Keith Sproule

Biography

Keith Sproule is dedicated to utilizing tourism as an economic tool for the sustainable development of local and regional economies. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy (AKP), a leading private sector travel philanthropy with the mission to “positively impact lives and livelihoods in the communities where A&K guests travel.” Keith manages a portfolio of 44 AKP investments in 24 countries, with a total impact of over $3,500,000.

Through June, 2014, Keith was the Tourism Business Advisor for the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia, where he supported initiatives to develop both private sector and community tourism capacity across some of the most rural, isolated regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Keith has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors focused on tourism planning and development. He has worked in Asia, Africa, Central Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. As an analyst and tourism development specialist, he has focused in particular on the economics of cultural heritage and nature-based tourism, most often in association with rural communities.

His professional background includes serving as an advisor to governments on three continents and operations consulting with hotel and tourism companies globally. Keith has a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Agriculture at the University of Vermont, and has completed a masters’ degree in international economics at Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He was a Fulbright Scholar in Belize, studying tourist expenditure patterns at protected areas archaeological sites.

Keith was a 2 term Chairman of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), 4 term member of the Board of Sustainable Travel International (STI), a 5X inspector for the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Tourism-For-Tomorrow Awards program and 2X inspector for the National Geographic World Legacy Awards. He has worked and traveled in over 140 countries.

He is the founder and Managing Director of the Bentwood Inn in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a member property of the National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World Collection.