How tourism can contribute to the world’s most important goals

If you have followed the news lately you cannot help but notice that a lot has been written on tourism and sustainability, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that have been set by the United Nations but most importantly the role that tourism can play in reaching these goals. Enough information to give our view on this topic, we thought. Lees meer…

Leontine van Hooft Winner of The Voice Achievers Award: Outstanding Motivational Speaker

Winner of The Voice Achievers Award: Outstanding Motivational Speaker

I  must  confess  this  came  as  a  surprise  to  me  and my  family  after  the  publication  that  gave  me  a  space  with  the  Nigerian  President  on  the  cover  of  your  prestigious  magazine,  such  an  honour.  Even  more  because  of  your  announcement  letter.  I  feel  blessed  because  of  the  recognition  of  The  Voice  magazine,  and  by  honouring  me  with  the  Outstanding  African  Motivational  Award.

The VoiceThe Voice

Community Building

shell_transparentCommunity building, managing diversity, welfare and community development, here in the Netherlands as well as in upcoming markets, are at the heart of GreenDreamFoundation and these basic core values are grouped in our Community Building programme. It is our core business through which we operate in the Netherlands by creating employment, not only for paid staff but also for people with a distance to the labor market, for students and for volunteers. In countries where we are active, we can contribute to community building by improving the position of women, for example, or by tackling the HIV/AIDs issues raising awareness.

Our Source

The innermost motivations of GreenDreamFoundation originate from Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a century old philosophy in Africa which also functions as a compass for all sectors within society in the new Africa. Ubuntu means ‘I am because of we’ and demonstrates the essence of being a human being and our interconnectedness. Your existence depends on the context you are part of; you will be successful when the total is successful. Your value is determined by your meaning for other people: you are nothing on your own and you will not achieve anything on your own.

In our choices and considerations we can and will be guided by this moral compass. This is also demonstrated by the goal of the foundation to make a difference and contribute to positive change i.e. poverty reduction and an increase in welfare, based on the fundamental attitude that ‘the glass is half full’.

The five P’s
Inclusiveness is the business model that originates from this Ubuntu philosophy and that we use. In inclusiveness business motives (profit) are combined with a social contribution (people) and environmental sustainability (planet). We add two more principles to these three: Passion and Pleasure.

* People: because we love people and are always looking for the best result. The Ubuntu philosophy is our starting point and we take everybody involved into account, our GreenDreamers, our partners and the people who work on our projects.

* Planet: because we realize that we need the planet and not the other way around. We are a guest on planet earth and are supposed to behave ourselves accordingly, with respect. We adhere to the principles of the Blue Economy and sustainability is key in our approach.

* Profit: because a healthy organization is also financially sustainable and must be healthy in order to maintain its right to exist in the future. Successful projects enable us to realize other projects so that we can create more jobs and the impact can increase.

* Passion: because that is just the way we work, with our head, heart and hands. We are able to do so because all GreenDreamers fully support our core values and the goals of our foundation.

* Pleasure: because that is what we want to bring to ourselves and others – happiness for all! We enjoy the beauty of the countries where we work as well as the people we work with. Pleasure is also what tourism is about and stands for.

logoThe nautilus shell as logo

We chose the nautilus shell as logo. The nautilus shell is a beautiful demonstration of infinity in finiteness. If you open the nautilus shell you will see a spiral unfolding a special process: the little animal started very small and as it matures creates new, larger chambers, and moves its growing body into the larger space sealing the vacated chamber with a new septum. This goes on and on.

The nautilus shell is a perfect example of connectivity and represents exactly what we want, a harmonious balance between being and becoming, of Ubu and Ntu. The projects we develop are a demonstration of this process: they arise from each other and co-exist in interdependence.

Lab achieved: GreenDreamCompany

shell_transparentFollowing the Ubuntu philosophy and the five P’s, GreenDreamCompany is the first pillar that successfully arose from GreenDreamFoundation, an independently operating private limited company that develops tourism industry in countries where King Solomon once traveled. Core activities are programme management and brand development.

Under programme management, GreenDreamCompany delivers programme directors who manage the tourism development programmes by localizing the sites where construction will take place, by finding and uniting the partners to build the tourism industry and by eventually ensuring the realization of the programmes.

Solomon’s Hidden Treasures is the first brand developed by GreenDreamCompany..

Our Pillars

Our Pillars

handjesIn order to achieve our goal, we develop various concepts that are aimed at the transformation of rural areas into eco-tourist destinations. The foundation functions as an incubator of new ideas, of labs. If a lab has matured it may become autonomous and  develop into an independently operating organization. Concentrating around the basic needs of those labs we distinguish various organizations that, on the one hand arose in interdependence and on the other hand reinforce each other, like the small chambers of the nautilus shell.

Are you ready to discover what is at the heart of our foundation and what we initiated, our track record reflection of lab creation?

Discover CommunityBuilding

Discover GreenDreamCompany

Discover GreenDreamAcademy 

Discover Ubuntu Impact Investment 

Lab achieved: GreenDreamAcademy

shell_transparentOur second lab in our track record, GreenDreamAcademy, arose around the basic element of knowledge. It is an academy that develops customized and modular TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) formats in the area of hospitality, touristic entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, communication, commercial skills, management and sustainable maintenance. The academy will offer these training modules on-site to organizations in countries of Solomon’s Hidden Treasures (SHT), carrying the SHT brand or that are affiliated with the brand. It develops for example training modules for employees of suppliers that are crucial in the total value chain of an SHT organization.