Speakers - PURE

Sophie Morgan

Beyond Access: Reimagining Inclusion In Travel

Brought to you by The Conscious Travel Foundation

The travel industry thrives on innovation. You make the impossible happen while unlocking remote corners of the world. So how can you be equally as ingenious with a more inclusive workforce? In this powerful talk, broadcaster, adventurer and disability activist Sophie Morgan wants all of us to rethink inclusion — not as a checkbox, but an untapped business opportunity. She’ll head a panel of members from The Conscious Travel Foundation to dissect why this isn’t just the right thing to do, but the smart thing, unleashing creativity and resourcefulness for transformative guest experiences.

More about Sophie…

Sophie is an award-winning travel writer, broadcaster, and leading disability activist and consultant. Her career in journalism has led her to a column at Condé Nast Traveller, on top of acting as a contributing editor to Wanderlust and writing features for publications such as The Telegraph and Nat Geo. She’s perhaps best known for fronting TV coverage of the Paralympics as one of the first visibly disabled broadcasters in the world. Over the years, she has influenced airline policy, consulted global brands and given talks at the UN to ensure more disabled people are seen and heard.

More about The Conscious Travel Foundation

A not-for-profit community and thinktank, The Conscious Travel Foundation helps members increase their positive impact on landscapes, wildlife and cultures across the globe, supporting grassroots projects with its PURE-Award winning philanthropy programme.

Asylum Speakers

Lessons From The Most Unexpected Travellers

With Jaz O’Hara and Mez Bereket

Experiential travel is largely about freedom. What other journeys are happening all around us that aren’t a privilege, but a matter of life and death? Asylum Speakers want us to look hard at the realities of displaced people around the world, considering how their tales can help make our industry a powerful force for change. You’re invited to reimagine travel as not just a leisure activity, but a profound — often unequal — human experience. Through the personal story of Mez, a migrant who faced extraordinary odds to arrive in the UK, this talk points a provocative yet hopeful lens on a bridge between worlds, helping your work stir empathy as well as pure escapism.

More about Jaz…

Jaz is a motivational speaker and podcaster committed to amplifying voices impacted by displacement. As a writer for The Huffington Post, winner of Marie Claire’s Future Shaper award and member of Amnesty International’s Collective, she’s become a leading voice on migration, speaking everywhere from TedX to the United Nations. Jaz’s work has always been personal, and along with her team she seeks to challenge fear-mongering narratives in today’s media through films, talks and the Asylum Speakers podcast.

More about Mez…

From fleeing compulsory military service in Eritrea at the age of 13, to surviving 15 days without food while crossing the Sahara Desert, Mez’s journey has been one of extraordinary resilience. After his boat capsized in the Mediterranean and he spent time in the notorious Calais Jungle refugee camp, Mez eventually made his way to the UK — hiding beneath a Eurotunnel train. After making it to safety, he was fostered by Jaz’s family and now speaks candidly about the challenges of navigating life between two cultures and finding his place in a new society.

Anant Sharma

Why Irrationality Drives Commercial Success

So many businesses today are obsessed with scaling, optimising and standardising their assets and people. It’s the crux of reliable visions for growth. Yet Anant Sharma, a behavioural architect for high-end brands, makes the case for something more radical: why you should be wildly, gloriously irrational and harness the strength of emotion — not just efficiency. By examining our psychology, the five senses and environmental design, he’ll translate these softer principles into a practical model for hospitality service. From space and silence to the neuroscience of joy, Anant’s Moonshot talk is a call to protect the human heartbeat in travel design.

More about Anant…

Anant has spent the last 14 years leading Matter Of Form, a brand and experience design consultancy working with timeless luxury brands across many verticals. A futurist, innovation enthusiast and advocate of cultural developments that promote learning and fresh ideas, he also counts himself a student and teacher of behavioural design. Why do we do the things we do? This question is fundamental to Anant’s work, and it’s a fascination he brings to every venture, from design school Experience Haus to Matter Of Form’s own podcast, What The Luxe.

Edmund Morris

Travel in 2030, Unpacked

At the dawn of the next decade, what will our industry look like? If you were stepping out of a time machine, what are the first things you’d notice? Equator’s Edmund Morris is your guide to the near future. Using real-world trends and data, he’s predicted how experiential travel will change in five years. It’s already happening; Edmund’s just found the scale-up potential. In three parts — for AI, overtourism and sustainability — he’ll break through charts and graphs into what’s emerging or being applied today for a 2030 scenario you might recognise.

More about Edmund…

Edmund is a critical futurist who uses quantitative modelling to analyse trends on the future of travel. As the founder of Equator, an AI startup, he’s built visitor impact calculators, found out how overtourism is changing traveller sentiments, and modelled investment for adventures in Panama. Before launching Equator, he spent almost a decade building impact models for aid and refugee programmes. Edmund has kept challenging himself in the public arena, too. He’s a Substacker and Youtuber, has spoken at events around the world, and been featured in Travel Weekly and Forbes.

Richard Walton

Service NOT Sales – How Travel & Hospitality Companies Can Turn Customer Service into Revenue

Many travel and hospitality staff hesitate to “sell,” but the best sales happen through great service. This talk shows how any customer-facing employee can naturally generate revenue by enhancing guest experiences.

More about Richard…

For more than 25 years, Richard has been building, scaling and managing high-performance teams throughout South Africa, the UK and the US. His tenacious entrepreneurship has spearheaded several $10 million-plus travel brands, and earned him a 10/10 rating as an EO international speaker. Further keynote credentials include talks for the EOA, ATTA and multiple global trade agencies.

Juliet Kinsman

Solutions-Led Storytelling

Everyone talks about the importance of storytelling. Can you really do it, though — or is it just a sales pitch? Context, detail and emotional stakes are paramount for delivering a message people actually want to hear. Veteran PUREist Juliet Kinsman will help you sound more you amidst bland blasts of ChatGPT and copycat noise in the industry. In her first Workshop, she’ll tailor storytelling advice for agents, media and marketing. In the second, she’ll consider techniques for hotel and resort owners and operators, so you can measure influence beyond metrics.

More about Juliet…

Juliet Kinsman is a London-based journalist and sustainability expert who’s also Condé Nast Traveller’s first Sustainability Editor. Author of The Green Edit: Travel — Easy Tips for the Eco-Friendly Traveller (2020; Ebury) and The Bucket List Eco Experiences: Travelling the World (2022; Rizzoli), she’s spent more than 25 years in the media. After making a name for herself as the founding editor of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Juliet created purpose-led, non-profit consultancy Bouteco in 2016 to help brands become better storytellers free of greenwashing.

Mirjam Peternak-McCartney

Top 10 Tips to Future-Proof Your Travel Brand’s Communications for 2026

In a fast-changing landscape where purpose and profit go hand in hand, effective storytelling matters more than ever. Where to begin? As with most good things, it starts with a list… This PR masterclass will unveil the top 10 suggestions to strengthen your brand’s visibility and values over time, so they only become stronger. From tackling the next wave of EU sustainability legislation to decoding the role of data in the pinpoint communications, you’ll learn from head of Lemongrass Travel PR Mirjam Peternak-McCartney, seeing why traditional KPIs are old news, how affiliate marketing is growing your reach, and what it takes to build genuine, resilient relevance.

More about Mirjam…

Trusted by the most respected names in travel, Mirjam has over 20 years’ experience in industry PR. She founded Lemongrass in 2007 with an urge to create meaningful change in travel communications, and her innovative leadership has led to multiple agency award wins for its blend of creative storytelling and strategic data insights. In 2023 Lemongrass became an accredited B Corp and clinched the prestigious Sunday Times Best Places to Work Award. Today, it undertakes pro bono work for the Conscious Travel Foundation, and you can hear Mirjam speaking at travel events around the globe — as well as a frequent podcast guest.

James Thornton

The CEO Playbook: What to Do When the World Shifts

In conversation with Sheena Bhattessa

With so much disruption nipping at the heels of the travel industry — from Trump to the climate crisis, and global conflicts to the loneliness epidemic — how do we deal with it? James Thornton has a better grasp than most. As the CEO of Intrepid Travel, he’s led an organization that’s used to moving with the times and offering new, conscious adventures. In conversation with PR and media dynamo Sheena Bhattessa, he’ll explain how you can navigate any crisis with authenticity and transparency. Get invaluable insights into what consumers want today, how tariffs and other economic instability may affect your business, and ways to refine your travel offering as our natural environments change worldwide.

More about James…

James is the Chief Executive Officer of Intrepid Travel, setting its global vision and strategy. Since joining the company in 2005, he has helped it weather a fair share of highs and lows, from the pandemic to B-Corp certification and a record capital rise. In 2024, he led the business to its strongest ever results. Hailing from the UK, James is a passionate football fan and marathon runner.

Sheena Bhattessa

The CEO Playbook: What to Do When the World Shifts

In conversation James Thornton

With so much disruption nipping at the heels of the travel industry — from Trump to the climate crisis, and global conflicts to the loneliness epidemic — how do we deal with it? James Thornton has a better grasp than most. As the CEO of Intrepid Travel, he’s led an organization that’s used to moving with the times and offering new, conscious adventures. In conversation with PR and media dynamo Sheena Bhattessa, he’ll explain how you can navigate any crisis with authenticity and transparency. Get invaluable insights into what consumers want today, how tariffs and other economic instability may affect your business, and ways to refine your travel offering as our natural environments change worldwide.

More about Sheena…

After a successful decade in media, British Indian journalist Sheena Bhattessa founded Citizen Femme in 2017, spotting a gap in the market for a stylish female traveller guide. It’s now the handbook for women around the world who are interested in fashion, beauty, business, technology, cuisine and everything surrounding their next adventure. Prior to Citizen Femme, Sheena studied at King’s College London before setting up her own PR company working with international clients such as Ferrari and Disney. Alongside her nomadic stylings, she’s cultivated a love for screen acting — earning roles on ITV, NBC and the BBC.

Rochelle Turner

Embedding Purpose Into Your Business — The B Corp Way

CSR and ‘greenwishing’ can only get you so far in today’s more conscious travel markets, and it wastes huge business opportunities. So what does a ‘purpose-driven business’ really look like, and how can purpose bring financial rewards? Rochelle Turner will leverage her expertise to show you how and why to embed purpose into your business. You’ll also interrogate the degree to which B Corp certification lays a framework to support and measure that purpose.

AND

Alleviate Business Pressure With The B Corp Framework

It’s much harder to find the right treatment without a good diagnosis. In her second Workshop, Rochelle Turner will refine your ability to identify common pressures on your business — the kind that can stay hidden because they’re so consistent. From talent retention and stakeholder trust to regulatory stresses and sustainability demands, the B Corp framework can make it all much clearer. Rochelle will explain how to flex B Corp as a strategic management tool that can provide structured support for long-term resilience and impact.

More about Rochelle…

Intrepid Travel is a tour operator running small group adventure holidays across 100+ countries. In her role, Rochelle works to embed, integrate and report on sustainability initiatives throughout all aspects of the business. She’s spent her career in consumer, economic, market and policy research, and enjoys using practical tools and finding examples of how companies can shift towards more actions that are genuinely positive for people and the places we visit. This relies on gathering evidence for sustainable, citizen-led practices and identifying opportunities for collective solutions. Alongside her role at Intrepid Travel, Rochelle is the Co-chair of the UK collective, Travel by B Corp.

Edmund Morris

Impact Sells (If You Brand It Right)

Four in five travellers claim they want to support sustainable businesses. However, fewer than one in 10 actually do… This isn’t a failure of values — but branding. So, learn why the corporate playbook has failed to sell sustainability, and how boutique, luxury brands can make green moves more easily profitable. The future of your brand depends on matching value and impact, which means you must find out whether your customers are more Patagonia or Stella McCartney (and why that matters). Meanwhile, you’ll unpick the impact measures you really need, and how to make customers feel like heroes. Edmund’s Workshop is a radical, data-rich look at tomorrow’s battle for hearts and minds.

More about Edmund…

Edmund is a critical futurist who uses quantitative modelling to analyse trends on the future of travel. As the founder of Equator, an AI startup, he’s built visitor impact calculators, found out how overtourism is changing traveller sentiments, and modelled investment for adventures in Panama. Before launching Equator, he spent almost a decade building impact models for aid and refugee programmes. Edmund has kept challenging himself in the public arena, too. He’s a Substacker and Youtuber, has spoken at events around the world, and been featured in Travel Weekly and Forbes.

Topics to
learn from

Purpose-Driven & Inclusive Travel

A New Era of Travel

Market Resilience & Adaptation

Sustainability & Climate Action

Topics tolearn from

Purpose-Driven & Inclusive Travel

Sophie Morgan

Asylum Speakers

A New Era of Travel

Anant Sharma

Edmund Morris

Market Resilience & Adaptation

Richard Walton

Juliet Kinsman

Mirjam Peternak-McCartney

James Thornton

Sheena Bhattessa

Sustainability & Climate Action

Rochelle Turner

Edmund Morris

Topics to
learn from