Dogs, Tourism and Traditions

Apr 13, 2011 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Rural Communities, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This blog examines the ethics of culling sled-dogs used for tourism purposes.  Recently, a tour operator in British Columbia, Canada was accused of inhumanely euthanizing 50 sled dogs, which were used in tourism activities. The basic chain of events was this: after the winter Olympics, tourism in British Columbia decreased. Outdoor Adventures at Whistler (OAW) took [...]

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Ecosystem Services: Help for Building the Financial Case for Adventure Tourism

Dec 6, 2010 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Rural Communities | Leave a Comment

Globally, ecosystems’ assets – crucial to adventure tourism markets – are poorly understood, monitored inconsistently (if at all) and facing rapid degradation.  Adventure destinations and tour operators often experience the effects of this resource collapse first-hand, becoming advocates for change in their home regions.  One of the crucial challenges they face in this process, however, [...]

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Rural Culture and Adventure Tourism – How Adventure Races Can Coalesce Communities

Sep 14, 2010 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Destinations, Rural Communities | 1 Comment

Adventure racing has become increasingly popular since the UK hosted a two-day marathon, the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, in 1968. Races that involve multiple disciplines, navigation, and the personal stamina to travel through rugged terrain for many hours to many days have been occurring, officially and not, throughout history. In many ways, the concepts and basic rules [...]

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Adventure Travel and Rural Economic Development in the United States

Aug 26, 2010 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Rural Communities, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

While Senate partisanship continued to stall a Bill that would create a $30 billion lending program and $12 billion in tax cuts for small businesses in the US, there is still good news for rural small businesses in both state and national programs. The Rural Microentrepreneurship Assistance Program (RMAP), launched in June 2010 under the [...]

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Social Investing and the Adventure Tourism Opportunity

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Rural Communities | 1 Comment

You might hear “adventure tourism,” and think of mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, or trekking. When we hear “adventure tourism,” we think of all that, too, but we also see tremendous opportunity for rural economic and environmental development. We think that for social investors, the adventure tourism niche is worth a look.

Here we’ll describe why adventure tourism businesses offer an opportunity for social investors and provide some suggestions on how to move investing in the sector forward.

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Adventure Travel Companies in Geotourism Competition

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues, Rural Communities | Leave a Comment

I was recently invited to the group of “official commentators,” for the “Geotourism Challenge 2009″, sponsored by Changemakers.net and National Geographic. Kathy Dragon, another representative from the world of adventure travel, is also among the group of commentators.

Scanning the entries I was thrilled to see familiar faces from our adventure community – PEPY and SEE Turtles for example, as well as numerous other adventure operators mixing adventure with projects to address social and conservation issues. I think it’s terrific that the adventure community is being recognized and incorporated with mission-focused businesses, and that the “adventure” brand is expanding. At Xola we recently put a new page up on our website: Adventure Travel Saves the World to build further awareness for concept with our government and tour operator clients.

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