About Arnold Donald
In February 2023, Arnold Donald received the 2023 Lifetime Achiever in Business Award from the St. Louis American Foundation. In a video produced for the event, Donald discussed his background, stating he was born in New Orleans in 1954 during segregation and attended an all-boys Catholic high school. He said he decided in his junior year to become a general manager of a Fortune 100 company, a plan he executed by joining Monsanto, where he spent 23 years and eventually became president of the agricultural company. Donald said he served on Carnival's board for nearly 13 years before being asked by then-chairman Micky Arison to become CEO, a role he accepted because he saw travel as a platform that brings people together.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald stated in a September 2020 interview that the impact on the cruise industry was "absolutely devastating," with zero revenue and no guests. He noted that Carnival had raised over $12 billion in capital markets and emphasized cash conservation. In 2021, Donald reported that bookings were within historical ranges and that there was "pent-up demand" for cruising. He outlined plans for ships to resume operations with enhanced protocols, including PCR testing and isolation areas, and said the company was sailing largely with vaccinated guests. Donald also stated that the company did not require mass layoffs and aimed to financially protect employees at the manager level and below.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Arnold Donald's recent appearances.
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Transcript (9 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
I was in Manila where you launched the best practice for hotels. There is a manual and now it is eight months. Do we have a practical result or not? Do you have a feedback about that?
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Arnold Donald0:19
We've gotten lots of feedback saying that, as you probably heard yourself, 'Hey, this is great. It really helps me focus on things I can do in my particular property to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.' So we've got a lot of positive feedback and we'll have to measure the results over time to see if we really are experiencing the declines that we hope to. But the point is it drew attention, people are focused, people are beginning to implement. A lot of that stuff was already implemented in some places because it came from best practices from around the world. And the more those best practices are adopted, the quicker we'll get to reducing issues.
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Interviewer1:03
Tonight, you're going to announce the next location for the summits. When you choose a location, what are the criteria? What are the goals?
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Arnold Donald1:24
The goal is again to pick a place that can inspire collaboration between the private and public sector to make travel even more frictionless, to make travel even more enjoyable, and amazing travel even more sustainable. So we're looking for locations that demonstrate that, and sustainable in the holistic sense—so the climate sustainability as well as social justice and social equity and inclusion. We were in Manila because Asia was just beginning to reopen after COVID. We were in the Philippines for a reason: it was an example of progress in frictionless travel, enjoyable travel. It's a beautiful country with great examples for others on how tourism and hospitality culture in the Philippines works, with a lot of focus on sustainability, especially on the social side. So those are how we pick it.
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Interviewer2:33
Here in Saudi, you've seen many media and many politicians from other countries, but no politicians from Italy. Do you think there's a reason? Does Italy not evaluate the value of WTTC?
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Arnold Donald2:53
No. Historically, we have had participation from Italy, and I think Italy is a country that is involved with and supportive of WTTC and its initiatives. They may not have a delegate here at this particular time for a host of reasons, often scheduling conflicts, etc. But we have found Italy to be a good supporter of WTTC initiatives and practice.
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Interviewer3:19
My question is about the impact WTTC has on politics and on economics. Of course, you are a large association of entrepreneurs and companies, and you can decide and orient many flows for tourism. So, how do you manage this power? You have the power to define a destination, to define the success of a destination.
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Arnold Donald4:01
What we do is, again, it's about collaboration. We pull together best practices and best thinking from the private sector and the public sector, and then we try to put that forward to ensure that there are regulations and procedures that contribute to more frictionless travel, even more enjoyable travel, and even more sustainable travel. That's the process. We are members—we're people, we're companies, we're Ministers of Tourism, etc.—and we collaborate together and try to do that in a way where there's harmonization. So, improving visa processes, watching tax structures, training and availability of training for young people to go into travel and tourism, and then best practices as we discussed earlier concerning reducing emissions and managing waste.
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Interviewer4:57
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you.
