Clockwork Marketing goes 30 Days Wild for the Wildlife Trusts
As hospitality insiders for 30 years, we are aware of the changing values in society. The environment matters. We can see that people are more concerned about the welfare of our planet than ever before. The choice of activities they do, their travel destinations, how they get there and on a top-level, the brands they engage with, must share the same green values as they do.
Nature matters for tourism
In the hospitality industry we know that there is a big carbon footprint, the aestheticism of social media is a key driver of overtourism in regions that get likes on Instagram. But really, these beauty spots and the wildlife that call it “home” need to be protected.
As custodians of the planet, we must think about our collective future. For our industry, there must be a paradigm shift. Businesses must act locally to protect their area and change with the times.
Clockwork Marketing has taken a small step locally to support the Devon Wildlife Trust, who help preserve nature in one of the UK’s biggest tourist hotspots. Throughout June we participated as a business in The Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild initiative. Here’s what we’ve got up to…
30 Days Wild at Clockwork Marketing
We’re really lucky to be based in the beautiful Devon Countryside. Surrounded by greenery, flowers, lots of wildlife and the peaceful sound of birdsong. We regularly enjoy Wednesday walks through the country lanes, sometimes we can take our surroundings for granted.
On the first day of our 30 days wild we had a mindfulness walk. You might be thinking “what is a mindfulness walk?”. Well, we took a moment on our Wednesday walk to listen to the nature sounds around us, appreciating the wonderful hues and scent of flowers, bird spotting amongst other animals such as dragonflies, ponies, and donkeys!
Pete, our Head of Marketing, has for many months been on a beekeeping course at Buckfast, where he has learnt how to keep bees and care for them, he now has his own apiary in his garden with over 40,000 bees! We tasked Pete with identifying a bee (not his own!), and he was able to spot a brown banded carder bee on a client visit to Ascott House & Gardens in Leighton Buzzard.
Acts of Wildness
Some other acts of wildness included: picking up litter, putting food out for animals, going on a bug hunt (adults included) and sharing some fascinating animal facts. Did you know Sea Otters hold hands when they eat, sleep and rest, so they don’t drift away from each other? They also can’t swim on their own as babies, but they are buoyant so the mother wraps them in seaweed or kelp so they can leave them to go find food. Amazing right?
Another fascinating fact we found out was why moths don’t ‘like’ light. The reason moths manically fly around bulbs is because they evolved in the pre-electric world where they would use the moon to navigate. The constant angle of moonlight to their flight direction ensures they stayed in a straight line.
As you can tell, we were learning quite a lot about wildlife in June.
Appreciating with creativity
We also had a moment to use our creative skills to tie into wildlife themes. Alice penned a poem about a bee called Fred:
“There once was a bee called Fred, Who went to the flower bed. There was no pollen, we'd picked flowers and forgotten, without bees we'd all be dead”
Nice one Alice!
Being in Devon also offers a great mix of countryside and coastal destinations, which Bekah was able to enjoy on her weekend walk on the South West Coast Path. She made a video Reel of her walk from Wembury toward Noss Mayo where you can see the boats moored in the cove, Douglas the Labrador enjoyed his walk too!
SEE BEKAH'S REEL
From land to sea
In June, Daniel, who loves being by the water or in the water, went on a sailing expedition from the South of England across the Bay of Biscay to Portugal. Some of the team were tracking him online, to see how his trip was going.
He was able to appreciate ocean wildlife and stunning seascapes with regular visits from dolphins, other marine wildlife and many blazing evening sunsets.
Who doesn't love a healthy dose of vitamin sea?
Kindness grows here
It is say that "planting a garden today is to believe in tomorrow", this adage is a good principle to live by. At Clockwork we are plant people and like to get green fingers every now and again.
For 30 Days Wild, Mark took a moment to plant some wildflowers in his garden, whilst Clara identified flowers on a lunch time walk.
In the office we like to have desk plants, to bring nature inside. It also keeps us accountable to look after them, regularly watering them keeping them pruned when they grow too much. We often like to give each other plant cuttings so we can share in our appreciation of plants, and sometimes naming them, like Alice's cheese plant Wallace.
These were just a handful of the many exciting activities we got involved in throughout June. Taking part in 30 Days Wild has been a fantastic experience for all the team at Clockwork, to stay connected to our environment, but also to reinforce our commitment as a team to care for nature.
In our industry, we must begin to think about hospitality differently. Price, comfort and luxury alone will not be enough for tomorrow’s guests. Hospitality businesses must reciprocate their customers green values.
This is not just a “nice” thing do, but a must. Businesses need to have conscientious and robust Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials. More ethical and sustainable hospitality businesses will be the ones that come out on top.
Introducing The Tourism Summit
Wednesday 23rd November 2022 at Winslade Park, Exeter 9:45am - 4:00pm
An inspirational tourism event for ambitious hospitality owners and managers to futureproof your business.
The Tourism Summit brings together the best and brightest minds in tourism and beyond, to inspire and provoke hope for the future of hospitality, helping you attract tomorrow’s travellers and become more profitable.