capacity of the CEO of an integrative economic and environmentally replenishing hospitality venture, Ms. Spain finds that this is an exciting way to pay homage to her childhood.
A Mission to Make a Difference
"There aren't many jobs that let you help people on such a grand scale," Ms. Spain said on the subject. "There is a real need for companies like Sequestered Ecotourism to work with people on all levels, from the local to the international, to better the planet."
And Sequestered Ecotourism is doing just that. Each of its travel locations will include luxury five-star hotels and a robust rewilding campaign to reconstitute hard-hit environments worldwide. The hospitality company has also developed far-reaching social initiatives designed to work with its hotels to boost the local well-being and economies of its surrounding communities.
A Lifelong Commitment to Social Development
This is something close to Ms. Spain's heart. At nine years old, she founded a school for girls in rural Mali after learning that only the boys were being educated in the Dogon village. Not only did she have to start and raise money for the school, but she also had to navigate the highly complex local politics and traditions that, at the time, looked the other way towards forced child marriage and female genital mutilation.
Championing the young Dogon girls of Mali and continuing to grow the school was a constant in Ms. Spain's life until the civil war struck the country in 2014, and the school was forced to close. Since then, Ms. Spain has been eager to bring back social initiatives to rural developing areas and has found a way to weave this love of philanthropic education into her innovative new hospitality plan.
Redefining Luxury and Sustainability
Sequestered Ecotourism is dedicated to a holistic model of hospitality. One that includes ecological responsibility along with circular economics as tenants of its hotel business. Luxury five-star resort hotels are also an important part of the company's brand but have been reimagined in their execution to reflect both luxury and sustainability in a more energy-conscious world.
"Luxury and sustainability are absolutely compatible," Ms. Spain emphasized. "And people want to know that their beautiful vacations are doing something truly regenerative, not just for the environment, but for the local communities as well. I think that is why we're striking a chord with people. People want experiences with their families and for fun as well, but they also want to choose a hotel with their hearts."
