Daniele Kihlgren, born in Milan with Swedish origin, is the creator and founder of the Sextantio Group. 

The third son of a family of cement entrepreneurs, in the late 1990s he decided to restore a ruined medieval village, Santo Stefano di Sessanio, on top of the rugged Abruzzo mountains, making the whole place a hotel. 

Next, he will carry out a similar project in the Sassi di Matera and a small tourist village on an island of Lake Kivu in Rwanda, on the border with Congo. 

For more than ten years, through his Foundation, he has been carrying out a health insurance project in Rwanda, thanks to the proceeds from the management of the hotels spread by Sextantio and the generous contribution of friends and acquaintances.

Francesca Planeta was born in Palermo into a family of seventeen generations committed to innovation in agriculture and in particular with the example of her father Diego Planeta, one of the protagonists of the Sicilian wine renaissance. 

To the values that have always distinguished the family, Francesca works to give today a contemporary identity and a push towards the future together with her cousins Alessio and Santi, with whom she has been leading the Planeta winery since 1995. After a classical diploma and two masters in business communication in London and Milan and a brief experience in the Marketing division of Nestlè, in 1995 Francesca Planeta chose to return to Sicily to take part in the construction of the family winery, thus bringing into play not only her own professional vocation, competence and experience, but also the desire to share the great project of relaunching Sicilian wine in an international context.

Since the very first moment, Francesca has been responsible for the marketing and communication of the company, and she has also been in charge of leading the projects of hospitality, cuisine and culture in the five territories - Menfi, Vittoria, Noto, Etna, Capo Milazzo - where the wine and oil production has been developed.

In 1991, Michael Lutzeyer went camping with his family near Gaansbai, South Africa.  A ‘Farm for Sale’ sign attracted his attention to the most incredible view of the fynbos slopes overlooking Walker Bay. In 1994 Michael sold his business interests in Cape Town and decided to develop a bed and breakfast on the site for local visitors, not knowing that soon he would be attracting visitors from across the globe. Since then, through a combination of hard work, enthusiasm, vision and strong family cooperation, the Lutzeyers have turned the reserve into a world leader in progressive luxury tourism, transforming the lives of community members and preserving 2500 hectares of botanical and wildlife treasures. In 2003 he founded The Grootbos Foundation, a non-profit organisation that would work to conserve the critically endangered fynbos, while also focusing on the training and skills development of the surrounding communities. Michael has been enthusiastic about Ecoluxury from the beginning, bringing useful suggestions both in the world of sustainability and in the disclosure of the business model.

Claude Graves has been living in Indonesia and Kenya since 1974. He moved to Sumba, a remote island in the center of Indonesia, 

in 1989 where heco-founded, created, and managed both Nihiwatu and the Sumba Foundation, creating an internationally recognized and awarded model of sustainable tourism. Claude connected the hospitality business to guide and direct the finance margin to support the local community:water wells, education by funding several schools, bringing  innovative technology in the hotel's energy processes, and much more. 

In February 2013, Claude retired as the managing director of Nihiwatu to return his full focus and energies to the Sumba Foundation as its managing director. Claude is certainly one of the people who have most inspired the Ecoluxury model and all the benefits that come with it.

Colin Bell is an inspirational wildlife conservationist, one of the early initiators of the ‘Green Safari’ model in Africa. After completing his economic studies, instead of choosing the world of finance he started a safari guide in Botswana in 1977. 

In 1983 Colin co-founded Wilderness Safaris which went on to become one of the most successful specialist safari companies in Africa. 

For over 30 years Colin has founded camps and lodges across seven countries and managed millions of acres of prime wildlife reserve, creating sustainable tourism in his native Africa in partnership with rural communities. 

He pioneered the necessity of working with the local communities and fought for them to be stakeholders in the tourism and wildlife industries. One of Colin's great career successes was to initiate the process to reintroduce of both black and white rhino back into the wilds of the Okavango Delta. 

Colin sold his shares in Wilderness in 2005 and went on to co-found Great Plains Conservation and then Natural Selection Safaris. 

In between he co-authored two books - Africa’s Finest and The Last Elephants? Colin’s belief that wildlife enriches our lives and makes us caring, nurturing human beings drives his need to offer the next generation the same pristine environments we have enjoyed.

José Koechlin is a pioneer of eco and sustainable tourism in southern america. 

Each Inkaterra hotel has a precise mission in the world of sustainable and high-end tourism and are concider ad hospitality models. In fact, the hotel group is located in completely different environments from each other: ancient cities, Amazonia forest, the Pacific coast, agricultural zone, and archaeology. 

He has chaired numerous tourism and conservation boards including Chairman of the Sociedad Hoteles del Perú, and E-Meritus Board Member of Conservation International (Washington D.C.), adding huge value to their respective sectors in Peru. José sponsored major inventories of flora and fauna in the Amazon basin, finding more ant species at Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica than anywhere else in the world. 

He is responsible for the creation of the world’s largest collection of native species of orchids (372) and 18 unique species of hummingbird in their natural habitat at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. 

The Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel is also home to the Andean Bear Rescue Centre, one of Koechlin’s concepts that recovers bears that have been negatively affected by human impact and reintroduces them into their natural habitat. 

Jose is the most active ambassador of a model of sustainability tourism and up maket in Perù.

George Dominic, is one of the visionary personalities who have written history in changing the world to a better place.

He operates the hotel group CGH Earth Experience Hotels together with his brothers in Southern India. Ever since he opened  the first hotel environmental protection, respecting humans, animals and cultures have been always key values fot him. Responsible tourism were self-images of the Dominic family long before ecotourism became the catchword. George Dominic’s forefathers, were farmers and, hence, knew what it means to depend on the environment and to esteem nature. 

The family only used what they could return and their basic was “respect for the land and all creatures that live on it“. 

Today sustainability reflects the CGH Earth group's core values: promoting regional communities, protecting the environment and respecting the local ethos. Clean, Green, and Healthy Earth became the name giver of the hotel group briefly CGH Earth.

All lodgings were constructed in the typical style, built from regional resources and reused materials. Each resort must be benefiting the local communities, acknowledging their local culture and supporting them. 

CGH Earth recruits and trains local people, strengthens them in being themselves to create an authentic atmosphere.

Their employees and women, in particular, are encouraged in taking senior positions having a real perspective in the CGH Earth group. According to George, “sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the earth’s natural resources and personal resources.” Accordingly the CGH Earth resorts are managed following the basic principle of three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In this manner, the hotel group contributes to reduce the consumption of resources, which is why it chooses suppliers who increasingly renounce plastic packaging, and modern water plants and power-saving lamps are used. Moreover, the CGH Earth group tries to abandon fossil fuels as much as possible and increasingly uses fermentation gas or renewable energies. 

“Our journey does not end; in fact it has only begun“, George sums up confidently, “I think the Dominic Brothers have a new mission – to take CGH Earth global and open mindsets that will benefit the planet and all that lives on it.”

Marcello Murzilli, in the Eighties, establishes the clothes brand “El Charro”.  

After selling the fashion company, he sails around the world in a re-conditioned 1937 scottish cutter. Marcello is a visionary, always looking for an evolution of the concept of luxury and hospitality. 

He settles on the Pacific coast of Mexico where he builds and runs Hotelito Desconocido for 14 years. The hotel was recognized in London as one of the top five Eco resorts in the world. Returns to Italy and in 2013 opens Eremito.

A new concept in luxury tourism for Solo Traveller. Eremito is one of the first “Digital Detox” hotels in Italy. 

Since 2006 Marcello and his son Matteo have believed in Ecoluxury and helped the brand to develop and upgrade.