The Travel Industry Association will hold it 2007 Marketing Outlook Forum beginning on October 22nd

The event is a very big deal – a big deal that has significant impacts upon policies directly affecting outdoor recreation upon, and visitation to, our nation's public lands. If past conferences serve as a guide, this conference will likely be attended by senior level land managers representing the National Park Service and other federal and state agencies.

Derrick Crandall, President of the American Recreation Coalition has prepared a special report for this conference. It makes very interesting reading.  Here are the introductory paragraphs:

   Outdoor recreation is a large and varied force in the leisure choices of the American public. Generating at least $300 billion in estimated annual spending, outdoor recreation is shaped by America’s public lands and waters – covering one-third of the surface of the nation. The outdoor recreation industry is dominated by small, responsive businesses providing a large variety of recreation products and services, ranging from campsites to marinas, from fishing guide services to whitewater rafting.

  In general, recreation spending has climbed more rapidly than the CPI and most other core economic measures for a generation, although participation in specific outdoor recreation activities has been more mixed. Traditionally, participation has been influenced short term by weather and the economy, but longer trends – including an aging population and growth in the proportion of minority populations – have also shaped participation.

  The following information provides an overview of key recent trends and expectations...

Those interested in the fate of outdoor recreation as predicted by the wise use group that calls the tunes to which land managers dance might find the entire document of value. It can be found here.

Scott

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