Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Presenting: Chris Ronneseth
- Adventure Travel Expert!
I recently had a chance to talk to Chris Ronneseth of Trek
Holidays (see interview preview) who gave me a good overview
of adventure travel, an area of travel I definitely would like to
explore sooner than later...
1. Tell us how you got into the adventure travel business.
I grew up around travel. My father, Allan Ronneseth founded the
company in 1972 and with a passion to see the world in a different
way than the norm, we had the opportunity to travel to countries
that were considered exotic at that time and to some extent still
are today. Venturing out on my own traveling while attending University
I became more and more passionate about the world beyond North America.
With a degree in marketing, I ventured off first to New York and
later to Toronto working in sales and marketing for technology companies
during the tech boom. Having learned the skill of sales in an industry
outside of travel but backed with an upbringing rooted in adventure
travel, I made the progression to heading up sales in Eastern Canada
for the family business where I now provide support to our network
of travel agents across Eastern Canada as well as compiling our
monthly newsletter on adventure travel trends.
Chris with a local expert in Thailand.
2. What countries have you traveled to?
Africa: Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana,
Zambia, Egypt, Morocco
Europe: UK, Greenland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria
Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,
Hong Kong
South Pacific: Australia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji
Americas: Canadian High Arctic, USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands,
Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia
Upernavik township in Greenland.
3. Please share with us your top three travel memories
of all times.
A. Peru -The last descent into Machu Picchu on the famed Inca Trail
from the Sun Gate after seeing sunrise over the site, being the
first to enter the site at daybreak and having a feeling of peace,
harmony and strong magic in the air.
B. Vietnam - Travelling the countryside of Vietnam by motorbike
and stumbling upon a hidden and seldom visited Buddhist Monastery
resulting in a three-hour visit with a young Buddhist monk learning
and understanding each other’s ways.
C. Namibia - Skydiving at sunset at Swakopmund on the coast where
the Atlantic Ocean meets the blood-red sand dunes for as far as
the eye can see. One of the most tranquil moments of my life.
Chris' picture from Vientiane / Laos.
4. What is adventure travel and how has it evolved over
the last few decades?
Adventure travel used to mean high adventure back when the company
was founded in the seventies, it was time when the ‘hippie-trail’
was hot and buses used to travel across Asia from London to Kathmandu
with itineraries that were largely invented along the way. Today
it is about the small group experience and about experiencing a
destination rather than simply seeing it. It is about participation
and understanding of cultures, history and customs and being able
to take that experience away as enrichment to your daily life.
Local Thai beauties, trying to escape from the sun.
5. Who goes on your adventure travel tours and why? What
is the age, gender, nationality and income level of the people that
go on your tours?
Adventure travel is largely about the passion to do it. For this
reason it crosses boundaries of age, gender and income since the
common goal of the travelers is the experience regardless of their
life at home. However the largest demographic for us and the most
important growth demographic is the baby-boomers who have experienced
the traditional beach vacation several times over and now have the
time and disposable income to travel to more exotic destinations.
Nationality is generally made up of largely English-speaking nations
with the makeup in order of numbers being Brits, Australians, Canadians,
New Zealanders, Americans, some mainland Europe, some Latin American
countries and the odd Asian traveler.
We offer more than 120 countries worldwide generally just about
everywhere. However countries currently deemed to be unsafe for
travel (eg. Iraq, Afghanistan) are not included but we expect they
will be in the years to come as the situation stabilizes.
Image of the Arctic.
7. What type of accommodation is offered?
We offer generally speaking anything from 2 star budget accommodation
to 6 star lodge experiences in Africa and everything in between.
However what is common to all places we stay is that they must be
clean, comfortable, centrally-located and most important have character
that is reflective of the destination.
Hilltribe trekking through Northern Thailand.
8. How do these tours work for single travellers? Do you
provide a travel-mate matching service? What happens if I prefer
single accommodation?
Our tours are designed with single travellers in mind. In fact
50% of all our travellers come by themselves. We match people up
of the same gender and like age to share and avoid charging them
a supplement. If clients prefer their own room, we can do this on
approximately 60% of the tours, usually the more upmarket ones,
but at a rate that is fair and affordable.
9. What about meals?
Depending on the trip we generally include breakfasts and some
dinners but almost never lunch as many people like to be out at
midday making their own discoveries. However when trekking or in
the countryside or where alternatives do not exist we will always
include meals.
10. What are the unique benefits of adventure tours as
compared to other types of travel?
A sense of achievement, quality of experience, traveling with a
small group of just ten people on average, generally better value
than comparable bus tours, camaraderie with individuals that share
a passion for this type of travel.
Statues at Angkor Wat.
11. What type of activities are offered in your tours?
Sightseeing is a major part of every tour but beyond that we want
to include as many cultural experiences as possible such as homestays
with local families, village visits, etc. We also have many optional
activities available such rafting, sailing, jeep safaris, day treks,
etc.
12. Is there such a thing as adventure tours for families?
We now have tours built especially for families to travel with
other families where children are age six and up. There is a large
demographic of ‘late-starter’ families who never had
children until in their 30s. Many of these people traveled with
us in their 20s or backpacked independently and now want to give
that experience to their children. They are not interested in introducing
them to the ‘coca-cola’ culture pervasive in today’s
society. These have been met with great success.
Statues in Vientiane, Laos.
13. Please share with us practical advice for someone who’s
never tried adventure travel.
Safety is a state of mind. Most people who elect not to travel
to exotic destinations do so because of a fear for their safety
while in the destination. If you heed the advice of your tour leader
and be practical almost any destination in the world can provide
a safe, secure and memorable experience. Where we have had problems
with safety it has almost always been a disregard for common sense
and advice. Don’t be afraid of experiencing other cultures,
you will almost always find that your curiosity will be the best
guide though it all and that same curiosity will be reciprocated
by the people we meet along the way. It is about learning and understanding
other people as much as they need to understand us. It really does
shrink the world. Our second biggest problem would be dehydration,
when traveling to hot, dry countries or where activity is involved
such as trekking ensure you drink lots of water!
Picture from Chris' 2004 trip to the Arctic.
14. How much time do you travel yourself these days?
Generally 5 or 6 weeks a year. It is imperative to my sales knowledge
and experience and I owe it to my customers to be the expert in
what we do! All of our employees are given wonderful travel opportunities
which goes straight to our company motto: Expert advice from those
who have been there!
15. Where are you going next?
I plan this year on escorting a trip back to Egypt in April, to
South Africa in May to experience some of our new properties we
work with and to hopefully take a side trip to Mozambique. Later
in the year I plan to make my way to Turkey and the Patagonian outdoors
In Chile & Argentina.
Thanks, Chris, for all your information, and have fun on your trips
Related articles:
This article preview contains background information about
Chris Ronneseth.
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