Welcome to the world of Dazzling Oceans!
It is my pleasure to welcome you back to the pages of Dazzling Oceans. After our successful launch at the Boston, Stockholm and St Petersburg stopovers of the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race, it is our intention to issue this ultra-luxury magazine on a yearly basis. Our aim remains to use these pages as a catalyst to encourage the world’s elite to lead by example through their commitment to philanthropy and ocean care.
Though the world has gone through some turbulent times in the past year, the economic crisis has shown no signs of dampening creativity. The old adage “necessity is the mother of invention” remains as valid as ever. Today’s more challenging environment has spawned an astonishing array of life-changing innovations. In the last 12 months alone, we have seen important medical breakthroughs in the use of statins and cardiac stents, and in genome-targeting therapies for cancer, major advances in cell-phone and Bluetooth functionalities, and new green technologies to generate power from garbage or water turbulence. In May this year, the world’s first silent “second generation” solar thermal plant came on stream in Spain, doing away with the need for gas or water to generate energy. Continuous improvements in engine technology, alternative fuels, suspension, safety features and car design look set to make our cars cleaner, greener and safer without sacrificing the fun factor.
Like other economic players, the luxury goods sector has had to adapt to survive a sharp downturn in sales in 2009. But prospects are now looking up, thanks to strong sales forecasts in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Sales are expected to grow throughout the world, with the exception of Japan, across all luxury product categories in 2010. Tougher conditions during the past two years have spurred high-end companies to focus on consumers, to concentrate on their core business and to further invest energy and resources on product design and innovation. A recent survey has forecast that sales will grow this year by 15% in Asia, by 8.7% in Latin America and by 6.6% in the Middle East. North American consumption of luxury goods is expected to grow by 2.6% in the first six months of 2010 and accelerate to 6.8% in the second half of the year.
Luxury is of course a subjective concept. Successful individuals with a history of outstanding achievement know that philanthropy is the ultimate luxury. We all remember our joy as children in unwrapping presents, but as adults we get more pleasure from giving than receiving. Philanthropy doesn’t necessarily have to be done on the heroic scale of a Getty for the arts or a Gates for humanitarian causes. Often modest or anonymous donations can make a huge difference to the beneficiary and bring a disproportionate sense of value to the donor. The true philanthropist is someone of honour, dignity, honesty and sincerity, who measures his worth not by material possessions but by the contribution he can make to alleviating suffering on a societal level, or to tackling some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Alfred Nobel is today less remembered for the fortune he made from inventing dynamite than for the prizes he set up to advance the cause of scientific progress and world peace.
It is in this spirit that I invite you to sample the articles assembled in this 2010 edition of Dazzling Oceans by some of the world’s best-qualified experts on philanthropy and ocean care.
Mr. M. A. Zaman
President & CEO