MEET THE GODFATHER OF ECOTOURISM
Costa Rica Expeditions' President interviewed for Expedia/MSNBC
Michael Kaye, the native New Yorker who moved to Central America and launched Costa Rica Expeditions, has won numerous accolades for founding the original ecotourism company." Read the complete article.
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL TO NATURAL AREAS
By Michael Kaye
(An edited version of this article appeared in CondeNast Traveler in 2002.)
In 1980, a couple of years after I started Costa Rica Expeditions, a reporter from The Tico Times, Costa Rica's English-language newspaper, wrote an article about my fledgling enterprise. Almost 20 years later, writer Martha Honey found my long-forgotten answer to a question about what made my vision of tourism different: "Tourism should contribute to, rather than exploit (the land)... It should be active rather than passive, emphasizing cultural exchange rather than mere sightseeing." Honey called them "pioneering words." Read the complete article.
HOW GREEN IS MY VACATION?
Michael Kaye, San José, Costa Rica Aug. 1997
For some years now, the travel and tourism industry has hotly debated issues regarding environmental awards, green seals of approval and ecolabelling. Some say they are useful tools to raise consciousness. Others say they are cynical, self-serving marketing gimmicks... Read the complete article.
CARBON OFFSETS
Paying off Unsustainable Lifestyles or Investing in Sustainability?
The new hot fad in sustainable travel these days
is paying offsets for our carbon footprint...It
is a brilliantly seductive strategy...allowing us to "offset" (or should
it be buy off?) our lifestyles. Read the complete
article.
TIPS ON TIPPING
There are more differences of opinion about tipping than just about any other topic in the travel industry. Should they be included or not? Should specific amounts be recommended to guests? So, by popular demand... we’ll see if we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t. Read the complete article. |
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PRESENTED
TO MICHAEL KAYE
by Adventure
Travel Trade Association
The award, conferred in Oct. 2007,
honors pioneers of new routes and destinations,
commercial adventure travel enterprises, responsible tourism practices and groundbreaking
education and awareness initiatives in adventure travel. Read the ATTA
press release.
BIOGRAPHY: MICHAEL KAYE
President & CEO Costa Rica Expeditions
Michael is not only the CEO and President of Costa Rica Expeditions but also a pioneer in ecotourism and adventure travel with credentials of honor in both the travel/tourism and wilderness conservation worlds. He runs his company with the iconoclasm of an ecotourism pioneer and the sensibilities of a world traveler.
More...
ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE DESIGN
OF NATURE LODGES
From Jungle Luxe: Indigenous-style Hotel and Remote Resort Design Around the World by Justin Henderson, 1999.
When Justin asked me to write the forward to his book, he asked me to "Offer the lessons learned about designing and building nature lodges in remote and/or ecologically sensitive sites." Here it is in a nutshell: "Design and build 'em so that they will be easy to fill at profitable prices." It is very important to design and build nature lodges in the most environmentally sensitive way possible. That said, it is my strong feeling that the whole issue of environmentally sensitive design of Nature Lodges has been exaggerated... Read the complete article.
MICHAEL'S RULES FOR WRITING TRAVEL SALES COPY
(Written for internal use to save time and keep my pulse rate down when editing copy. MK)
Rule #1: Avoid clichés like the plague.
Cliché: "An expression or idea that has become weak, tiresome, stale, trite and hackneyed, through much repetition."
What makes the use of clichés so irresistible is that everybody uses them. Most of us have a natural desire to fit in, so we cannot resist using them as well. One reason why clichés are as common as dirt is that even though we know we should not use them, we often do not recognize them. Read the complete article.
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As you search for your ideal trip in the custom itineraries section of our web site, you may wish to create a list of favorite trips. To do so, click on the link above each itinerary, “Add to My Favorites.” Each itinerary you chose will be added to a personalized list of trips. You can add as many trips as you want to your list and refer back to them by clicking on the link, "See My Favorites," which will appear in the right column once you have selected a favorite.
Your list of favorites will follow you as you surf the site, allowing you to refer back to selected itineraries at any time. On your next visit to our web site, the list will reappear by clicking the link, “See My Favorites.” 
