Thomson Safaris recognized by National Geographic Traveler
April 30, 2008
Explorer’s Safari named one of 50 Tours of a Lifetime…
Boston, MA – National Geographic Traveler has recognized Thomson Safaris as offering one of 50 Tours of a Lifetime.
In its May / June issue, the magazine featured the award-winning tour operator for its Explorer’s Safari, a 12-day active adventure in Tanzania that includes a hike through the Great Rift Valley as led by a Maasai warrior.
“We were thrilled to discover that many outfitters share our vision that travel should ultimately not be acquisitive and superficial but connect us more deeply to the planet and to the people in it,” notes Norie Quintos, senior editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine. “The other wonderful thing we discovered is that one doesn’t necessarily have to rough it to travel authentically and sustainably.”
The magazine featured The Explorer’s Safari among other top active tours for 2008. The East African voyage begins with a stay in a remote wilderness preservation area, which is exclusively for Thomson travelers and offers adventurous opportunities not available within many national parks, such as night game drives, safari hikes, cultural activities, and Maasai village visits. What’s more, travelers can take heart in knowing that Thomson Safaris is currently making efforts to restore the preservation’s habitat, increase wildlife numbers, and engage in community-based tourism with the Maasai who live in the area.
Balanced with some traditional wildlife viewing in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the tour later heads out on foot for a three-day hike through the Great Rift Valley and surrounding Maasailands, where travelers can explore remote craters, flamingo-lined soda lakes, and stunning, untouched landscapes. With a donkey caravan transporting bags and equipment, the hike is led by a senior naturalist Tanzanian guide and a Maasai warrior.
“We are honored that National Geographic Traveler has recognized the Explorer’s Safari,” said Thomson Safaris director and co-founder, Judi Wineland. “Furthermore, we are thrilled more and more travelers see the value in trips that promote sustainability and empower communities.”
Marketing Visionary and Adventure Pioneers Headline at 2008 Adventure Travel World Summits
April 29, 2008
(SEATTLE) – Registrations opened, preliminary agendas were released, and exceptional headliners were announced today by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) for its 2008 Adventure Travel World Summit South American and European fall conferences expected to draw a combined 800-900 executive-level delegates for peer-to-peer networking, professional development and adventure familiarization and press tours.
Influential speakers during the ATTA’s 2008 Summits include: the author of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), which Time magazine recognized in March 2008 as one of the “10 Ideas That Are Changing the World”; an adventure and environmental explorer-researcher duo who have circumnavigated the world via low-level flights that contributed to the science of conservation; and an internationally acclaimed author and filmmaker who is considered the world’s most accomplished living polar explorer.
For its September 3-6 Adventure Travel World Summit-South America in São Paulo, Brazil, Authenticity (http://www.authenticitybook.com/) author James Gilmore’s keynote, “Real Travel: Rendering Authenticity in an Increasingly Unreal World”, will address the emerging experience economy and the rise of authenticity as a consumer sensibility with insights into experience design, customer experience management and experiential marketing that renders truly authentic travel experiences. Additionally, in service of environmental and scientific causes, explorers Margi and Gérard Moss, who have traveled more than 20 years in around-the-world light aircraft expeditions photographing and filming at low altitude the land, seas, forests and deserts, will share their most ambitious climate-change related project yet, “The Flying Rivers” (http://www.riosvoadores.com.br/), a project that aims to quantify the amount of water vapor transported in “flying rivers” – the air masses blown down from the Amazon region carrying huge quantities of humidity that triggers rainfall.
For the ATTA’s October 21-25 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) held aboard an expedition passenger ship voyage between Tromsø and Bergen, Norway, delegates will gain unprecedented first-hand polar region insights from famed Norwegian explorer and filmmaker, Børge Ousland (http://www.ousland.com/). Ousland, whose copious polar expedition records include a successful dead-of-winter North Pole expedition and the first solo ski expeditions to both of earth’s poles, will inspire delegates in Tromsø-the world’s “Polar Headquarters”-with real-world guidance in preparing for and managing risks, dealing with adversity, tolerating change, innovative thinking and re-defining and achieving success.
These pioneers will be joined by additional keynote presenters and a combined field of approximately 40 trend setters and industry experts representing diverse business disciplines. Summit conference sessions are geared toward giving market professionals tools to grow and improve their businesses, professionalizing and promoting adventure travel worldwide, and increasing business-to-business networking and collaboration. In addition, the Summits will address regional business needs and address common, cultural and environmental sustainability issues impacting the world today.
Expected to draw 500-600 delegates, the ATTA’s ATWS-South America agenda will emphasize:
- Practical tools for day-to-day business decisions;
- Focus on operations, guide support and recruitment, publicity, industry best practices;
- Connecting incoming companies with Brazilian and South American partners in a marketplace environment; and
- Top-level trends and research for future planning.
In Norway, the ATTA expects approximately 300-350 executives from around the world, with higher levels of participation expected from North American, European and African markets. In addition to small, dialogue-based sessions focusing on visionary, strategic, big-picture organization and systemic issues today and for the future, heavy agenda emphasis includes:
- Peer-to-peer executive level networking, both structured and informal;
- Market research and trends;
- In-depth sessions with a special emphasis on marketing and sales;
- International partnership development; and
- Adventure travel as a vector of sustainable development.
Considered the global adventure travel industry’s most strategic conferences, the ATTA’s 2008 Adventure Travel World Summits, which follow on the heels of its 2005, 2006 and 2007 widely acclaimed Summits in North America, take the professional gathering to new markets to increase the worldwide connectivity of the adventure travel industry. Early-release Summit information, including more complete agendas for each Summit event, delegate registration fees, and special transportation and accommodation packages for each Summit, is available at http://www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com/.
Major Sponsors of the ATTA (http://www.adventuretravel.biz/)-a global membership organization dedicated to unifying, professionalizing, promoting and sustainably growing the adventure travel market-and both 2008 Adventure Travel World Summits include: Brazil Tourism, ExOfficio travel clothing, Innovation Norway, Men’s Journal magazine, and W.L. Gore and Associates. Key Sponsors include Adventure Central, Alpine Tourist Commission, Best of the Alps, Chile, National Geographic Adventure.
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Alaska Discovery Preserves and Protects with Top Conservation Partners
April 29, 2008
Emeryville, CA- Alaska Discovery is proud to announce a special partnership with three major conservation organizations to promote and preserve the unique wilderness of Alaska-the Alaska Conservation Foundation, Audubon Alaska, and Alaska Wilderness League. To celebrate these new partnerships, Alaska Discovery is crafting special itineraries to help raise awareness and protect fragile areas currently under threat. The 2008 Alaska Discovery catalog released this month features each organization with a full page description of their concerns and commitment to specific conservation projects, ranging from offshore Arctic waters, to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Tongass National Forest, and more.
For 2009, Alaska Discovery is partnering with Audubon Alaska offer an exclusive trip to Teshekpuk Lake. This area, a remote nursery for thousands of caribou, shorebirds, and waterfowl in the western Arctic, is currently under threat by oil and gas development. The trip will include hiking, wildlife viewing and bird watching, and canoeing on the Colville River, and will be co-led by an Audubon Alaska ornithologist and a senior guide from Alaska Discovery.
Alaska Discovery’s commitment to sharing the wonders of Alaska for “the enjoyment and conservation of the great Alaskan wilderness” has been part of the company mission statement since its inception. As the oldest and most experienced wilderness guiding company in Alaska, Alaska Discovery has long been regarded as a leader in wilderness travel and education. The company was a pioneer in ecotourism by connecting people to some of the most wild, scenic, and fascinating areas of Alaska while treading lightly upon the land. Chuck Horner, a Juneau outdoorsman, founded Alaska Discovery in 1972 when Alaska’s pristine Admiralty Island was threatened by massive clear cutting. He decided the best hope of protecting the island was to bring people into the wilderness to understand what was at stake. These camping trips proved so successful, Alaska Discovery was born (and Admiralty Island was saved).
Through their “Dollar-a-Day” program, Alaska Discovery and its guests have contributed thousands of dollars over the years to many Alaskan grass root conservation organizations, in addition to its current partners. Among the many awards Alaska Discovery has received is the prestigious Outstanding Long-Term Program Award of the Alaska Land Manager’s Forum for excellence in dedication and commitment to ethically and socially aware use of the land.
For more information, or to inquire about Alaska Discovery’s exciting adventures and conservation programs and partnerships, call 1-800-586-1911 or visit Alaska Discovery.
Mountain Travel Sobek, parent company of Alaska Discovery, wrote the book on adventure travel, pioneering the concept of small-group adventure travel more than 35 years ago, and has been exploring the world in imaginative ways ever since. It is the most experienced company you can choose for a trip to a remote place, and you can count on them to make your trip safe, memorable, fun and environmentally sound.�
TourTech Systems’ Client O.A.R.S. Upgrades to Real-Time Online Reservation System that Connects to Existing System
April 24, 2008
TourTech Systems (www.tourtools.com), the creator of TourTools®–a software solution which automates most aspects of a tour operator’s business–announced today that its client O.A.R.S. (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists, www.oars.com) completed its TourTools upgrade to a real-time online reservation system that is integrated with its existing TourTools’ reservation solution.
Completed! April 15th – NYC: Responsible Luxury Summit
April 10, 2008
Adventure travel trade professionals are invited to an event hosted by CC Africa on April 15, 2008 to discuss an important question: “Can Luxury Travel be Responsible Travel?” Panelists from Travel+Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, Costa Rica Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions and more will be there to separate fact from fiction and discuss today’s traveler desires. We encourage you to attend this important event to engage in this important subject.
Escape Adventures Featured in Sustainability Best Practices Report
April 10, 2008
LAS VEGAS, NV – Escape Adventures, a leading active travel outfitter, is once again gaining recognition for its proactive environmental approach.
Escape Adventures is featured in a new report of renewable energy best practices. The case study series, released by The Renewable Energy in Tourism Initiative (RETI), focuses on industry leaders that have adopted best practices in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“Escape Adventures’ commitment to sustainability is truly energizing,” said Wendy Kerr, Project Coordinator, RETI. “This company exemplifies the spirit of adventure and creativity needed to fully realize the wealth of rewards made possible by incorporating renewable energy into the tourism industry.”
Adventures Within Reach In The News
April 10, 2008
# Vacationing on the Dollar: Where to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck
– Fox Business, April 1, 2008
# Peak performers: UW-Madison grads experience life on top of the world by climbing Kilimanjaro — Wisconsin State Journal, March 29, 2008
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/entertainment/279428
# Vail workers’ adventure will help kids — Vail Daily, February 1,
2008
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080201/NEWS/392585610
Adventures Within Reach Now Offering Kenya
April 10, 2008
Adventures Within Reach is proud to announce the addition of Kenya to our portfolio of amazing destinations!
We are offering 3-10 day safaris to the best parks in Kenya with adventure camping, standard lodges and tented camps, and luxury accommodations.
* See the incredible migration of wildebeest in the Masai Mara
* Photograph Kilimanjaro from Amboseli
* See the pink tapestry of flamingos at Lake Nakuru
* Hot air balloon over spectacular landscape and wildlife
* Combine a Kenya and a Tanzania safari for the best of both countries
AWR is also offering Mt. Kenya treks. At 17,057 feet, Mt. Kenya is the second tallest mountain in Africa. Trekking routes can be done in 4-6 days up to Pt. Lenana (16,355 feet). The true summit is a technical climb and takes 7 days.
MORE ON KENYA: http://www.adventureswithinreach.com/kenya/
About Adventures Within Reach:
Adventures Within Reach offers treks and cultural tours to Tanzania, Peru, Galapagos, and the Himalayas. AWR sends thousands of people each year on their dream adventure. For more information about specific packages and prices, contact Adventures Within Reach at 303-325-3746, or visit http://www.AdventuresWithinReach.com
FoxBusiness.com Travel Affordably Story Includes Adventures Within Reach’s Robin Paschall
April 2, 2008
Despite the current state of the economy – and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, FoxBusiness.com is right – there are destiations that remain solid deals. In this April 1st story, ATTA Member Adventures Within Reach is called upon for an adventure travel viewpoint. Here’s a snippet from the Fox report: “Robin Paschall, a travel agent with Adventures Within Reach in Boulder, Co. says it’s a fantastic place to vacation if you’re into adventure trips.”
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