First Words

I didn’t realise at the time, but it all started more than 10 years ago when my family acquired a beautiful property on the small, historic hometown of Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, and turned it into a boutique hotel.

With no prior experience in the industry, my family implemented what they saw as best practices. They hired locally, trained the team and empowered them by offering something unique: shared benefits from the business.

Fast forward 10 years, and we had added another 5 hotels to our portfolio, each with the same focus on local resources and sustainable experiences for guests.

I began attending lots of international travel fairs to talk about our portfolio, discovering others with a similar ethos. It was incredible to find support from so many other hotels, parks and restaurants that also believe in sustainable tourism, and the power we have to educate travellers as they actively seek new perspectives in new places.

I noticed it was often the small boutique properties who shared our philosphy; the ones where the owner personally believes in the agenda and moves it forward – most of the time, investing out of their own funds. By definition and contrast, they also usually lack the means and resources to promote their experiences globally through media or travel agencies. As a result, awareness, and uptake, of these unique experiences was limited.

That’s how Bee+Hive came about. I wanted to combine a strong and aligned portfolio of members with a focus on sustainable experiences, to generate resources that support the people who are supporting their local areas. As a group, we create meaningful connections that enable members to develop and promote more inspiring and impactful experiences.

Why are we called Bee + Hive? While a bee is essential for the natural pollination process, it can only have an effect if it has coordinated contact with its hive. I believe this is also true for tackling sustainable issues; our individual ‘worker bee’ efforts need to be complemented by a wider community. With a hive to unite likeminded people, we can work together to create a better world for everyone to enjoy.

Bruno Correa,
Worker Bee and Founder