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The naked tourism truth
Nude recreation has more than doubled in size in the past decade, becoming a $400 million business. And the growth has fostered niche travel businesses such as the Austin, TX-based Bare Necessities Tour & Travel.
Owner Nancy Tieman first chartered a 36-passenger dive boat 15 years ago. Today, the company charters major cruises liners several times a year for trips to Europe and the Caribbean.
Repeat business is 70%.
Clothing optional charter air services have also appeared.
The once bare-bones nature of nudism has also been changing.
The trend: upscale. A factor helping to promote it is the growing numbers of mainstream vacationers who may not see themselves as “nudists,” but who like to shed clothing and inhibitions.
Said Stephen Payne, founder of Desert Shadows Inn Resort & Villas in California where rooms start at $200 a nigh:
“These people (room-bookers) don’t belong to any nudist organization. They’re not pitching tents. They visit us just like they would any other resort.”
Report by David Wilkening
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