Podcast
Episode 1: A Chat with National Geographic Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief
A discussion with Nathan Lump about travel – past, present & future.
To kick off Season One of Luxury Travel Innovators, I traveled to the National Geographic Museum and Headquarters in Washington DC to speak with Nathan Lump, the Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Magazine.
I got a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of National Geographic as our team was escorted through the underground bowels of the museum (currently undergoing extensive renovations) to reach Nathan’s office. And as we passed by the iconic photography that National Geographic is known for decorating the walls, I was struck by the clear ethos of the brand–encouraging people to discover the wonders of our world while inspiring them to protect it. In our discussion, Nathan and I talk about how National Geographic thinks about travel holistically, the innovations that AI could bring and the trends of modern travelers today.
Created over 137 years ago, National Geographic is one of the longest running editorial publications in the world. Nathan’s passion and curiosity matches that of Nat Geo’s audience, composed of people who are genuinely interested in having a deeper and broader understanding of the world, inclusive of a variety of cultures, science and animals. Going beyond the traditional goals of a travel brand, Nathan wants to lean into the “why” of it all–why does a traveler want to go to a destination, and what would they get out of that experience. All while remembering that travel should be fun, something that folks of all ages can (and should!) enjoy.
Impressively, National Geographic is the largest brand on social media in terms of aggregate number of followers across all platforms (surpassing the Kardashians and many other commercial brands). Part of Nathan’s job is to lead his team in thinking about what’s going to appeal across generations plus different kinds of people from different countries and cultures. And here’s where AI could come in handy–automatic language translations that are accurate and reliable, along with assistance in short-form interactive and immersive video storytelling.
With a thread of optimism throughout the brand’s content, Nathan’s goal is – to put it simply – to make really cool stuff. Using their community of brand ambassadors, Nathan strives to highlight remote and random corners of the globe, whether that’s through National Geographic Expeditions, television programming, filmmaking (check out the Academy Award nominated short film, Sugarcane), the non-profit arm, or the consumer products businesses.
To close our conversation, I asked Nathan our signature LTI rapid fire questions. His next travel destination? Chile in April, specifically to The Lake District and Atacama, where stargazing the night sky will (hopefully) be a highlight. When looking back at travel of the past, he mentioned missing traveling sans easy-to-access GPS. Perhaps we all need to spend more time looking up at the world around us instead of down at our phones. And looking towards the future? Nathan hopes that one day, the travel industry will innovate an integration of technology to help facilitate more luxury into everyone’s travel experience.
Thank you Nathan for our wonderful conversation, available to listen on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
