29 February 2008

Saving the Rivers

Ran across a decent blog today. The american rivers blog has a good staff of constant bloggers talking mostly about river preservation and their efforts to clean up and protect rivers around the world.

I have not personally contacted them yet, but I think it is a good cause. Many organizations such as this sometimes view commercial outfitters and travel companies as "the foe" in their efforts to promote river. In fact, outfitters are (should) be some of the largest promoters of river preservations and conservation. I know that one of our partners, Western River Expeditions, is very involved in trying to find a way to make commercial trips have less of a "footprint" on the environment, one of which is the possibility of using electric power motors instead of gas or deisel.

In any matter, rafting is just another way to help people become aware of our environment and hopefully treat it well.

Kudos to american rivers.

01 February 2008

Some 2007 Rafting Success

Depending on which region of the country you look at, 2007 gave mixed results as far as the rafting industry as a whole. However, Maine claims a great year for all the whitewater rafting outfitters in the region.

According to Raft Maine association and a press release put out a few months ago, an increase of 4% on the Kennebec, 10% on the Penobscot and 16% on trips on the Dead River were reported by operating outfitters. "Raft Maine president Jim Murton credits the good season to a renewed commitment by Raft Maine member outfitters to joint marketing and co-operative efforts with the Maine Office of Tourism, Kennebec Valley Tourism Council, Maine Tourism Association and Maine's hospitality businesses and trade associations."

Good for them. The office of tourism and other government related organizations can provide a great boost for rafting outfitters across the country. From the sounds of things, it was a joint effort by all the businesses involved- from hotels to restaraunts. Good job of everyone working together to promote local tourism.