Adventure Travel Specialist Designation Program Content Developers and Presenters:

Kathy Dragon
Consultant, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Traveler

Kathy Moyer Dragon, Founder and Owner of
The Dragon's Path, ActiveWomen.com, and Dragon Consulting Inc has spent the past two decades in the center of the active/adventure travel industry. Having
researched, designed, marketed, sold and then personally escorted and facilitated the travel experiences of over 3000 Boomers on small group experiential and cultural trips around the globe Kathy has developed front line experience that few marketing experts in the world can match. 2/3rds of these customers were Boomer Women and many the trips were Women Only departures. These natural focus groups proved to be the ideal arena for defining the growth of the boomer & mature travel market; from how they select a trip, to why they are traveling; from what products they love (can’t stand or wish for) to how different generations perceive themselves in an active environment. Giving Back, Time with Friends and Family, Sustainability, Learning, Health and Wellness; The importance of these issues has changed over the past decade as the Active Boomers and Boomer Women’s markets has evolved and yes, exploded.

As a passionate entrepreneur, Kathy has been instrumental in the growth of niche companies including Vermont Country Cyclers, Country Walkers, and her own company The Dragon’s Path. She founded Whole Journeys (a business unit of Whole Foods Market’s web portal WholePeople.com) and has a reputation as a trusted leader in all aspects of the active/experiential travel industry.

Kathy’s Zealous for technological innovations led to the development on her blog based web portal
ActiveWomen.com which reviews travels and products from a women’s perspective. Understanding the importance of the Natural Foods industry, Kathy expanded her knowledge during her tenure as Marketing Director for Whole Foods Market in Boulder, CO. Her newest endeavor is to develop a travel pillar for EONS.com created by the founder of Monster.com, Jeff Taylor. This community based portal invites the 50+ generation to live the fullest life possible. Travel, of course, will play an integral part of this site. Searching for trips based on category experiences (Volunteer, Active, Family, and Learning) rather than only destination is one of the key aspects of the site. Social Networking (Web 2.0), reviews, blogs, community forums…all for the age 50+ consumer are integrated into this experience.

Her leadership experience, entrepreneurial innovations, passion for technology, and direct involvement with Women, Boomers and “Prime Time” (50-70 year olds) on adventures around the world offers a rare and coveted lens. Kathy has traveled and led active vacations to over 38 countries and 17 states.

Kathy is a frequent national speaker and consultant on the influence of Women, Boomers, and Matures on the travel industry as well as industries attempting to reach these consumers in the active, outdoor, travel, technology, and natural products categories. She has presented at key marketing conferences including the Marketing to Women (M2W.biz), and J.Walter Thompson’s Mature Market Conference. Industry specific speaking includes the Adventure Travel World
Summit , the National Ski Area Association , The Diving Equipment & Marketing Association the Travel Society
National Convention and the GORE Women’s Council and the Adventure Travel Professional Symposium & The Kitchen 07. Good and Green Conference Leadership Committee. Kathy is a frequent contributor of articles, webinars and radio shows on and off line including JWT LiveWire Spring 2006 and Fall 2007 Magazine and BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer—The Baby Boomer Woman, (one of the top ten business books for summer 07).

Chris Doyle, APR
Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) Director and Editor, AdventureTravelNews™

Active in road and mountain trail marathons, Chris Doyle is a long-time enthusiast of adventure travel, with first-hand whitewater rafting, fly-fishing, backpacking, sea kayaking, mountain biking and mountaineering experience on four continents. Since 2004, Doyle has served as ATTA Director and Editor of AdventureTravelNews™, and contributes to the organization’s leadership, handles marketing and communications, and directs the ATTA’s annual Adventure Travel World Summit events. For nearly 20 years, he’s offered an array of strategic public relations and business expertise in the retail, technology, sports and outdoors, adventure travel, fashion, home furnishings and non-profit sectors. He’s managed corporate reputations and developed extensive national awareness campaigns for retailers and manufacturers, supported the launch of six Internet concerns, worked extensively with trade organizations and industry analysts, launched numerous private-label product campaigns and managed consumer affairs crises.

As principal of Doyle Public Relations (2001-2006), he handled media relations for Eagle Creek (www.eaglecreek.com), ExOfficio (www.exofficio.com), Converse (www.converse.com), Gateway (www.gateway.com), Altrec.com, MariSafe.com, American Alpine Club, and numerous others. Previously, Doyle led the dot-com marketing and public relations launch of Altrec.com, led public relations efforts at Eddie Bauer (www.eddiebauer.com), and handled corporate media and community relations for Recreational Equipment, Inc., (www.rei.com) and its adventure travel business, REI Adventures (www.reiadventures.com). An award-winning public relations professional, Doyle has actively maintained his Public Relations Society of America accreditation (APR) status since 1996.

Tim Warren
Founder, AdventureBizSuccess.com

Tim Warren is the author of Tourism Marketing Success Guide and Audio Training Course, host & producer of the travel industries first podcast, Travel Business Success.com Radio and founder of AdventureBizSuccess.com which specializing in increasing arrivals, reducing expenses, increasing profits and creating effective action plans for active tourism professionals. Since 1994, Tim and his team have helped hundreds of tourism companies and agencies globally with live, online and recorded consulting, executive coaching, trainings and professional development and educational products. His expertise is in sales, marketing, E-marketing, publicity, operations and strategic planning for tourism professionals and the tourism industry.

Tim is an adventurer, outdoor writer, tourism marketing specialist and workshop trainer  An International business major in college, Tim lives in Wine country, Northern California, is a fun to work with, a problem solver and can assemble the resources and roadmap to increase your arrivals and profits.


Travel Business Success.com  - Radio Podcast

Online Radio, Training Talk Show with Expert Interviews, Best Practices Case-studies, Advice and Coaching Guaranteed to Help Current & Future Travel and Hospitality Professionals Succeed, Avoid Costly Mistakes and Make More Money. Hosted by Travel Business, Marketing and E-Marketing specialist, Tim Warren. Subscribe for Free via iTunes, download or “Click to Play” each show.

Amber Hayes
CEO, Adventure Engine

Amber Hayes, 18-year entrepreneur, was a successful tour operator for 5 years (2 time staff pick in National Geographic Adventure Magazine and featured on OLN and TSN) before recognizing the need for a system like Adventure Engine. The concept and business model was too great to resist and she sold her business in adventure tourism and started development on Adventure Engine in 2003.

Brandon Bates
Account Executive, AirMed

Brandon is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.  He began working at AirMed in August 2005. He oversees the AirMed Traveler program, which is an annual membership program.  He also coordinates all sales and marketing efforts throughout North America--AirMed has a good number of customers in Canada. Brandon also helps coordinate sales efforts on captiated groups such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama and Tennessee.

Bonnie Raschka
National Accounts Manager, AIG Travel Guard

Bonnie Raschka joined AIG Travel Guard in 1997 and is
responsible for developing customized programs to meet specific needs of larger account bases. Raschka has also gained experience in sales and client service in the financial industry. She is a graduate of the Institute of Certified Travel Association.

Costas Christ
President, Adventure Council

Costas Christ serves as the Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.  He is also a contributing editor and travel
columnist for National Geographic Adventure Magazine as well as the Chairman of the Adventures in Travel Expo Conferences in the United States.

Mr. Christ is an expert on sustainable tourism whose professional career spans 25 years in both the public and private sectors. He was previously Senior Director for Ecotourism at Conservation International where he
supervised sustainable tourism development projects in 18 countries. He is a founding member and former Chairman of the Board of The International Ecotourism Society and currently assists Big Five Tours and Expeditions on their "Spirit of Big Five" travel philanthropy program that supports the protection of cultural and natural heritage in tourism destinations around the world. His travels and sustainable tourism work have taken him to more than 100 countries and six continents.

In addition to his monthly column in National Geographic Adventure, Costas' articles and essays on travel and tourism have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, and Sunday Times of London. He is the lead author of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism Global Footprint and a contributing author in Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places and has appeared many times on television and radio, including CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, CBS, ABC, and NBC. He is a frequent keynote speaker on sustainable tourism at international conferences and has designed and led tourism training programs and workshops worldwide.

John Golicz
Chairman, Adventure Council

John Golicz is the CEO of Unicomm the organizer of Adventures in Travel Expo and Chairman of the Adventure Council.   

The first Adventures in Travel Expo was held in January 2004 in New York with just over 350 exhibitors and over 26,000 trade and consumer attendees.  The events have grown to include over 1,200 exhibitors and over 65,000 attendees serving New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington DC. Additionally, John is the Publisher of the Active & Adventure Travel Directory, a co-founder of AdventureUS.com a social network for Adventure Travelers, and the Chairman of the Adventure Council.