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	<title>Xola Consulting Blog</title>
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	<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:27:04 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Social Media and Destination Marketing</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/social-media-and-destination-marketing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/social-media-and-destination-marketing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:27:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Destinations]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=276</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the last ten years the travel industry has witnessed how the Internet has revolutionized business practices. Now, the majority of travel-related business transactions occur over the Internet, reducing the demand for offline information resources and travel agents substantially.
Travelers use online resources to learn about travel destinations, service providers, and pricing options to inform and [...]]]></description>
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		<title>2009 Trends In Adventure Offerings</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/2009-trends-in-adventure-offerings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/2009-trends-in-adventure-offerings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:06:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Industry Research]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=215</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We recently conducted an analysis of some top adventure travel companies as rated by National Geographic ADVENTURE magazine. Our purpose was to spot important trends in adventure company offerings for 2009.
Trends Overview
In terms of the types of trips, family-oriented adventures and custom and/or private trips are clearly growing quickly. In addition, there seem to be [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Carbon Emissions and Adventure Travel</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/carbon-emissions-and-adventure-travel/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2010/01/carbon-emissions-and-adventure-travel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:35:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=225</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not uncommon for people to question the utility of adventure tourism as a means of encouraging conservation, when it so often involves air travel, something we all know generates a significant amount of carbon emissions.  In this blog, we review a recent study entitled Carbon Footprint of Nations: A Global, Trade-Linked Analysis (Environmental Science [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Adventure Tourism Challenges and Potential in Sardinia</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/07/adventure-tourism-challenges-and-potential-in-sardinia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/07/adventure-tourism-challenges-and-potential-in-sardinia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:12:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Destinations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=191</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sardinia, the Italian island south of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, is an adventure traveler&#8217;s paradise: rock climbing over turquoise waters, the ancient granite mountain top of Gennargentu covered in snow and mist, well-defined treks across the island, and a mysterious prehistoric past defined by 6000 year old stone temples.  I recently returned from a [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Norway Takes Mountain Tourism Businesses On Tour</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/norway-takes-mountain-tourism-businesses-on-tour/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/norway-takes-mountain-tourism-businesses-on-tour/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:26:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Destinations]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Product Development]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=184</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Norwegians decide to do something, they really go after it.   Take, for example, the Norwegian approach to nature and adventure tourism development.  As part of a national “business cluster” development program, businesses in Norway’s Mountain Cluster have been traveling the world taking in some of the best in mountain tourism.
They’ve been to Austria, Switzerland, [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Skilled Professionals Apply Their Expertise Through Volunteer Tourism</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/skilled-professionals-apply-their-expertise-through-volunteer-tourism/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/skilled-professionals-apply-their-expertise-through-volunteer-tourism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:43:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Meeting Planning]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Travel and Volunteering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s not too difficult to identify volunteer opportunities for individuals with specific skills around the world, but what about corporate groups?  Doctors Without Borders is great if you’re doctor, but what about all you accountants and graphic designers?  Is it possible to find compelling volunteering projects for skilled corporate people?
We think so!
Xola works frequently in [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Saving Culture Through Tourism</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/saving-culture-through-tourism/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/06/saving-culture-through-tourism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:24:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=172</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In some cases, tourism signals an end to local culture.  In other cases, it offers one of the few compelling reasons to retain it.  Sadly, in the case Kashgar, an historic Silk Road City in western China, tourism&#8217;s being developed in a way that spells disaster for one very historic cultural place.  A  recent article [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Mountain Film Festival 2009 Highlights Adventure Travel&#8217;s True Spirit</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/mountain-film-festival-2009-highlights-adventure-travels-true-spirit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/mountain-film-festival-2009-highlights-adventure-travels-true-spirit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 14:13:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure People]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=112</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was lucky to spend last weekend at the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado as the guest of National Geographic ADVENTURE magazine, one of the event’s sponsors.
This was my first time to the Mountain Film Festival and I expected to see such films like the snow-boarding thriller “That’s It, That’s All” and “Solo,” which [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/mountain-film-festival-2009-highlights-adventure-travels-true-spirit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Meeting Planners Look to Volunteering</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/meeting-planners-look-to-volunteering/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/meeting-planners-look-to-volunteering/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 18:29:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Meeting Planning]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Travel and Volunteering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week I attended an educational conference for members of San Diego Meeting Professionals International.  It was great to talk with attendees and observe such interest from corporate groups to bring community service projects and volunteerism into their meetings and incentive programs.  It's clear to me that the increased focus on Corporate Social Responsibility combined with the many new outlets for group volunteering, puts meeting planners in a position to truly get creative, offering innovative programs while making a positive contribution in the destinations they visit.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/meeting-planners-look-to-volunteering/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>An Alternative to Mass Tourism: The Adventure Opportunity the Wall Street Journal Didn&#8217;t Mention</title>
		<link>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/an-alternative-to-mass-tourism-the-adventure-opportunity-the-wall-street-journal-didnt-mention/</link>
		<comments>http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/2009/05/an-alternative-to-mass-tourism-the-adventure-opportunity-the-wall-street-journal-didnt-mention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 21:44:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Adventure Tourism and Social/Environmental Issues]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Product Development]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.xolaconsulting.com/blog/?p=74</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Headlines like this make me cringe: “To see some of the most spectacular spots on earth before the tourist buses arrive, visit the sites being considered for World Heritage designation.”

Why?  Because it assumes that the only way to bring tourism to a region is to bring it with loads of buses and inconsiderate people who destroy the place.

In the Wall Street Journal’s May 15, 2009 Weekend Journal the cover story is by Stan Sesser, who highlights a number of sites around the world that may become World Heritage Sites in 2009.  This designation can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how destinations manage their resources, and Sesser quotes an official at the World Heritage Organization who rightly observes that the program “has been turned into simply a branding scheme.”]]></description>
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