Last month at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Anchorage it was announced that a fund called the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund had been created to preserve adventure destinations across the world.
The fund was created by Steve Barker the co-founder of Eagle Creek travel gear company, along with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), REI Adventures, ExOfficio, and UnCruise Adventures.
Adventure tourism grew 65 percent between 2009 and 2012, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down quite yet.
“We’ve all been to places that are being loved to death. The industry depends on cool, wild places and the cultures that are in these communities to attract customers. That’s why we exist. That’s why our clients want to see these places.”
Steve previously served on the board at the Conservation Alliance which has a similar mission, so he knows what he’s doing.
“The goal here is to identify projects that are successful and that have the greatest need, and not only to help fund them but to shine light on them as examples to other parts of the world on how this can be done. Locals can build an economy around adventure tourism without destroying their resources.”
