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Road less traveled fastest-growing tourism market
Ecotourism is growing at an annual rate of 5%, or about three times better than the industry as a whole, reports the World Tourism Organization.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing parts of tourism,” said Dave Sollet, executive director of the International Ecotourism Society, based in Washington, D.C. told the Pittsburgh Business Times. “There is a consumer demand.”
That’s particularly good news for some US areas that traditionally have not been on visitor’s maps such as Appalachia in Virginia, where tourism is among the fastest growing industries.
“The Heart of Appalachia” region of Virginia comes with first-class credentials for ecotourism. That include thousands of acres of the Jefferson National Forest, the 4,500-acre Breaks Interstate Park (which includes the “Grand Canyon of the South”), and the 850-acre Natural Tunnel State Park, among others. The Appalachian Trail, the Trans-America Bike Route, and the new Heart of Appalachia Bike Route and Scenic Drive also weave their way through the region.
Jane Seekings, a senior consultant at Atlas Travel Service in Pittsburgh said the eco-trips usually skew young, meaning the 25 to 35 set.
“They like the adventure of going to places that aren’t well traveled,” she said. “As we get older, though, we want our creature comforts.”
Report by David Wilkening
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