Driving deeper experiences in travel

In this podcast, Puerto Rican entrepreneur and co-founder of Local Guest, Carmen Portela, shares her story of starting a sustainable tourism business. "If you want to travel to a place and understand, and immerse yourself in the true culture, then locals have to be the key component of your traveling experience."

Contributors

Zach Stovall
Senior Creative Strategist, Flip.to

Carmen Portela
Co-founder, Local Guest

Transcript

Zach Stovall: Today I have the chance to talk to Carmen Portela at her office in San Juan. Carmen’s an entrepreneur using her background in tourism and social media to connect travelers with hyper-local, authentic experiences across Puerto Rico through her company, Local Guest.

Carmen’s a fighter. She’s been resilient in times of crisis, turning obstacles that would trash most people’s dreams into moments of opportunity. When things seemed to be at their worst, she’s forged ahead launching businesses to turn it all around.

She’s an advocate for the island, its people and its natural wonders. Plus, she’s pretty cool. Right, Carmen?

Carmen Portela: Thank you. That’s a pretty awesome introduction. I’m not one to talk about myself, but it sounds like yes.

Zach: Carmen, what was it like to grow up in PR?

Carmen: What it’s actually like to live in paradise. For me, growing up in Puerto Rico gave me a whole different set of skills that as an entrepreneur I’ve been using for my whole life. Our mix of culture — that you can see in our food, our dance, in the way we speak and how we communicate and how we interact with the rest of the world…is just different. I love living in Puerto Rico. It’s my home.

This island is open for anyone who is willing and able to appreciate it for what it is. Its true beauty, its true culture, and getting immersed in who we are. Not only what is around major tourism attractions, right?

Zach: At our Shape.travel Destination Lab in Montego Bay, you told the story of what’s going in in PR. What’s not working. You weren’t bad mouthing it, but you were telling it like it is. The passion came through your voice. Sometimes it takes a dose of tough love to really bring change. You mentioned PuertoRico’s problems aren’t going to be solved by the DMO or the CTO. You used to work for the DMO. Why in your opinion do they have trouble fixing what’s wrong?

Carmen: Well, no marketing organization can change or fix systematic problems. Systematic problems have to be changed by government, and by its people. So I think the tourism industry in Puerto Rico has been built on models that are antiquated, and models that are based on mass tourism. And not only Puerto Rico. I think the whole Caribbean. We were built on models about sun and sand, piña coladas, Bahama Mamas, you name it, right. This actually kills the essence of a destination. When we’re talking about marketing a destination, you first have to figure out what’s the essence of your destination. If you don’t have that clear, then you’ll be marketing to the same type of people, to the same type of traveler, to the same type of island over and over and over again.

So yeah, I think the DMO is trying its best to understand and to create value in other areas to sort of decentralize tourism. But it’s something that also was... we’ve been screaming about this for a while. So it’s good that we’re seeing that there’s a change. And also, I’ll say that the Executive Director for PRTC, Carla Campos, has a very strong sustainability background that also brings to the table another force to be reckoned with around the change that needs to happen in an island. The need to be sustainable.

Zach: Why is it so important to get locals involved. How does that impact the guest experience?

Carmen: Well, if you want to travel to a place and just have a cookie cutter experience then you can just stay in a hotel, right? For me it’s a given. There should not be any other way of traveling if you’re not involving locals. Because then you’re creating money for corporations and not thinking about the trickle down effect that your contribution, that your tourism dollars bring to a country. So yeah, if you want to travel to a place that’s cookie cutter and is built for you and this experience that was created to make money, then don’t involve locals. If you want to travel to a place and understand and immerse yourself in the true culture of a place and have true conversations, then locals have to be the key component of your traveling experience.

Zach: Carmen studied marketing and PR, and worked with retail and lifestyle brands in her early career.

A chance meeting in a hotel led to a position as the Director of Public Relations within the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a huge leadership opportunity for a then 30 year old Carmen.

After her time at the PRTC, she started exploring emerging opportunities in social media.

With an eye for trends, she realized Facebook Groups would bring brands the ability to reach consumers directly, and launched a travel-focused social media agency, called Synapse.

It was the first of its kind on the island, and of course, everyone that knew Carmen was sure she was crazy. It lasted 10 years.

All of this tourism, social media, and entrepreneurial experience in Carmen’s career suddenly clicked one day at Synapse.

Carmen: In 2015 we had a project that was called Local Guest in Synapse. It was basically… the initial premise of this project was to create experiences through local influencers: local Instagrammers that were really showcasing the true beauty of our island. In some ways doing the job that some of our government officials were not doing properly.

By reaching audiences that were really interested in immersive experiences very early on. So that project shifted a little bit, and in August 2017 we closed Synapse, and let go of a bunch of clients. We only stayed with two clients that were mission driven. And applied sustainability goals to our business. And from there we launched in August, 2017, so Local Guest was born a month before Hurricane Maria.

Zach: Wow! What a devastating blow to an emerging company.

Carmen: So, it was a big change in my career. It was a big change for all of us, because we let go of security. We let go of clients that we had relationships for years in order to build something that was more meaningful for us. But then, you know, Mother Nature decided she wanted to test us. To see if we really wanted to be meaningful, you know?

Carmen: Our island is not doing bad for tourism. I think that the main concern is that it may not be relocated in areas that actually need this type of economic development or this type of money movement, right? So that’s a little bit of what we work daily with. Making sure travelers understand the true impact of traveling. And the true impact of where they spend their dollars. What type of attractions they book or where do they stay. It makes a lot of difference for a small hotel or bed and breakfast that a family stays with them versus maybe a bigger property that they probably already have a big movement of people and bookings. So yeah, just understanding that and becoming better travelers who help Puerto Rico also become a better destination for everybody.

The tourism industry works in volumes. When you’re talking about sustainability, volume is not the main source of your business. You’re looking for what we call economía solidaria, or solidarity economy, where everybody works together to create a product that could be viable for visitors but also viable for the community and the environment.

So we take into consideration three aspects, which is:
-       People
-       Place
-       Profit

Whatever you do is not damaging locals. It’s actually creating opportunities for locals. It’s definitely not damaging the environment, because you take consideration of the repercussions of present and future repercussions of your tourism operations. And third, profit. We’re all making money, but just a different kind of money. You make money via fair trade, which is a bit different model for the travel industry, because models are not built that way. Models are built in order for corporations to generate a lot of money. And the trickle down effect...you don’t see it that much in their communities. So, it’s a different way of seeing tourism where it’s more sustainable, a way where locals are really involved, and a way that is respectful of the place you’re visiting.

Zach: Some of the tours you sell are pretty off the beaten path. What’s the process for kind of finding or uncovering these unique experiences?

Carmen: Once you start building this you want to make sure you create volume for communities to see actually the benefit of receiving visitors. For our community projects receiving three people is as difficult as receiving twelve or twenty. Because tourism is not their daily bread, right? They manage to create opportunities for themselves but they also have other jobs. Volume comes from steady traffic of visitors in a sustainable way. And like-minded channels of distribution bring that to us. So that’s why our model shifted a little bit from B to C to B to B — not a little bit, completely shifted to B to B — in order to create true value for everybody.

Zach: There are so many different types of travelers out there, or even tourists, if you want to call them that. How did you decide who this concept would appeal to?

Carmen: Well, I think that when you start looking for responsible travel, you start looking for a demographic that lives a responsible life, right? It’s a lifestyle. It’s not a demographic. So there’s this sector that is called LOHAS, which is Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability – which is a billion dollar market in the U.S. that spends on having a more sustainable life. They believe in climate change. They live a holistic approach to health, and they travel more sustainably.

So, once you start seeing world trends and how travelers, and how travelers in social media, also — the whole movement around Instagram and all those places that people are like discovering — you see that there’s a big opportunity for Puerto Rico to be inserted in other areas of conversation that’s not only through cruise ships and it’s not only through major hotel chains. And showcasing the true beauty and authenticity of Puerto Rico through its people and its true nature and resources that are not all the time all in San Juan.

For us it was a no-brainer. We were seeing it happen all over the world. I was traveling to Myanmar. I was traveling to Thailand. And while going to these places, I’m like, “ah, I love this place. This place is gorgeous. This beach is gorgeous. But why aren’t we showcasing Puerto Rico the same way? Why don’t they see what I see?” Because we are just not marketing correctly.

Zach: In terms of Local Guest, I’m sure there were some experiences you knew would be hits right away. Were there any that surprised you?

Carmen: I’ll say that we have never been surprised about the value of the experiences that our providers give. Because it’s the authenticity of who we are as a country. So once you find that mission-driven purpose or meaningful traveler, the rest is just showcasing ourselves. And that’s the easy part clearly.

Zach: Just be you.

Carmen: Be us, right? That’s easy. Don’t change us. This is who we are.

Zach: You be you.

Zach: There seem to be a lot of wildly different experiences you can have through Local Guest. Maybe you’re caving one day in Morovis, learning about the Taino Indians or kayaking Rio La Plata, the largest river in the center of the island, which is something no traditional “tourist” does. Or you’re learning about salsa and bomba music, and dancing in the street or taking a dive into traditional Puerto Rican food. It’s really a diverse range.

Carmen: Yeah, they’re all community based and they’re all done by local entrepreneurs. Which is the beauty around it. From caving to hiking to immersing yourself in a rainforest — actually a cloud forest — with an environmental group, to planting the mangroves and helping the erosion of our beaches. You know, we are based on SDG. All the Sustainable Development Goals are worked around every single experience that we create and co-create with these communities and entrepreneurs. So it’s such a diverse opportunity from visiting cocoa farms to visiting coffee farms and helping farmers, and staying with farmers in their spaces and working the farm with them. To working with a local environmental group helping turtles and seeing them hatch. And then you come to the whole culinary side of creating new concepts around Puerto Rican food from our ancestral food. Not only mofongo. Because the Taino Indians didn’t know what mofongo was. Understanding a little bit more of where true culinary history comes from and what our ancestors used to eat here and how it was super healthy. There’s a little bit for everybody, so if you’re a vegan Puerto Rico’s moving towards that too. So, there’s a lot of options here, too. Not only fried stuff and mofongo.

Zach: So, do I see a vegan themed business on the horizon?

Carmen: No, but there are a couple of experiences that are based on understanding our cultural ancestry through gastronomy. So, all the foods that you’re going to see are all roots and vegetables and things that are clean and organic and grown by Puerto Rican hands.

Zach: When you and your co-founder, Monica Perez, started Local Guest, you wanted it to be a response to the economic crisis. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Carmen: Our initial business model took into consideration the ten poorest municipalities in Puerto Rico. And our idea was to work with communities there to try to create economic development for them. There was a strong correlation around strong density of natural resources and poverty on our island. But we also found there was a lot of community-based tourism organizations that were working towards protecting forests or protecting the environment that were already organized and they were looking for a little bit more structure and maybe more visibility.

So the main problems that we, the main pains that we saw was that these projects were not visible or bookable. We saw ourselves as a platform that would bring the marketing tools that these communities needed in order to promote the offerings and experiences they were already doing locally, right? But at a more local level.

That sounded beautiful when we started, but then we noticed that there was a strong necessity for product development. Some of these experiences required help for commercialization. So that put us in a position that were were like, “Wait we’re not a marketing platform. We need to become a product development company too.”

So we got ourselves certified as sustainable tourism developers. We took a bunch of courses, from community organizing to design thinking for communities, how to build communities for change. This happened all in four months or five months after the hurricane. And yeah, we shifted a bit.

From what we thought we were going to be we became so much more. So that so much more required us to be ready for that. And for these communities to actually see value in what we were offering. Because who wants to offer a platform when what they needed was capacity building. They needed help with commercialization. They needed help with insurance. They needed help with building their own businesses, getting the paperwork, the permits, etc. So that takes a while. We spent a year and a half working with those communities in order to have them be ready for commercialization of their products.

So as of now, we have more than thirty communities and thirty projects all around the island — very diverse from each other — that collaborate with us and trust us to help them bring the right travelers to their spaces that will understand and appreciate who they are. Or the right channel of distribution, too. Some of them have the capability of receiving more visitors. Others are only capable of six or twelve people. There are others that can receive two-hundred, because they’re a farm in the middle of Las Marias. So yeah, it’s been a beautiful journey.

Zach: You’re helping individuals; everyday hard working Puerto Ricans put together packages. Why was it important to involve locals on a micro scale? Why not leave it to established tour operators?

Carmen: Established tour operators have established their own programs for years, and they run on the same programs — El Yunque, Camuy Caves, Todo Verde, which is a great sustainable adventure park — but that really doesn’t trickle down to businesses, to local businesses. The same models were built around — not models that were not fair for the experience provider.

Our idea was to create other models that would be fair in the whole social and supply chain for communities. You can’t work with people that are not in the same wavelength. So if they’re not, you have to create those spaces and the ecosystems that are built for true sustainability. Not only on paperwork. 

Zach: How do the communities you’re working in respond? Are they happy you’re helping? Or, since you’re not from there, are they wary of outsiders?

Carmen: Well, some of them were waiting for an opportunity to showcase who they are. An opportunity for somebody that listens to them, and actually helps them with the commercialization of their projects. I’ll say that these communities have been organized on the island forever now. They’re some of the communities that we work with, and community projects that we work with, they’ve been there for a hundred-and-something years. They have generations and generations that have been protecting a forest — I remember one of our collaborators — her name is also Carmen — very strong women; Carmens are very strong women.

Zach: Oh, I’ve heard about those Carmens.

Carmen: She told me the story about how her grandfather was the one that put the rocks that built the trail for this forest. This was just there. They were waiting for it. So I think that some occasions have been open arms. And others have required more tender, loving care.

It’s hard, because we’re outsiders. Even though you’re from Puerto Rico, you’re not from that town. Building trust is like any relationship. You need to show up. And we constantly show up. We show up for them through transparency and honesty, which is maybe something different that they haven’t seen from other companies.  

Zach: What’s so cool to me about Local Guest is that you found an idea that had legs, and basically said screw what everybody else is doing. I’m doing this thing, and I’m doing it my way.

Carmen: Well, that’s the beauty about Local Guest. We go grassroots. Systematic problems — when you see government is not working, you create your own little systems.

So, I had a colleague that, right after the hurricane I was like, obviously like, we were all like, crazy, understanding what was going to happen. And frustrated about things that the government was not doing. Or super frustrated about everything that was happening with the Federal Government and FEMA. And I told her like, “I feel that we work, work, work, and we’re creating so much value for our communities and the country. And sometimes people don’t see it.” She said, “Carmen, be a termite. Grow, and once they see you it’s too late. 

So I think that’s the way that it’s so close to her, because that’s become something that I go to every single day, that I feel like when I’m hitting myself on the wall. I remember that, “Oh, we’re termites. When they see us, it’s going to be too late.” So that’s how you create change — systematic change — from the ground up.

Zach: How can somebody that’s listening to this interview get off their butt and get started? You don’t just wake up and jump out of bed one day and say I’m going to start a company or I’m going to fix a problem. Or do you?

Carmen: I did. I think there’s two things. The first part around it is what’s your contribution to your ecosystem and then to the world. What are you doing day in and day out that your actions are impacting others and future generations? Something simple. It doesn’t require you to be a hero or build a business.

Buy a reusable water bottle. Try to have a plastic-free life. Don’t buy bottled waters. I think that’s something simple to start with. And then it trickles down to every action you make daily. And then one day you’re like, “Oh, I need to travel. How do I travel? Let me look for more responsible ways of traveling.”

Maybe then stay in the bed and breakfast that is being run by a... If you’re going to Old San Juan, for example, which is a given. Everybody that comes to Puerto Rico wants to see Old San Juan. Why not stay in Casa Sol, a sustainable run bed and breakfast by husband and wife that is family run. They have been running it for twenty years, and they have been residents of Old San Juan forever. They have solar power and water collection systems.

Being a more responsible traveler requires a little bit more research. So if you are into... wanted to make the world a better place, research is important. So be more informed, and looking for other areas; not only what is presented to you through advertising. But also, doing a little bit more research. Getting off the beaten path a little bit, it can bring a lot, a lot of value that could change completely the way you felt about and lived the destination.

Zach: At some point though you can’t keep thinking about change or talking about change. You actually have to create change, right?

Carmen: I think that I get very frustrated always with having so many meetings. Meetings and meetings and board meetings and more meetings about fixing problems when nobody actually goes to the root around those problems. You know, bureaucracy and politics are all over tourism, too. So, action is necessary just to change it. And stop talking that much, and just fucking do it.

Zach: Carmen stops talking and just does it a lot. Now she’s expanding Local Guest to other islands in the Caribbean, helping to spread the trickle-down effects of good tourism outside the coasts of her home island. She may not be able to fix the system, but she can still make an impact on her own terms.

Thanks for listening today here on Shape.travel, and be sure to keep an eye out for more podcasts from us as we talk to other people doing big things in the travel space.