H
ere at Brighter Future, we love having conversations with inspiring entrepreneurs about their start-up experience and how they’re making a difference. And today is no exception! We’re thrilled to be joined by Patricia Plesner, the CEO of EcoHotels.com, a hotel booking site focused on true sustainability, fair principles, and low commissions.
H
ere at Brighter Future, we love having conversations with inspiring entrepreneurs about their start-up experience and how they’re making a difference. And today is no exception! We’re thrilled to be joined by Patricia Plesner, the CEO of EcoHotels.com, a hotel booking site focused on true sustainability, fair principles, and low commissions.
I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Myself and my sister were sustainably raised from the day we could crawl. My parents focused a lot on giving us only the best produce with minimal chemicals, teaching us to prioritize buying organic and Fairtrade products and produce, minimising plastic, second-hand shopping, and so on. From an early age, I learned that sustainability didn’t just mean a focus on the environment; it also meant a focus on society and economics. For me, personally, I found the societal aspect of sustainability to be the area that made me think the most, especially in terms of equal opportunities, education, and a fair living standard. I have always travelled widely and lived in different places around the world, which has only enhanced my commitment to sustainable living.
EcoHotels.com was founded in April of 2020, just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. We are a booking site solely dedicated to eco-certified, sustainable hotels, as I believe this is the future for us as travellers. As the pandemic hit the hospitality and leisure sector, millions of jobs were lost—jobs primarily held by women, young people, and low-education employees. In particular, developing countries that depended on tourism were set back many years, and the effect this has had on the world has not even been measured yet. We hope that through EcoHotels.com, we can provide small, sustainable, eco-friendly businesses with the exposure and support they need to get back on their feet post-pandemic.
I believe that we have an opportunity to make an impact on the hospitality industry and on the world. We allow eco-certified hotels to join our site for free. We also put in some promotional effort on our side to help them get established on the site, and they only pay 10% in commission in comparison to the sometimes 30% hotels are used to paying. Hopefully, this will prompt more hotels to take a sustainable approach to business while also allowing for more profit to be made. With a better bottom line, these hotels can hire more people, pay better salaries, support other local businesses, and so on. That’s what motivates me to keep going with the business. We can see a real difference in the hotels we work with, the people they hire, and the communities they support.
The hotel booking business is extremely difficult to figure out. Many of the big booking sites undermine the hotels they work with and are continuously fined for misleading advertising, aggressive sales tactics, and putting psychological pressure on travellers. So, our business is two-sided. With EcoHotels.com, it’s my hope that we can support small boutique hotels. But I also hope that we can give travellers (as 50% of people would like to travel more sustainably in the future) a platform where transparency, fair principles, and sustainability are key.
At the time that the pandemic hit, I was supposed to attend Columbia University for my master’s degree. That didn’t happen. The option to travel the world was put on hold, but I never doubted that it would come back. I didn’t, however, have any idea that it would take this long. For many of us, our mental wellness depends on the ability to take breaks away from the stresses of daily life or to experience different cultures or places for perspective. And it doesn’t have to be abroad or some far-flung destination. The anticipation and “looking forward to” part of a break away, near or far, is something that always brings us a little joy. When that was taken away by the pandemic and we felt its absence in our lives, I knew that there was space in the market for EcoHotels.com.
I believe every experience in life can make you wiser, including the good and the bad. Sometimes struggles are necessary, as they show us how to move towards better things. Learning from our mistakes is part of everyday life. Even today, I am still making mistakes and continuously learning, and it’s something that will probably continue for the rest of my life. The greater level of education and awareness around environmental issues and climate change will, I believe, continue to grow. With EcoHotels, we also bring in the societal and economic side of the issue, which will hopefully shape the future of travelling. Those are the things that underpin my startup journey: a willingness to fail and learn, and an optimism about the future.
Personally, my biggest failure was focusing primarily on the environmental factors associated with the hotels and less on the societal factors. I am motivated by making it possible for hotels to increase diversity, pay fair salaries, offer better educational options, and so on. I’m not as driven by water savings or better light-saving bulbs. Both of these are necessary and important, so they need to be given equal weight. We can see that environmental issues are a huge deciding factor in eco-friendly hotel bookings, but I also needed to focus on the societal issues in order to stay motivated and feel fulfilled. It’s not just about the number of bookings.
My most memorable “aha” moments have occurred while travelling with my family and friends. I love to travel as authentically as possible and visit somewhere different to my everyday life. I can sometimes get stuck in a certain routine or get caught up in my goals and my successes, but when I’m visiting somewhere completely different, it gives me perspective. Those are my “aha!” moments.
A serious sacrifice might have been time—something none of us can ever get back. I have spent a lot of time both in school and working, so my personal life and working life have blended together, and time with friends, sleeping, watching TV, etc. is minimal.
Generally speaking, I feel positive about the years to come. The future of travelling will, without any doubt, be shaped by a growing demand for sustainable travel options. This is certain. I am also very excited to see how technical advances will shape the future of travelling. Most people already use technology when travelling, such as booking flights on their smartphones or having AI-assisted experiences with things like boarding passes. These actions alone offer endless possibilities, yet there will also be new challenges that arise, such as responding quickly enough to new customer demands, hiring the best tech-leads, and prioritising resources for R&D.
I have thought about this question a lot. I hope to be remembered as a kind, compassionate, and helpful person, and I hope that shines through in both my personal journey and my professional one with EcoHotels.com. Having said that, being able to have a huge impact on this industry is, of course, a huge dream—and hopefully one I will be remembered for!
Ask a lot of questions, believe in both yourself and others, do thorough market research, and just try it out! It’s sometimes necessary to fail to succeed.
Book with EcoHotels.com! (haha)
--------------
A huge thank you to our inspiring guest Patricia Plesner from EcoHotels.com! If you would like to find out more about Patricia and EcoHotels—or maybe book an eco-friendly break away for yourself—you can find her at: www.ecohotels.com.
To stay up to date with all of our latest content and interviews with amazing entrepreneurs like Patricia, subscribe to the Brighter Future newsletter here.
I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Myself and my sister were sustainably raised from the day we could crawl. My parents focused a lot on giving us only the best produce with minimal chemicals, teaching us to prioritize buying organic and Fairtrade products and produce, minimising plastic, second-hand shopping, and so on. From an early age, I learned that sustainability didn’t just mean a focus on the environment; it also meant a focus on society and economics. For me, personally, I found the societal aspect of sustainability to be the area that made me think the most, especially in terms of equal opportunities, education, and a fair living standard. I have always travelled widely and lived in different places around the world, which has only enhanced my commitment to sustainable living.
EcoHotels.com was founded in April of 2020, just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. We are a booking site solely dedicated to eco-certified, sustainable hotels, as I believe this is the future for us as travellers. As the pandemic hit the hospitality and leisure sector, millions of jobs were lost—jobs primarily held by women, young people, and low-education employees. In particular, developing countries that depended on tourism were set back many years, and the effect this has had on the world has not even been measured yet. We hope that through EcoHotels.com, we can provide small, sustainable, eco-friendly businesses with the exposure and support they need to get back on their feet post-pandemic.
I believe that we have an opportunity to make an impact on the hospitality industry and on the world. We allow eco-certified hotels to join our site for free. We also put in some promotional effort on our side to help them get established on the site, and they only pay 10% in commission in comparison to the sometimes 30% hotels are used to paying. Hopefully, this will prompt more hotels to take a sustainable approach to business while also allowing for more profit to be made. With a better bottom line, these hotels can hire more people, pay better salaries, support other local businesses, and so on. That’s what motivates me to keep going with the business. We can see a real difference in the hotels we work with, the people they hire, and the communities they support.
The hotel booking business is extremely difficult to figure out. Many of the big booking sites undermine the hotels they work with and are continuously fined for misleading advertising, aggressive sales tactics, and putting psychological pressure on travellers. So, our business is two-sided. With EcoHotels.com, it’s my hope that we can support small boutique hotels. But I also hope that we can give travellers (as 50% of people would like to travel more sustainably in the future) a platform where transparency, fair principles, and sustainability are key.
At the time that the pandemic hit, I was supposed to attend Columbia University for my master’s degree. That didn’t happen. The option to travel the world was put on hold, but I never doubted that it would come back. I didn’t, however, have any idea that it would take this long. For many of us, our mental wellness depends on the ability to take breaks away from the stresses of daily life or to experience different cultures or places for perspective. And it doesn’t have to be abroad or some far-flung destination. The anticipation and “looking forward to” part of a break away, near or far, is something that always brings us a little joy. When that was taken away by the pandemic and we felt its absence in our lives, I knew that there was space in the market for EcoHotels.com.
I believe every experience in life can make you wiser, including the good and the bad. Sometimes struggles are necessary, as they show us how to move towards better things. Learning from our mistakes is part of everyday life. Even today, I am still making mistakes and continuously learning, and it’s something that will probably continue for the rest of my life. The greater level of education and awareness around environmental issues and climate change will, I believe, continue to grow. With EcoHotels, we also bring in the societal and economic side of the issue, which will hopefully shape the future of travelling. Those are the things that underpin my startup journey: a willingness to fail and learn, and an optimism about the future.
Personally, my biggest failure was focusing primarily on the environmental factors associated with the hotels and less on the societal factors. I am motivated by making it possible for hotels to increase diversity, pay fair salaries, offer better educational options, and so on. I’m not as driven by water savings or better light-saving bulbs. Both of these are necessary and important, so they need to be given equal weight. We can see that environmental issues are a huge deciding factor in eco-friendly hotel bookings, but I also needed to focus on the societal issues in order to stay motivated and feel fulfilled. It’s not just about the number of bookings.
My most memorable “aha” moments have occurred while travelling with my family and friends. I love to travel as authentically as possible and visit somewhere different to my everyday life. I can sometimes get stuck in a certain routine or get caught up in my goals and my successes, but when I’m visiting somewhere completely different, it gives me perspective. Those are my “aha!” moments.
A serious sacrifice might have been time—something none of us can ever get back. I have spent a lot of time both in school and working, so my personal life and working life have blended together, and time with friends, sleeping, watching TV, etc. is minimal.
Generally speaking, I feel positive about the years to come. The future of travelling will, without any doubt, be shaped by a growing demand for sustainable travel options. This is certain. I am also very excited to see how technical advances will shape the future of travelling. Most people already use technology when travelling, such as booking flights on their smartphones or having AI-assisted experiences with things like boarding passes. These actions alone offer endless possibilities, yet there will also be new challenges that arise, such as responding quickly enough to new customer demands, hiring the best tech-leads, and prioritising resources for R&D.
I have thought about this question a lot. I hope to be remembered as a kind, compassionate, and helpful person, and I hope that shines through in both my personal journey and my professional one with EcoHotels.com. Having said that, being able to have a huge impact on this industry is, of course, a huge dream—and hopefully one I will be remembered for!
Ask a lot of questions, believe in both yourself and others, do thorough market research, and just try it out! It’s sometimes necessary to fail to succeed.
Book with EcoHotels.com! (haha)
--------------
A huge thank you to our inspiring guest Patricia Plesner from EcoHotels.com! If you would like to find out more about Patricia and EcoHotels—or maybe book an eco-friendly break away for yourself—you can find her at: www.ecohotels.com.
To stay up to date with all of our latest content and interviews with amazing entrepreneurs like Patricia, subscribe to the Brighter Future newsletter here.
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