About
Us
Mission
Our mission
is to actively promote and grow Adventure Travel that is responsible
and sustainable and in so doing, help to protect the character,
authenticity and diversity of adventure destinations worldwide.
About
the Adventure Council ™
The
Adventure Council™ believes
that the Earth’s cultural
and natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are
to enjoy the challenges, rewards, and educational value of Adventure
Travel. The Adventure Council recognizes that adventure travel is
one of the fastest growing sectors in the global tourism industry.
It also recognizes that adventure travel can be an opportunity for
protecting the Earth’s diverse cultural and natural heritage,
upon which the future of adventure travel depends.
The Adventure Council focuses on education, marketing, networking,
advocacy and research related to adventure travel.
The Adventure
Council Directory – a
premier listing of the best adventure companies in the world, will be widely distributed to consumers, specialist
adventure
travel agents, and to the media throughout the USA, helping
to expand the adventure market and increase benefits throughout
the
adventure
industry, including companies, agents, consumers and to local
residents in destinations.
Working
in partnership with the Adventures in Travel Expo, the Adventure
Council offers
educational seminars and workshops to support,
educate and grow the Adventure Travel marketplace.
The Adventure Council offers a special US Adventure Travel Specialist Designation
Program to actively develop a highly trained, knowledgeable,
and effective group of sales agents for connecting adventure travel
companies
with interested consumers. In addition the Adventure Council will
conduct adventure travel surveys, and provide a meeting place for
the global community of adventure companies to discuss relevant
issues, provide networking opportunities, and advocate for the sustainable
future of the adventure travel industry.
An Advisory Board representing
multi-stakeholders involved in adventure travel, conservation, sustainable
development and the private sector will support Adventure
Council programs and activities.
Costas
Christ, President
Adventure Council
A
Brief Biography
In addition to his role as President of the
Adventure Council, Costas Christ serves as Chairman of the
Adventures in Travel Expo Conferences and also writes a monthly
travel column for National Geographic Adventure magazine.
His desire for exploration has led him to more than 100 countries
including expeditions to some of the world’s most remote
wilderness regions and archeological sites. Along the way,
he has worked for Dr. Richard Leakey in Africa, joined National
Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle, in helping
to establish a new marine reserve in Belize, and got to know
legendary British explorer, Wilfred Thesiger, to name a few
of the extraordinary people he has met in his life. An
internationally recognized expert on sustainable tourism,
Costas also serves as the Chairman of the World Travel
and Tourism Council’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards,
which recognizes leading examples from around the
world of environmentally and socially responsible
travel. He is a founding member and former Chairman
of the Board of The International Ecotourism Society
and was appointed the Peace Corps Director in Uganda
where he worked on community-based tourism as an economic
development strategy. As the Senior Director for Ecotourism
at Conservation International, Costas supervised projects
in 18 countries.
In addition to his monthly travel column in National Geographic Adventure, Costas'
articles and essays on travel and tourism have appeared in numerous publications,
including the New
York Times, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe and Sunday Times
of London.
He is the lead author of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism’s
Global Footprint and a contributing author in Wilderness: Earth's Last
Wild Places. Costas has appeared many times on television and radio, including
CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, ABC News, and PBS to talk about adventure travel.
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