So where are you going to vacation this summer? More and more people are choosing to stretch beyond the traditional themes — the beach, camping, theme parks — and trying things that challenge them physically, mentally and emotionally.
This month members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association held their annual conference in Coeur d’Alene to talk about the changes in their industry. The organization’s strategic director for North America is Russell Walters. He says adventure travel is no longer just for the fittest of the fit.
“You know, 10 years ago, adventure travel was defined as risky, exciting. It might have focused on real hardcore, energetic activities," Russell said. "And today the adventure traveler wants to have a more immersive experience. They want to travel to this place to recreate. They want to travel to this place to be active. But they also want to travel to understand and learn about different cultures. So there’s been a maturing, I think, of the adventure travel market, which, in and of itself, helps to broaden the appeal and broaden the growth of the market.”
“What are the challenges in the adventure travel right now?” Nadvornick asked.
“Capacity," Walters said. "Make sure that we don’t have too many people in any one location. That we’re preparing our adventurers and the communities appropriately so that people are well prepared and well versed when they go out and experience landscapes, destinations, different cultures.”
Russell Walters is the strategic director for North America for the Adventure Travel Trade Association.
One subset of adventure travel is indigenous tourism. That is travel to areas owned or traditionally occupied by indigenous people.
Dene Sinclair will tell us more about that. She is the marketing director for the Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada, which works with tour operators north of the border. She spoke at the Coeur d’Alene conference earlier this month.
“Tourism can be a great opportunity for economic sovereignty in a community if it’s done right. And there are certain ways to do it right," Sinclair said. "There are some communities that have not had success and it’s interesting to look at some of those challenges that have happened. There are communities that potentially don’t want to have visitors and so we talked about why that is and the ability for these tour companies to present themselves in a way that can have an understanding of the benefit that that community wants."
"Sometimes it’s not just about coming to a community and spending your money. Sometimes the objective of a community is about cultural sustainability or employment for their young people or language revitalization. Sometimes tourism can have a role in that, but it is up to the community to decide what that relationship could look like. So I think the tour companies want to be able to have those kinds of beneficial relationships to both sides,” she said.
Part of that relationship involves teaching each other how to act around one another.
“As a host, you want to set up that relationship to succeed so part of the resources that we provide isn’t just to tour operators that want to visit indigenous communities, but also to indigenous communities that want to look at tourism," Sinclair said. "And so what does that community need to provide in order say our doors are open and you’re welcome here? Part of that is communicating to a guest what is appropriate, what are the rules. If you’re coming to our community, we ask that you do this or you do that or you don’t do this or you don’t do that. That is also part of being a good host.”
Dene Sinclair says travel to indigenous areas is not just about building amenities, trying to get people to come and spend their money, take a few pictures and leave.
“That’s not the kind of travel that a lot of big companies are offering or really wanting to talk about. They’re wanting to talk about those experiences that you have that are really changing your life," Sinclair said.
"A lot of it had to do with one-on-one connections where people met someone in another country, an indigenous person or not, but had that one-on-one connection and that really changed your perspective and outlook on things.”
“How much do the political events, how much does that affect the area where you work in?” Nadvornick asked.
“There’s a movement overall in travel right now for people looking for connections," Sinclair said. "Researchers chalk that up to social media and the lack of connection we have in our lives. Or it is chalked up to fear and concern about not knowing our neighbors and not knowing who to trust and so people are hungry for those human connections. That’s the travel that we’re talking about here and so I think there’s a lot of things you can chalk that up to, but certainly political climate can be part of it as well.”
“Is there a demographic that is more or less dominant here? Is it younger people who are more involved? Is it baby boomers like me? Or is it a nice mix of folks?” Nadvornick asked.
“It is a mix of folks because also, in the adventure realm, there is everything from doing more active travel to a younger person who really wants to be more physically active," Sinclair said. "Or is adventure travel really just doing something outside your realm of comfort, and so something adventurous could be food-related. Something adventurous could be cultural exchange-related."
You can visit the website of Sinclair’s organization at aboriginalcanada.ca. If you’re looking for travel ideas, she says you can find about 60 experiences across Canada.
“That could be great add-ons or stand alone experiences," Sinclair said. "If you’re already planning a trip to Vancouver, for example, we have a number of members in Vancouver that can maybe show you a different side of the city. Indigenous people are not just in remote locations, in these untouched wilderness areas. More than half the indigenous people in Canada live in urban centers. And that’s also an important thing for people to see, that when you’re visiting, especially Canada, and you go to a major center, there’s other sides to that urban city that you can learn about and connect with.”
Dene Sinclair is the marketing director for the Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada. She spoke at a conference on adventure and indigenous tourism in Coeur d’Alene earlier this month.