Whoa! Did NOT see this coming.
Wall Street Journal reports Tim DeChristoper, aka Bidder 70, the university student who thwarted an oil and gas lease on lands near National Parks in Utah could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
A recent USA Today article extolled the delights of the “New Maya Frontier.â€
Puerto Costa Maya photo by Roger Theriault
Much of the story focuses on Mahahual, a once sleepy fishing village, pop. 80. That was before the Mexican government hatched its plan to transform the area into what has become Mexico’s second busiest cruise ship port. Puerto Costa Maya was designed to accommodate six cruise ships at once. In 2006 it deposited more than a half million tourists, most of whom were directed straight to Puerto Costa Maya, a shopping, cultural and recreation complex for cruise ship passengers only.
In 2007, only a Cat 5 hurricane named Dean, stopped Puerto Costa Maya from hitting the million cruise ship visitor mark. The article is clearly intended to convey the news that after a frenetic year of rebuilding, Puerto Costa Maya is back in business.
I stumbled upon a blog from one cruise ship couple who had visited the port and described their surprise at discovering the real Mahahual. Their cruise ship hosts apparently forgot to mention that there was life beyond the confines of the staged authenticity of the port complex.
I imagine it goes without saying that the cruise ship passengers also weren’t told of the damage to the reef and the pollution left in the wake of the cruise ships or the vital mangrove swamps destroyed to pave the way for mass tourism and vacation time share real estate developments.
On the upside, I can always hope that maybe now that the cruise ships actually stop in the area perhaps they don’t jettison their trash as they pass offshore where currents deposit it directly on the beaches of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve just to the north of Mahahual. Or at least that was the case when I visited the Reserve in 2000 for a cross-cultural writers workshop and was appalled by the unconscionable amounts of cruise ship pollution littering what should have been a pristine beach.
A few years ago a report by the The International Ecotourism Society, clearly largely ignored by the Mexican government, described possible impacts from the planned Cancun-style development in Mahahual. TIES warned that the hotels and timeshares financed largely by, and designed to attract, giant piles of foreign investment dollars, will at a minimum, raise the cost of living for the locals and at worst, force them to move elsewhere. News reports hint that the widening economic gap is already showing signs of creating social tension.
The population has grown from 80 dependent on subsistence fishing BC (before cruises) to 3,500 mostly dependent on tourism. Earlier projections estimated population could skyrocket to 25,000 as early as next year, and reach nearly 100,000 in 15 – 20 years AC (after the arrival of cruise ships).
You know, it’s bad enough that, as the USA Today story notes, many tourists to the area already are under the gross misimpression that the Maya disappeared from the area long ago. If plans like this by the tourism ministers of the Maya’s elected leaders in far away Mexico City go unchecked, sadly, the tourists may well prove to be prophets.
Guurrbi Tours' Willie Gordon
Nugal-warra story-keeper Willie Gordon who keeps his ancestral rock art alive by sharing its stories with guests near Cooktown, Queensland was the jury award winner for the 2009 Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award. Willie’s Guurrbi Tours was my vote for top pick in the annual competition hosted by Planeta.
The competition was stiff among the 15 website nominees all of which represent compelling authentic travel experiences around the globe.
To see all the worthy nominees and winners, click here.
Kathy Dragon
This post is a birthday present to my friend Kathy Moyer Dragon. Kathy’s soaking in the amazing sights, sounds and flavors of Jordan as I type this. Kathy is one of my earliest friends and inspirations in adventure travel.
After 10 years in the adventure travel biz, Kathy launched The Dragon’s Path, offering small group cultural walking vacations. The Dragon’s Path is Kathy’s response to those active travelers who desired more interaction with local cultures. So that’s what Kathy and her longtime friend Maura Murphy do, escort others on unique itineraries around the world.
They research the trips, meet the locals and find the best ways to immerse their clients in the destinations they visit. A key point of distinction is that Kathy and Maura consider themselves “escorts†rather than “guides” and in so doing facilitate their clients’ immersion in the culture of a destination. You could say Kathy was actively promoting the principles of geotourism before National Geographic’s Jonathan Tourtellot coined the term.
This year, Dragon’s Path will has fixed date departures for small groups to Croatia, Peru and Turkey as well as always being open to custom trips.
Kathy lives her belief that travel has the ability to effect positive change in the world and client by client she does just that.
Happy Birthday Kathy!
Measured by traditional standards of return on investment, Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World campaign may also turn out to be a case study for future textbooks on marketing in the Web 2.0 era.
The campaign certainly has made lemonade out of the lemons produced as a result of the global economic meltdown that has cost millions of jobs and slowed spending on everything including travel abroad. Despite this reality, or because of it, some 34,000 people from 200 countries around the globe responded to Tourism Queensland’s call for online video applications to be hired as caretaker for one of the islands in the Great Barrier Reef. Some applicants sourced their own media coverage of their application and established websites and blogs dedicated to promoting their application.
According to a Tourism Queensland spokesperson, the $1.8 million campaign has already returned $80 million in publicity and generated more than 2.3 million visits to the campaign website IslandReefJob.com
In creating the campaign, it would seem the creative minds at Cummins Nitro got their hands on an advance copy of David Meerman Scott’s “World Wide Rave†and created the perfect vehicle (a global search for a tantalizing job) to achieve three key hallmarks of a World Wide Rave: when global communities eagerly link to your stuff on the Web; when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep; and when tons of fans visit your Web site because they genuinely want to be there.
Seems as though the big challenge now is in choosing the caretaker. It seems obvious that one of the imperatives of unleashing a World Wide Rave is accepting the consequences, intentional or unintended, that go along with it. In this case, it seems as though there is a potential for some negative backlash if the members of this particular World Wide Rave sense any hint of marketing mischief in the selection of the lucky caretaker. As Brian Solis recently opined at UGCX, “consumers will smell what’s authentic or not.” And there are already plenty of examples of swift Web 2.0-enabled retribution when consumers think they’ve been wronged or duped.
It will be interesting and instructional to follow this campaign through to its conclusion. And “good on ya” to my mates who’ve entered.
An ecotourism hero I’m proud to have crossed paths with is Martha Honey. Martha started her professional life as an investigative journalist based in Central America and East Africa. As a freelance journalist, Honey reported for such esteemed clients as The Times of London, The Nation, ABC TV and National Public Radio.
Along with her husband Tony Avirgan, Honey had a ground floor, up-close window on some of the most volatile but little understood wars of those regions. She chronicled the CIA’s War in Costa Rica including eyewitness accounts of a botched assassination attempt. Her experiences in Africa led to the essay “Racism, Exploitation and Neglect: Bush and Africa,†which was included in the book “Power Trip: US Unilateralism and Global Strategy After September 11.†She and Avirgan also published a book “War in Uganda: The legacy of Idi Amin.â€
Advocacy and investigate journalism seem to go hand in and the travel industry should count its lucky stars that Martha decided to take up the banner of ecotourism. I met Martha just shortly after she had become executive director of The International Ecotourism Society.
During her tenure from 2003 through 2006, TIES took many noteworthy steps including the following:
• Moved its offices to Washington DC
• Conducted the first worldwide study on the social and environmental footprint of nature-based lodges
• Supported relief efforts and advocated for sustainable tourism in Indian Ocean countries devastated by tsunami
• Sponsored the first conference on Ecotourism in the US
• Launched distance learning courses and Sustainable Tourism Certification with George Washington University.
Martha left TIES to form her own ecotourism-focused non-profit called the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development.
In conjunction with Stanford University and the Institute for Policy Studies, the mission of the non-profit CESD is to design, monitor, evaluate, and improve ecotourism and sustainable tourism practices and principles. Its policy-oriented research focuses on ecotourism as a tool for poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation, as well as socially and environmentally responsible tourism practices.
Martha has written and lectured widely on ecotourism, Travelers’ Philanthropy, and certification issues. Her best-known book is the seminal “Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise?†recently updated and re-released by Island Press.
Ron Mader
You can’t go to any tourism conference, especially ecotourism conference in Mexico - or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world where they’re talking about ecotourism, without bumping into Ron Mader.
Ron’s been promoting ecotourism since at least 1994 when he started his website Planeta.com
Ron’s spoken at innumerable conferences, hosts online e-conferences and hosts an award for indigenous tourism websites.
Ron’s latest website contest can be found here http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw
Anyone can vote for their favorite nominee for this year’s Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award. The winning website gets little more than bragging rights but thanks to the competition, more folks will know about 15 indigenous tour operators and destinations than they might not have otherwise discovered.
I can’t remember if I met Ron in Mexico or Venezuela or both. As I alluded to above, he’s ubiquitous. The great thing about Ron is his consistency and unwavering passion for promoting ecotourism.
Author or co-author of travel guides for Mexico and Honduras as well as well as a guide to traveling, studying and living overseas, Ron’s website says he’s currently editing a seminal essay titled “Toward Effective Communication in Responsible Travel and Ecotourism.â€
I look forward to crossing paths again with Ron in some sweet little village in Mexico. Until that day, I’ll have to settle for following him on Twitter, @RonMader.
I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Tim DeChristopher to the outdoor industry at the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market trade show. DeChristopher is the young man who single-handedly thwarted a BLM oil and gas lease on lands adjacent to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
What drew me to Tim’s story initially was his courage, quick-thinking and willingness to put his own freedom on the line to protect some of Utah’s most scenic wildlands from what appeared to be an improper federal oil and gas lease auction. In introducing him to leaders in the outdoor industry, some of them with activist histories of their own, I was impressed with this 27-year-old colleges student’s poise, intelligence and dedication.
Tim DeChristopher schooled the Bushies
Tim made me think about what it means to have the courage of your convictions. In the days since the OR show, I’ve come to realize that I too have the courage of my convictions. while Tim’s rallying cry is climate change, mine is geotourism. I firmly believe that the principles of geotourism provide the only sane foundation upon which the tourism industry can continue. Contrasted with mass commercial tourism, geotourism focuses on preserving and protecting the very essence of destinations and the natural resources and cultures that define them.
As technological advances shrink the world and make travel to foreign lands and people more accessible it is important to use a tourism model that preserves the unique attributes of a destination. A healthy climate that supports a diversity of plant and animal life is as important to future generations as preserving the unique cultures of the world. How boring the world would be if it were all homogenized. How tragic if we lost not just the unique landscapes of the world but if the undisciplined pursuit of tourism dollars would cause us to lose the myths, stories, crafts, food, music and lifestyle traditions of a place.
On a related note, I find it alarming that UNESCO estimates the rate of language extinction has now reached the unprecedented worldwide level of 10 every year. Some people predict that 50 to 90 per cent of today’s 6,000 spoken languages will disappear during this century. As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Back to my main point . . . though not nearly as severely consequential as what Tim did, last fall I resigned a good-paying contract over the client’s inability to embrace the wisdom of geotourism. As a result, I - and a few of my like-minded friends - are launching a grass roots, market driven geotourism initiative. Geotourism may be too far out front for some to grasp and in dismal economic times may even seem like a counterintuitive approach. I am convinced geotourism offers the the very best course for the future of a sustainable tourism industry but even more so, for the future the world’s unique places close to home and all around this beautifully diverse globe.
Well, it’s down to the wire and wasn’t sure it would come together on such short notice but finally have some times nailed down for interviews and chats with media and industry titans at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.
Tweetup for Modern Day Monkeywrencher set at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market
Salt Lake City, UT – The nation’s newest poster child for civil disobedience will come face to face with the industry that may be best positioned to appreciate his environmental activism when Tim DeChristopher makes the rounds at this week’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
DeChristopher’s goal in attending the show is to raise awareness and maybe a few dollars to support a campaign he singlehandedly spearheaded to save the backdrop to two of Utah’s most famous national parks from oil and gas drilling operations. His efforts already have been applauded by the likes of movie star and environmentalist Robert Redford, the Yes Men, and Ken Sleight, aka Seldom Seen Smith, in Edward Abbey’s most famous work of environmental fiction, “The Monkey Wrench Gang.†DeChristopher has appeared on Democracy Now, CBS Evening News and been written about in major newspapers throughout the US and across the oceans from Great Britain to New Zealand.
DeChristopher will meet with top management from some of the leading manufacturers of human -powered outdoor gear who’ve expressed interest in and affinity with his cause. He’ll also conduct media interviews with the likes of Backpacker magazine as well as a radio interview for Wisconsin Public Radio’s syndicated “To the Best of Our Knowledge†and other regional and national outdoor enthusiast publications. A “Tweetup for Tim†is schedule at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Backcountry Village (Booth #35106) in the Salt Palace. The Tweetup, an offline meeting publicized largely via social media microblogging site Twitter, will be a chance for outdoor industry enthusiasts to meet Tim, donate to his cause and listen in on the Backpacker interview.
DeChristopher became the Monkey Wrench Gang’s newest de facto inductee when he bid against oil and gas industry veterans during a US Bureau of Land Mangement lease auction in Moab, Utah last month. Though DeChristopher had neither the means, nor any intention of paying for them, he won leases totaling $1.7 million for 22,500 acres of Utah red rock desert near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Many of the parcels were being contested by environmental groups since they in an area that contain the nation’s greatest density of ancient rock art and other cultural resources. Over this past weekend, a federal judge approved a temporary restraining order on the auction, signaling some chance the environmental groups’ claims may prevail.
A web site raising money for DeChristopher’s leases has brought in $45,000, but the BLM has not yet decided whether to accept the downpayment. Funds raised will also be used to defray legal costs, as DeChristopher is also facing possible fraud charges in federal court which, if the case goes to trial and he’s convicted, could include prison time.
This year’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market has attracted more than 800 exhibitors representing manufacturers of tents, backpacks, clothing, hardware, Nordic gear and all the accessories folks need to maximize their enjoyment and safety in the outdoors. The trade show, which is not open to the public, runs Jan. 22 – 25.
