Ties Ecocurrents Quarterly Emagazine - 2006 Q2

Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel

E c oCurrents

Second Quarter 2006 Price: $2.00 USD

INSIDE

THIS ISSUE:

Editor: Katie Maschman

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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SPECIAL FEATURE: SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

ver the past few years, the travel industry has seen tremendous growth in special interest travel. Many of these demographic travel trends have been mirrored in ecotourism. This edition of EcoCurrents features articles covering several such trends – specifically family travel, women’s tours, and medical voluntourism throughout the Americas. These particular market segments are neither exclusive to nature tourism, nor are they the only segments which have shown significant interest in responsible travel. TIES also recognizes strengthening correlation between Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) travel trends and ecotourism; the industry has also seen an increase in provisions for accessibility within ecolodges and on ecotours. As editor of the EcoCurrents, I would encourage you to share your experiences with these and other special interest travel groups. Please submit these experiences in letter format ([email protected]) for possible inclusion in subsequent EcoCurrents. —KATIE MASCHMAN

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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ECOTOURISM APPEALS TO SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS CAPTIVATE TRAVEL MEDIA

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FAMILY TRAVEL IN COSTA RICA

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WOMEN IN SUPPORT OF THE WILD 7 FINDING INSPIRATION IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES

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ECO-HEALTH AND TRUE HUMAN WELLNESS

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ECOTOURISM APPEALS TO SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS By: Carolyn Walters Fox

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ames celebrated his 12th birthday on a bridge suspended between rainforest treetops in Costa Rica. His parents and sister joined him on the eight-day adventure, sharing the highlights of this unforgettable birthday — walking cloudforest trails, soaking in volcanically heated waterfalls, and snorkeling. Another group of travelers — 10 women strong — explored the cultural marvels, worldrenowned cuisine, and bucolic landscape of Italy’s Umbria region. Led by two seasoned guides, the adventurous friends even managed to take a hands-on cooking class following a jaunt to the local produce market. (Continued on page 3)

Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (Continued from page 1)

Women sharing the trail. Friends and solo travelers. Families exploring the world together — spanning multiple generations. These niche trends in adventure travel are gaining momentum. And with more women and families choosing tours designed with their unique needs and priorities in mind, tour companies and outfitters are taking notice and positioning themselves to serve these markets.

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With that in mind, tour companies should ask themselves two pertinent questions: What’s behind these trends? And will they last? Women’s Travel: For women’s travel, the answer is a resounding yes. Los Angeles-based Impulse Research recently surveyed 1,500 women and determined that almost 50 percent had taken an all-female trip over the last three years, while 88 percent planned to take another or had expressed interest in a women-only vacation. Given that more women are in the workforce, and thus have disposable incomes, and also that baby boomers tend to be more physically fit than preceding generations, it’s only natural that women recognize the benefits of traveling with those of like mind. Chris Doyle of the Adventure Travel Trade Association says that adventure, active, and ecotravel were originally the domains of men, but as special-interest travel began incorporating more cultural, environmental, and educational components, women have signed on. Women are widely recognized to be the decision-makers when it comes to travel, so as options become available for trips that support camaraderie, fun, women-focused itineraries, and personal enrichment, women travelers are increasingly likely to add a women-only trip to their calendars.

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Family Travel: As the definition of family expands and evolves, so does interest in family travel. A recent American Express Travel poll indicates that family travel is a significantly increasing travel trend, and that the definition of a family vacation is broadening to include more meaningful travel — in particular, tours offering exposure to diverse cultures and lifestyles. Parents are eager to provide their children with active learning experiences, and adult offspring are traveling with their parents to enjoy time together. As a result, tour companies are responding with itineraries that incorporate family-friendly accommodations, flexible schedules, and cultural encounters. As these trends continue, tour outfitters are challenged to offer ever more fulfilling — and more targeted — tours. Understanding the demographics of these niche groups and their travel interests and priorities, as well as designing trips that foster respect for the environment and regional cultures, will yield the most positive travel experiences for travelers and tour companies alike.

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Carolyn Walters Fox serves in marketing and public relations for Country Walkers. Country Walkers (www.countrywalkers.com) is a leading provider of worldwide walking adventures. Offering more than 60 international tours, they have long been at the industry forefront with a tradition of employing local guides, itineraries highlighting regional culture, and tours promoting walking as a healthy, low-impact way to explore the world.

Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS CAPTIVATE TRAVEL MEDIA

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By: Nancy Harrison

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ho among us hasn’t taken a unique trip or vacation with their family, a close friend, or sister to an exciting destination? Special-interest trips are more popular than ever for travelers, and newspapers and magazines are full of articles that tell of girlfriend getaways, culinary experiences, and family fun packages. If you’re an outfitter, destination operator, or tour operator, it’s important for you to understand the trends in travel so that you can get editorial coverage for your trips. There’s no better marketing tool available to you in today’s market.

Recent stories featuring special interest travel include: • The June issue of Better Homes and Gardens featured an article about women-only trips and covered both destinations and tour operators who provide these kinds of trips. • More magazine’s June issue contained an article about volunteer vacations, in which participants build trails, do cleanup, and work on community projects for the needy while learning new skills themselves. • Men’s Journal recently featured outfitted trips with a culinary focus and included river trips all over the United States that offer cooking schools, wine pairings, and gourmet food in the wilderness. Family-specific programs are expanding to include a special focus on teens, particularly because this age group is so hard to please. Today, many media outlets are clamoring for more family-friendly packages.

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(Continued on page 9)

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel Family Travel in Costa Rica By: George Soriano

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ver the last 10 years, the number of American families taking ecotourism vacations to Costa Rica has skyrocketed. This makes sense, says Costa Rica-based Horizontes Nature Tours, considering the country’s close proximity and its reputation for peace and safety. And Costa Rica’s rich wildlife is easily visible through its extensive national park system. While these are the same attributes that have positioned the country in all segments of the adventure/ ecotourism market, they become more important considerations when traveling with children. Even in difficult times for travel, Horizontes saw this part of its business grow. Neither terrorism, nor SARS, nor Iraq would change the limited time that parents have before their children grow up and leave home. “More than ever,” says Horizontes president Tamara Budowski, “parents are seeking opportunities to bond and share a discovery experience with their children, while their children still want to travel together.” Parents have also begun putting a greater emphasis on vacation time, since home life has grown increasingly hectic between school, homework, sports, and endless other after school activities. With such high expectations of their vacation (Continued on page 10)

Top 10 reasons families with children and teenagers travel to Costa Rica: 10. Activities for all ages: Whether hiking nature trails, snorkeling, zipline canopy touring, whitewater rafting, or taking surf lessons, adventure tours abound for all interests and ages. 9. Kid-friendly meals: Restaurants throughout the country offer a relaxed, informal atmosphere and are happy to provide kid-friendly meal options. 8. Swimming pools and other hotel musts: Hotels chosen for safety, location and amenities that will give kids and adults space to move and play. 7. Trail conditions from easy to strenuous: Although some trails in the forest can be muddy, they’re easy to follow for children (and for grandparents, too!) 6. Easy to get around: By air or sea, there are often options on how to get from point A to point B, depending on time and interests. 5. Your trip, your way: Combine time exploring the rainforest, cloudforest, and beaches all in one trip, any way you want. 4. No water worries: Unlike other spots in Latin America, the water in Costa Rica is safe to drink everywhere, so parents can relax. 3. Healthy snack options: No matter where you are in Costa Rica, fresh fruit and fruit smoothies are always on the menu. 2. Wildlife galore: Our national parks and reserves hold more than 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity, packed into small areas that make spotting wildlife more likely.

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Refreshing natural cascades draw families to Costa Rica’s northern zone

1. Ticos Love Kids: Costa Ricans don’t go anywhere without the kids, and their love for family and children is prominent in local culture.

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel WOMEN IN SUPPORT OF THE WILD By: Mackenzie Banta

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magine a place largely untouched by human hands — a mosaic of deep canyons, soaring mountains, wide secluded valleys, and icy-blue alpine lakes. The topography spans two deserts, with elevations from 500 to 13,000 feet and more than 300 named mountain ranges. And wildlife is as diverse as is it abundant: cougar, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and North America’s fastest animal — the pronghorn antelope. Not what comes to mind when you think of Nevada? You’re not alone. For most, even many city-dwelling Nevadans, the state is a barren wasteland and a potential nucleardumping ground; a place mostly notable for Yucca Mountain politics, gaudy casinos, the extraterrestrial highway, shotgun weddings and Elvis impersonators. But Nevada is increasingly becoming a popular tourist destination, with about 4 million visitors a month and more than 50 million visitors venturing to the Silver State each year. And since the launch of Nevada’s Wide Open campaign, statistics have shown a marked increase in nature travel visitors to local and national parks, as well. Nevada offers one of the last opportunities for travelers to experience the awe and solitude truly found only in the intact and unspoiled wilds. Nevada’s wildlands are known in scientific and nature circles as the most biologically diverse in the nation. In fact, 85 percent of the wilderness legislation passed by Congress in the last six years has been in Nevada, which now has a total of 2 million acres. This legislation currently protects a mere 4 percent of Nevada’s public lands and equals enough wilderness to fill up the state of Rhode Island three times over.

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Helping preserve the beauty of these unspoiled wildlands is the nonprofit Nevada Wilderness Project. The project, in its commitment to saving Nevada’s spectacular, rugged and imperiled public lands as permanent wilderness, seeks the strongest protection possible. And because Nevada is the fastest growing state in the nation, these areas face an increased

danger of development. Many of the places most deserving of protection are public lands owned by the federal government in trust for all people. The best, the most unusual, and the most beautiful deserve the highest safeguard — designation as official wilderness — something possible only by an act of Congress. These lands are wilderness quality because they’re untouched by human hands — places not only for adventure, but also for true solitude. Since its founding in 1999, the Nevada Wilderness Project has been using wilderness values trips as a means to connect people to the land — and as a tool for conservation. The purpose of these values trips is to reach beyond the basic tenets of ecotourism. Although the environmental and social practices are essential components, the project also combines people’s love of open and wild spaces with their desire to be better informed and active in the conservation of such lands. It not only gives participants a sense of place, but also a sense of responsibility to the land. Wilderness values trips provide an opportunity to make an impact, and the Nevada Wilderness Project provides tools to affect change through the preservation and protection of these public lands as critical wilderness. Participants learn the skills they need to effectively engage their elected officials and stakeholders to help protect areas they care about deeply. In 2005, the project recognized the natural partnership between women’s wilderness values trips and Mother Nature around the state. The safe environment gives women the chance to experience the majesty of Nevada. As a new initiative for the Nevada Wilderness Project, these (Continued on page 10)

Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel Finding Inspiration in the Canadian Rockies: An All Women’s Adventure By: Kerry Litchfield

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ive women from Ohio, and one each from the opposite coasts of Oregon and Maine, did something truly remarkable last summer: They all made the time, and the commitment to themselves and each other, to make a sixday vacation happen, independent of their families and their careers. It’s not necessarily an easy task for women who are mothers and grandmothers, professionals and scholars, volunteers, activists, and even marathon runners to spare this kind of time, but they did. Sent along by Boundless Journeys to accompany them on their private Canadian Rockies trip, I was able to join this group of friends on their journey. I had little idea what to expect — either of the Rockies, having never been there before, or of my companions for the week, whom I had never met. What I found was wonderful: A sublime landscape that literally awed me, and an impressive and inspiring group of women who were gracious enough to welcome me into their adventure. With two Canadian guides, handpicked for their knowledge of the area, and (not insignificantly) their warm and enthusiastic personalities, the group was set for six days of hiking, overnights in wonderful hotels, and truly delectable meals.

of the greatest threats to our safety come from errant traffic during foliage season), I soon found that no bear would come near our group. The constant exchange of stories and laughter among these friends was a more than sufficient deterrent to any ursine surprises. The landscape, on the other hand, was satisfyingly wild. Flowers in all colors graced the alpine meadows where we walked, as did the roar of various terrific waterfalls. We watched and heard a massive avalanche in the Valley of Ten Peaks on the opposite side of Moraine Lake, we glimpsed eagles and elk in their natural habitats, and we stood on high glacial moraines above Lake Louise, spirits lifted by the high mountain wind. Perhaps it’s cliché to point out, but the dramatic nature of this glaciated landscape is almost overwhelming: Everything — from mountains to rivers to trees — is big and impressive and unspeakably beautiful.

Each day found us on new trails in wilderness of the Canadian Rockies. Despite my initial fears of being in brown-bear country (Boundless Journeys’ home office is in Vermont, where the wildlife seems a bit more benign, and some

As the week wound down, I found myself sorry to see it coming to an end. An extra in this group from the beginning, I felt that I had made true friends. Our dinner conversations about travel and education, about politics and business, about careers and relationships, motherhood and mothers, were all instructive for me. Then, on the last night, the ladies thanked their guides for helping them to enjoy the mountains safely and happily and for helping them to push their own physical limits — just enough to feel proud of their efforts and

WOMEN CHOOSING ADVENTURE Since the 1970s, the profile of American travelers has changed dramatically, especially with regard to the number of women on the move. Thirty years ago, women travelers were most often accompanied by husbands or family. These days, however, estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that almost 40 percent of women 35 and older have no “built-in” travel partners, and of the other 60 percent who do, more than half are opting to leave husbands at home. And what is it that women want to do?“Adventure travel. Active and off-the-beaten path itineraries,”says Karen Cleary, destination manager for Boundless Journeys and operator of active, authentic, small-group travel experiences around the world. Companies like Boundless Journeys offer a broad variety of trips, providing opportunities to travel to a variety of destinations, with active itineraries designed to highlight the unique qualities of each locale. The companionship of a small group is especially appealing for women who may otherwise find themselves traveling alone. Cleary says that some of the most popular destinations for women travelers are Peru, New Zealand, and the coast of Maine. Boundless Journeys offers active trips to each of these destinations.

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel CANADIAN ROCKIES

(Continued from previous page) their courage. I don’t know if you’ve ever been a part of an all-women’s outdoor experience, or whether you know someone who has, but something really unique happens: There’s an atmosphere of inspiration, encouragement, openness, risk-taking, and support. I sat there during our final dinner, in that moment when the dynamic among women friends and adventurers was palpable, thinking back to my preconceived notions about what it means to grow older. I thought about those ideas, and then I redefined them to reflect what this group of incredibly accomplished and incredibly graceful women taught me: Keeping friends in your life and embracing challenges can really keep you young and beautiful. Boundless Journeys (www. boundlessjourneys.com) is a U.S.based tour operator with the goal to connect travelers with the very best qualities of each destination through a variety of active adventures. For more information on Boundless Journeys, please email [email protected].

TRAVEL MEDIA ATTENTION (Continued from page 4)

When you have these kinds of packages available, be sure to prepare news releases and send them to the media outlets you’d like to target. Build relationships with the writers and editors of these magazines and newspapers so that they’ll contact you with specific needs they have for future articles. And remember to ask yourself these two questions when writing a news release: 1. Who cares? It’s important that your message be compelling, unique, and newsworthy; 2. Why now? Tie your news to a specific trend, season, or event to create interest.

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Nancy Harrison is the Founder of Adventure Travel Media Source. Adventure Travel Media Source is a media relations firm specializing in the active, adventure and ecotourism industry. Founded in 1999, the company represents more than 130 clients worldwide and is a recognized leader in the adventure travel industry. TIES members are also eligible for a 10 percent discount on ATMS services. For more information, visit www.atmstravelnews.com or e-mail Nancy Harrison at [email protected].

Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel

Conference Websites available August 2006 www.ecotourism.org WOMEN SUPPORT THE WILD (Continued from page 7)

women’s tours have seen incredible success from an educational and awareness perspective and as a tool for financial support. During the trip, participants are not only immersed in the natural beauty of these chief wildlands, but they also embrace the indigenous local history, as they examine a petroglyph and other natural features. As participants face the dichotomy of their travel alongside irresponsible off-road vehicles that are destroying Nevada’s fragile landscape, they come to some prolific realizations. And as a result, many women provide much-needed support for the project, often contributing a monthly donation of $30 or as much as a single gift of $2,500. As the desert cools down once again, the Nevada Wilderness Project is looking forward to igniting passion and support among women on its wilderness values trips. The land presents plenty of awesome and inspiring opportunities for people to connect to it, giving them a chance to forget the stresses of work for awhile, and to feel like a part of the land and the natural rhythms of life.

Native Nevadan Mackenzie Banta is Development Director of the Nevada Wilderness Project. For an upcoming schedule of trips, visit www.wildnevada.org. or write to her at [email protected].

FAMILY TRAVEL IN COSTA RICA (Continued from page 5)

experience among a new client profile, Horizontes saw a need for its naturalist guides to change their approach to nature interpretation. In order for everyone to have a great time, guides would have to begin seeing the natural world from a youngster’s perspective and find ways to make conservation themes relevant to all ages and interests. “When parents see their kids all wide-eyed and smiles, exploring and having fun, they’re happy too,” says Horizontes naturalist Julio Fernandez. George Soriano is marketing director at Horizontes Nature Tours (www.horizontes.com). Since 1984, Costa Rica-based Horizontes Nature Tours has led many thousands of travelers to the country’s most beautiful and biodiversity-rich destinations — all in the name of conservation.Horizontes Nature Tours is a 2006 recipient of the Rainforest Alliance Corporate Green Globe award.

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel Eco-health and True Human Wellness By: Bob Truckner

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have a friend who owns a guest ranch in the western United States. Recently, he was telling me how one of his guests was in a terrible panic the first morning of his vacation because The New York Times wasn’t available. The guest was so upset the owner drove 60 miles to town and back just to get his guest a newspaper. The owner did this for two days. On the third day, the owner noticed that the paper hadn’t been touched. He told me he knew that at that moment, the guest had engaged in his vacation. I view moments like that as the beginning of human wellness. The guest had become aware, connected to the rhythms of the ranch and the beauty of the natural surroundings. Ecotourism is the perfect place to help humans make connections with the natural environment. And it’s an important facet of EcoHealth. What is EcoHealth? Eco-health is a unique collaboration of physicians, veterinarians, geologists, ecologists, and others who have come together to study complex interactions between humans and the ecosystems in which we live. For example, EcoHealth researchers have shown how clear cutting of rainforests in South America has spread malaria among native farmers, how shooting coyotes in the southwest United States desert contributed to a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, and how El Niño ocean currents create outbreaks of cholera thousands of miles away. Ecotourism is one solution for eco-health’s “healthy ecosystems, healthy humans” mantra, and EcoHealth FUTURE ECOCURRENTS EDITIONS The next edition of EcoCurrents will focus on green building, innovative design, and native landscaping within ecotourism and ecolodge development. We encourage members to submit articles on technical achievements on these topics. Please submit letters and future articles to [email protected] by September 1, 2006 for potential inclusion in Third Quarter 2006 EcoCurrents. PHOTO CREDITS:

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Clockwise from top left on each page Page 1: Article photo courtesy of Country Walkers. Page 4: Article photo courtesy of Adventure Travel Media Source. Page 5: Photo courtesy of Horizontes Nature Tours. Page 7: Article photos courtesy of Nevada Wilderness Project. Page 8: Photo courtesy of Boundless Journeys. Page 9: Photos courtesy of Boundless Journeys; Adventure Travel Media Source. Page 10: Photoscourtesy Monona Terrace; VisitOSLO; VisitOSLO, Monona Terrace.

presents program opportunities for ecotourism. By providing sustainable ecosystem-sensitive vacations for guests, you’re already actively engaged in ecosystem protection and the protection of human health. In this time of interest in voluntourism, I ask you to use your unique vantage point to look for further ways in which you can make an eco-health difference. Help create and find staff for a local health clinic, replant native vegetation and further restore your local ecosystem, and educate others (both guests and locals) how to thrive in a sustainable, healthy ecosystem. True human wellness occurs not when we ourselves are well, but when we are well within our environment. Bob Truckner is a pediatric emergency physician who has had an interest in ecotourism for nearly 10 years. Recently he changed the focus of his career from emergency medicine to eco-health. He welcomes comments and is interested in furthering eco-health in ecotourism. Contact him at [email protected].

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Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel TIES SPONSOR MEMBERS Adventure Life Journeys • Alaska Wildland Adventures • Amazonia Expeditions • Aventuras Naturales - Pacuare Lodge • Canadian Mountain Holidays Inc. (C.M.H.) • Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (at Conservation International) • Crossing Latitudes, Inc • ecoAfrica Travel • Ecoventura/Galapagos Network • El Pescador Resorts • Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn • Green Hotels of Costa Rica • Holbrook Travel • Horizontes Nature Tours • InkaNatura Travel • International Expeditions, Inc • INTRAV / Clipper Cruise Lines • Intrepid Travel Pty Ltd • Jungle Bay Resort and Spa • Kingfisher Bay Resort • Lapa Rios Ecolodge • Legitify • Lindblad Expeditions • Maho Bay Camps, Inc. • Micato Safaris • NatureAir • Nomadic Journeys Ltd • OARS (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists) • Rainforest Expeditions (Posada Amazonas/Tambopata) • Rhino Walking Safaris • Rivers Fiji • Solimar Marketing & Travel • The Uganda Safari Company • Tiamo Resorts • Turtle Island, Fiji • Wilderness Travel • Wildland Adventures TIES NATIONAL & REGIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERS Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association • AMTAVE (Mexican Association of Adventure Tourism & Ecotourism) • Armenian Ecotourism Association • Asociación Ecoturismo Guatemala • Asociación Ecuatoriana de Ecoturismo - ASEC • Brazilian Society for The Environment • Camara Nacional de Ecoturismo de Costa Rica (CANAECO) • Central Balkan Kalofer Ecotourism Association • Discover Nepal • EcoBrasil - Associacao Brasileira de Ecoturismo • Eco-Nigeria – Ecotourism Society of Nigeria • Ecotourism Australia • Ecotourism Kenya • Ecotourism Laos - Mekkong Tourism Development Project • Ecotourism Norway • Ecotourism Society of Sri Lanka (ESSL) • Ecotourism Society Pakistan • Ecotourism Society Philippines Foundation • Ecotourism Society of Kenya • Ecotourism Society of Saskatchewan • Ecoturismo Italia • Estonian Ecotourism Association (ESTECAS) • Fiji Ecotourism Association • French Ecotourism Society • Grand Bahama Island Ecotourism Association • Green Tourism Association • Hawaii Ecotourism Association • Indonesian Ecotourism Network (INDECON Foundation) • Iriomote Island Ecotourism Association • Japan Ecolodge Association (ECOLA) • Japan Ecotourism Society (JES) • Kunigami Toruism Association (KUTA) • La Ruta de Sonora Ecotourism Association • Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance (MEA) • Mongolian Ecotourism Society • Murghab Ecotourism Association (META) • Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) • Sustainable West Virginia • Swedish Ecotourism Society • Taiwán Ecotourism Association • Thai Ecotourism & Adventure Travel Association (TEATA) • The Ontario Ecotourism Society (TOES) • Toledo Eco Tourism Association • Virginia EcoTourism Association • Visit Florida TIES BOARD Heba Aziz, Ministry of Tourism, Oman • Tracy Berno, University of the South Pacific, Fiji • Rajiv Bhartari, Indian Forest Service & Corbett Tiger Reserve, India • Sylvie Blangy (Development Chair), TUKTU Ecotourism Consultants, France • Kelly Bricker (Board Chair) , WILD-U, Fiji & USA • Tony Charters (Vice Chair), Tony Charters & Associates, Australia • Richard Denman (Secretary), The Tourism Company, United Kingdom • Andrew Fairley (Treasurer), Turtle Island, Fiji & Australia • Kamelia Georgieva, Human Research Center, Bulgaria • Nandita Jain, Independent Consultant, India & USA • Glenn Jampol, Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn, Costa Rica • Karen Lewis, Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Costa Rica & USA • Clare Mcfarlane, Aries Tours, Australia • Hitesh Mehta, EDSA, USA • John Poutasse, Attorney, USA • Ravi Ruparel, The World Bank; Uganda • Chandra de Silva, Ranweli Holiday Village, Sri Lanka • Keith W. Sproule, Independent Consultant, USA • Masaru Takayama, Japan Ecolodge Association, Japan • Louise Twining-Ward, Tourism Resource Consultants, USA • Wolfgang Strasdas, University of Eberswalde, Germany • Jan Wigsten, Nomadic Journeys, Mongolia & Sweden • Carolyn Wild, WILD International, Canada TIES STAFF Courtney Baggett, Events Coordinator • Amos Bien, Director of International Programs • Christina Cavaliere, Director of Training andEducation • Alice Crabtree, Asia-Pacific Director and Research Associate on Certification • David Diedrich, Director of Finance and Administration • Ayako Ezaki, Asia-Pacific Coordinator • Martha Honey, Ph.D., Executive Director • Katie Maschman, Director of Membership and Communications