How to Gain Trust and Grow Community With This One Tool
“We’ve done everything right to operate our travel business responsibly, but many people still do not know, see, or understand our hard work.”
This is one of the most common sentiments we encounter from industry professionals.
Our typical response: People only know what you tell them.
Previously, we shared how telling a founder’s story can help build a brand’s persona and narrative.
However, providing regular updates on the social and environmental impacts that your business makes—beyond financial achievements—is crucial. This is because they help attract mission-driven investors, build trust with your communities, and enhance brand reputation with your target travelers.
This is where impact reports come in.
While both impact reports and annual reports are essential tools for organizational transparency and communication, they serve distinct purposes and target different aspects of an organization’s performance.
An impact report demonstrates the broader societal and environmental effects of an organization’s activities, whereas an annual report provides a detailed financial and operational overview.
In this article, we’ll deep dive into:
The strategic importance of an impact report as a communication tool
The six steps to produce a compelling impact report
Why an Impact Report Matters
Demonstrating Accountability and Transparency
An impact report is a comprehensive document that showcases the tangible impacts of your company’s sustainability initiatives. It’s a testament to your dedication to minimizing environmental footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting ethical practices. For investors, local governments, and eco-conscious travelers, an impact report provides the transparency and accountability they demand.
Attracting Investors With a Clear Impact Narrative
When you make a case for your business with substantial data-driven outcomes and future commitments, you’ll likely attract impact investors who are keen to back businesses that benefit their communities and the environment while maintaining profitability.
Winning Over Local Governments and Communities
An impact report should demonstrate how a company's activities align with local sustainability goals by highlighting positive outcomes like job creation, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation. This in turn fosters stronger relationships and facilitates smoother project approvals and partnerships with local stakeholders.
Enhancing Brand Awareness and Consumer Loyalty
In addition to meeting important criteria such as safety, value for money, uniqueness, comfort, and fun, destinations and travel companies that effectively communicate their sustainability credentials with travelers will have a distinct advantage over others.
An impact report can be repurposed for consumer campaigns to attract eco-conscious travelers and create compelling marketing narratives that resonate with the next-gen consumers' values.
Driving Continuous Improvement
The process of compiling an impact report encourages companies to critically assess their sustainability practices and set measurable goals for the future.
This continuous improvement mindset can also lead to the development of new ideas, prompting companies to introduce new and better ways to operate sustainably.
Five Steps to Develop a Compelling Impact Report
1. Define Your Objectives and Audience
To begin, some of the first important questions one should always ask oneself are: “Who is my audience?” and “What do I want them to do after reading this important report?”
From there, tailor your report to address the priorities and interests of your audience, whether they are investors, government officials, community leaders, or travelers.
For example, in this impact report by THE PIG Hotels, CEO Tom Ross highlights succinctly and powerfully that the readers will learn what makes THE PIGs a responsible hotel business by reading this report.
This personable note grabs the reader's attention right from the start and sets the tone for the rest of the report.
Source: THE PIG Hotels 2022 Impact Report
2. Establish a Sustainability Narrative or Framework.
The next step is to develop a narrative that highlights your mission and sustainability journey. This narrative must be built on real stories and case studies, supported with visuals like infographics and charts to make your points engaging and memorable.
One of the easiest ways to elaborate on your narrative – which is most likely how businesses can be a force for good – is to categorize your achievements.
For example, The Datai Pledge uses its 2022 Impact Report to demonstrate the impact of the four key pillars: pure, fish, wildlife, and youth. Within each category, The Datai Pledge team shares progress updates on repurposing waste, marine ecosystem protection, reforestation, and the Roots & Shoots Malaysia Award (RASMA) program.
Source: The Datai Pledge 2022 Impact Report
3. Collect, Analyze, and Present Data to Build A Narrative, in A Transparent Way.
The process of data collection and analysis is meant to help you gather evidence and build the narrative that you need. But as you include the data in the impact report, you can enhance the credibility if you explain your data collection and analysis methods even in a few short sentences.
For example, the Soneva Sustainability Report not only highlights that the brand reduced its per-resident-night emissions by 3% compared to 2009 but also demonstrates the formula to calculate the emissions.
Source: Soneva 2021 Sustainability Report
Source: The Travel Corporation 2023 Impact Report
However, collecting and analyzing data is only half the job, presenting it in a compelling way to make your case is equally important.
Take the example of the 2023 Impact Report by The Long Run, one of the world’s largest nature-based business initiatives with over 60 members worldwide, which demonstrates how to use well-designed infographics to contextualize its achievements.
Source: The Long Run 2023 Impact Report
Regardless of whether a company assigns its sustainability manager or hires a consultant to develop an impact report, this project benefits from engaging all relevant stakeholders. We have compiled a list of preliminary interview questions related to key areas of sustainability that you can use to gain qualitative insights to build your narrative.
4. Spotlight the Heroes and Use Smart Graphic Design.
You may be surprised to learn that on average, an impact report requires the collaboration of more than three people. This is because it involves individuals with specific skill sets, such as copywriting and graphic design. (The good news for creatives is that AI is not yet advanced enough to replace our human ability to customize a brand’s impact report.)
Some of the most compelling impact stories are told by those who do the work and those who benefit. Using The Datai Pledge Impact Report as an example, highlighting the contributions of team members can make a report more relatable and engaging.
Source: The Datai Pledge 2022 Impact Report
Banyan Tree 2023 Sustainability Report is a clear example of how appealing design and succinct language not only make a report easy to read but also convey the brand’s creative identity effectively.
Source: Banyan Tree 2023 Sustainability Report
5. Review and Validate
We cannot stress enough the importance of reviewing and editing your report multiple rounds. It may be worthwhile to consider sharing the report with independent, third-party individuals to provide feedback.
Now that you have your impact report, the next step is to promote it. In the second part of this series, we’ll discuss how to communicate the impacts achieved in a way that further cements your investors' and partners’ support while disseminating your key impact messages to travelers in engaging and fun ways.
Is your company looking for support to produce an impact report? Please reach out to our team at people@asiasustainabletravel.com. We’d be happy to discuss how we can help.
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