Eco-tourism targets baby-boomer dollars

Travelers desperately seeking an unconventional vacation may want an eco-tourism experience such as parrot-watching in Central America

By Environmental News Network staff

If a cruise through the Caribbean to watch overweight tourists swill and spill cocktails doesn't rekindle a wanderlust from the 1960s, then perhaps a tour of the undiscovered fiords of Tierra del Fuego to see Andean condors and Chilean flamingoes will.

So hopes the National Wildlife Federation.

"In general, people are looking for a more stimulating experience," said Susan Delgado, manager of the federation's Expeditions travel program. "They want to go away on vacation and learn something. They want to say it made a difference in them."

Delgado, who has managed the federation’s program since January and worked in the retail travel industry for more than 20 years, says there is a marked upturn in eco- and soft-adventure tours, especially those targeted to the baby-boom generation.

Many baby-boomers, who came of age in the '60s, began their travels early in life, she notes. They rode trains around Europe and lived out of backpacks. Twenty to 30 years later, they seek the same sort of adventure in their travels but have limited vacation time. And many have children they want to bring along.

Enter Expeditions. In the travel program, trips are designed for people who cannot take a month off work but want a vacation that has long-term residual value. Such people tend to be of baby-boomer age or older and have more money, said Delgado.

Observing wildlife in its natural habitat is one of the perks of Expeditions

"We want to introduce people to an opportunity to experience wildlife and the habitats directly, and in so doing the people will be inspired to be active in the preservation of those habitats and wildlife," she said. "We want to build a relationship to help carry out our work on the local level."

The trips showcase the very wildlife and habitats that the federation aims to protect. The hope is that the travel experience will incite travelers to donate money to the cause or at least inspire them to become better stewards of nature when they return home.

The cost of a trip ranges from $800 for four days in Tennessee observing the winter home for bald eagles to $6,800 for three weeks in Antarctica and the Falklands. A portion of the money supports educational and advocacy programs of the federation.

Delgado said the Expeditions trips are not marketed toward today's backpackers, who tend to travel frugally. But she hopes to develop volunteer expeditions for young people in exotic locales such as Thailand.

Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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National Wildlife Federation Expeditions
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