EDITORIAL

 

Gerold Permoser is Chief Investment

Officer (CIO) of Erste Asset Management.

In this function he is in charge of the asset

management activities and investment

strategies of all investment funds of the

Erste Asset Management Group in Austria,

Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary,

Romania, and Slovakia.

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In 80 days around the world

 

In 1873 Jules Verne published his novel

“In 80 Days Around The World”. Back

then, travelling the world in 80 days was

a real challenge. Today it is a real chal-

lenge to get 80 days off, whereas you

can make it around the world in less

than 24 hours. A weekend in London now sounds more like the order for a military operation than a relaxing excursion.

 

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Phileas Fogg, the protagonist in Verne’s novel, was rich. He had to be, because travelling was expensive – so expensive

in fact that Fogg had to spend almost

half of his considerable wealth on the endeavour. Today, travelling is cheap, which on the one hand has set off a democratisation process for holiday-

makers, but on the other hand has also caused brutal pressure on prices among the providers, casting social and ecolo-

gical shadows.

 

What today is the tertiary sector, for Jules Verne was Passepartout, Phileas Fogg’s butler. The name can be seen as pro-

grammatic for today’s service industry: “passer” (passing) partout (everywhere)

is often the motto that calls for fulfilling the client’s every wish, no matter the

cost.

 

Jules Verne’s book is also a snapshot of

the possibilities available at that point

in time. In the 1860s, the first railway connection across the USA was finished, the Suez Canal had just been opened,

and steamers were replacing sailing

ships all around. Thus transportation

was thrust into the hydrocarbon age,

with all its economic and touristic advan-

tages and ecological disadvantages.

 

All these factors continue to resonate through the tourism industry, influencing the sector in both good and bad ways. Speed can often only be achieved at the expense of the environment, and low prices hinge on the exploitation of the environment and the social component. The modern-day Passepartouts, i.e. the tourism workforce, are used beyond

their job description and often all the

way to their emotional core. Reason enough for us, then, to have a closer

look at modern mass tourism and its implicit challenges from a sustainable perspective in this edition of ERSTE RESPONSIBLE RETURN – The ESG Letter.

 

Sincerely

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Mag. Gerold Permoser

Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Chief Sustainable Investment Officer (CSIO)