Viewpoints
Authenticity, Giving Back, and the Awkward Case of Indigenous Tourism
January 18, 2012
As tourism destinations and products become increasingly interchangeable, local aboriginal cultures have become a key differentiator to remain competitive. This raises many questions on how indigenous groups and the tourism industry can best work together for a greater good. “Nunavik Landscape. Photo by Inuit Adventures. By Daniel Kreuger, Puddle Jump Consulting Dan has been working as a senior advisor for the Kativik Regional Government in Nunavik, Canada, for the past four years helping to develop a community-based tourism industry that enhances the socio-cultural and environmental integrity of local Inuit communities. Trend watchers at the recent Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) 2011 in Chiapas, Mexico (has it been 3 months already?!?) looked into their crystal balls to shed some light on the future of the adventure tourism industry. Through a misty haze the ideas of ‘authenticity’, ‘giving back, ‘participation’, and ‘engagement’ resonated with the crowds. Bruce... Read More →
Viewpoints
Reduce Hunger, Visit Chiapas
November 4, 2011
Assistant Editor’s Note: AdventureTravelNews occasionally posts special Op-Ed articles in Viewpoints, a column designated for exploring different industry perspectives. By Murray Bartholomew I’ve heard it said that our generation has the power to end starvation for the first time in history. One needn’t travel far away to understand that this goal will be no easy task. I’m here in Chiapas, a state in southern Mexico, and through our trip we have seen widespread poverty. Families have a couple chickens, maybe a pig, and usually a few children. Very young children are frequently seen selling wares to make a living. Tap water is unsafe. Houses look as if they are one storm away from collapsing. Clothing on many people is threadbare. Even dogs show their scrawny ribs. What can be done? Today, the developed world today could very well pool its resources and feed all starving people for one day, or perhaps even a month. But what happens at the end of that month?... Read More →
Viewpoints“Live a Little” Campaign Aims to Lift Americans Out of Economic Gloom with Recreation Boom
October 28, 2010
Tough economic times have left their mark on the national psyche, creating a psychological depression, if not an economic one. Joe Robinson, author of the new book, DON’T MISS YOUR LIFE (Wiley, ISBN: 978-0-470-47012-1; November 2010), says we can shift out of gloom and doom with a resource our forebears used to get them through in the Great Depression: recreation. Robinson has launched the Live A Little campaign to uplift and reduce the stress of the overworked and unemployed through free introductory recreational classes, from kayak and dance classes to archery or climbing lessons. “We’ve been through some rough times and everyone’s down in the dumps,” says Robinson, an ATTA Summit speaker and former publisher of the adventure magazine Escape whose book details the skills needed for the missing piece of happiness—an engaged recreational life. “The research shows, though, that we can dramatically increase positive mood and self-worth when we get out of our heads and jump... Read More →
Featured Article Viewpoints
Championing the Soul of Travel
August 17, 2010
Bill Bryan, Co-Founder & Chairman of Off the Beaten Path, presenting at July's ATTA Regional Meeting in Montana Editor’s Note: Bill Bryan, a long-time advocate of the ATTA and a 2010 Adventure Travel World Summit Advisory Committee member, first contacted the ATTA about, “Championing the Soul of Travel” following the 2009 ATWS. Then in February 2010, Bill joined ATTA’s President Shannon Stowell and Vice President Chris Doyle in Washington, D.C., to bring a voice to adventure tourism within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. Following those sessions, the three discussed the concept of the “soul” of travel. It’s a concept that Bill presented at the ATTA’s Montana Regional Meeting in June – a concept well received by attendees and that stimulated meaty discussion. Here, we solicit your comments to Bill’s perspectives, and ask that you “sound off” so that we know your... Read More →
By the Numbers Must Read/View ViewpointsIn This Economy, Industry Vets Concur: “Don’t worry about the wind; adjust the sails.”
February 19, 2009
There are no two ways around it: It’s time to, “Adjust the Sails”. So says adventure travel professionals possessing decades of experience who have weathered the worst tempests to date who’ve recently borrowed from that now infamous Ted Turner quote. It’s been said that the two most important drivers of adventure travel business is the geopolitical scenario and the economy. And, one of the drivers is suffering. Before a combined total of more than 125 adventure travel industry peers, eight adventure travel industry veterans speaking on two “Weathering the Economic Storm” panels during recent ATTA Regional Meetings in San Francisco (Dec. 5, 2008), Seattle (January 28, 2009) and in Los Angeles (February 13, 2009) agree that this economic downturn is the most challenging the adventure travel industry has experienced. They also agreed in principle that the recession is expected to be prolonged, representing more of a “U” than a “V” shape. Another suggested that a “W”... Read More →
Member Press Releases Must Read/View ViewpointsOpinion – Social Media: Wake Up and Smell The Engagement!
January 8, 2009
Editor’s Note: Chris Noble of World Nomads has LEPT out in a big way with the ATTA before, during and now post 2008 Adventure Travel World Summit as a fresh voice, forward leaning, and truly tapping into innovative programs that can make a difference and that illustrate savvy marketing sense. I encourage you to read this opinion piece/blog entry, you’re sure to learn something. Thanks Mr. Noble for nobly sharing your expertise with our community. “There has over the past few months been a lot of heated debate about the business value of Social Media. A lot of it seems to be centred around the commercial ROI of advertising through the various Social Media channels. Will Facebook start to yield stronger advertising revenues? do ads on Bebo work? How can you monetize your presence on Flickr? is Twitter a waste of even 140 characters? Why did my wife buy a dog when I last went overseas? (ok, maybe not the last one). In my humble opinion, I think businesses, particularly those... Read More →
ViewpointsCarbon Offsets: Paying off Unsustainable Life Styles or Investing in Sustainability
May 12, 2008
AdventureTravelNews welcomes opinion editorials – submit to editor@adventuretravel.biz Editor’s Note: ATTA offers a free Webinar on Carbon Offsets on May 15th…read more>> Michael Kaye, President & CEO/Founder Costa Rica Expeditions May 12, 2008 In October 1980, a couple of years after I started Costa Rica Expeditions, a reporter from The Tico Times, Costa Rica’s English language newspaper wrote an article about my fledgling enterprise. Almost 20 years later, researching her book on eco-tourism, “Ecotourism and Sustainable Development. Who Owns Paradise”, Martha Honey found my long forgotten answer to a question about what made my vision of tourism different, “Tourism should contribute to, rather than exploit (the land)…It should be active rather than passive, emphasizing cultural exchange rather than mere sightseeing.” Honey called them “pioneering words.” Almost 30 years later, having watched eco-tourism... Read More →
ViewpointsCarbon Credits
May 12, 2008
Carbon Credits By Gordy Petersen, Owner, San Juan Suites in Friday Harbor, Washington You may be a conflicted traveler. You love to jet off to exotic locations, kayak on pristine waters, hike in the old growth forests, and sail with the wind at your back. You love the freedom and benefits of living in this consumer driven western world and yet you hate it because you really believe the planet is doomed because of your excess consumption. So what are you going to do about it? Buy carbon credits of course! You can have your cake and eat it too. You can turn around and embrace your odiferous carbon cloud that threatens to choke out all life on Earth by investing in sustainable renewable technologies around the globe. Promoters of this scam guarantee you will feel better about your huge carbon footprint. You will be absolved for your part in all this. What a concept! Who could have predicted a few years ago that anyone would buy a “carbon credit” because they felt guilty for their... Read More →
