Holidays at sea have become more and more popular as a way to see multiple destinations, in an often five-star luxurious environment. But one cruise brand – Fathom, the latest line from Carnival Corporation – is bringing the social impact concept to the cruise holiday. Tara Russell, President of Fathom and Global Impact Lead of Carnival Corporation, discusses the social impact ideals of Fathom, and the new kinds of cruise holidays Fathom will be offering.

The New Economy: Holidays at sea have become more and more popular as a way to see multiple destinations, in an often five star luxurious environment. But how environmentally conscious are these floating hotels? With me is Tara Russell, President of Fathom and Global Impact Lead of Carnival Corporation – the largest cruise line in the world.

Well Tara, let’s start with social impact excursions. Why are these a good idea for holiday travel?

Tara Russell: Well, is there ever a bad reason for holiday travel?

We think that travel is a great way to experience the world and really develop meaningful memories. And social impact travel… Fathom is really about combining your love of travel with your desire to make a difference.

So we make it really easy and convenient for people to go with a group of friends, travel with their family, their loved ones; and come and really see a place, immerse deeply in that culture. But then also, have meaningful ways to give back. And we’ve worked hard to really architect those experiences in a way that is hugely impactful to the local communities, but also a really fun and enjoyable experience to share.

The New Economy: Social impact is of course at the heart of business today. But how does the cruise industry fit into this?

Tara Russell: The cruise industry has made a tremendous impact all around the world. And there’s a tremendous amount of economic development that happens when our travellers and our passengers experience a place.

And so, this is just one more way that we can make a marked difference, and really harness and leverage the assets that we have corporately, for an entirely new purpose. And so, we believe there are a lot of ways that you can give back.

Oftentimes the ships when they’re in port, they may do some kind of medical services for local community members. There’s a lot of gifts in kind and goods that are donated on a regular basis. And you know, we’re creating jobs and creating employment solutions in all these locations that we go.

The New Economy: Well let’s stay focusing on Fathom now. How does it collaborate with partner countries to aid development issues?

Tara Russell: We spent an enormous amount of time in the Dominican Republic. And rather than come in with some solution, we really came in with a desire to learn and understand the needs of the people.

So we spent quite a bit of time in design thinking work and research on the ground, and really understanding from a very diverse group of stakeholders, what were the needs and opportunities that they really felt were worth tackling in their home countries.

And so we found there were three key themes: education, the environment, and economic development. So we’re doing a lot to support conversational English, which really becomes a pathway to employment.

We’re doing a tremendous amount with economic development efforts: supporting women’s cooperatives producing chocolate, and really helping stimulate the job opportunities there.

We’re also doing quite a bit of reforestation and producing clean water, just to help bring clean water to areas that don’t have clean water.

The New Economy: And how do your travellers participate in this?

Tara Russell: We have worked alongside our Dominican partners. We have partnered with a couple of on-ground organisations there that have been working in the country for about 30 years. And so we’ve worked closely with them to develop all these social impact models.

Rather than our travellers doing these activities on their own, they’re actually working alongside local Dominicans. So they’ll get an opportunity to connect, build meaningful relationships; really learn about the Dominican Republic, learn some Spanish, produce chocolate, and have lots of fun.

So we expect that our travellers will spend time at the beach, time in the mountains, time enjoying the local marketplace. But they’ll also have an opportunity to really go deep with these community members, working alongside and serving some of the opportunities there as well.

The New Economy: Sustainability and environmental performance is really at the heart of Fathom; talk me through this.

Tara Russell: There’s an enormous amount that we’re doing corporately around environmental sustainability, and really working to reduce fuel consumption. We’re really pioneering some technology to really scrub some of the exhaust gases.

We’re also always looking for ways onboard the ship to create greater efficiencies. So conserving energy through LED lighting or lower water usage. I’m constantly amazed by just how efficient the operation of a ship and the maritime space is.

When we’re in port there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity within the local communities. And we believe that by really helping these communities stay vibrant and flourish that will also deliver a continued great travel experience to all of our guests.

The New Economy: And finally, how do you see this industry developing, and what sort of plans do you have in the pipeline?

Tara Russell: Really, we’re the pioneers in this social impact travel space.

Today you see a lot of service learning trips, study abroads, mission trips, voluntourism. The difference for us is, social impact travel is really about making a long-term commitment to a place. An ongoing, systematic, long-sighted partnership with these communities.

It isn’t about us coming to do for the Dominicans; it’s really about us coming to do with.

Our partners and our community friends on the ground. And recently we’ve been approved for Cuba, so we’re really excited to begin our cultural exchange trips to Cuba.

And we are developing models both on-board and on-shore that we’ll be looking to roll out across our fleet. So, figuring out which on-board experiences that we’ve developed will make sense for some of our sister brands. Really looking at the models that we’ve developed on the ground in the Dominican Republic, and what other communities across the world that we visit might be a great location to explore those things.

So, we see a lot of potential. I think consumers today are hungry for products and services that marry their desires with their values. And so I think that’s just where the marketplace is going.

We feel really fortunate to really be pioneering, and really be leading the tip of this spear.