Do you know the meaning of 'Experiential'?

I apologize for not being around so much. I have been off discovering new products and adventures. Some of the travel has been to experience the adventure and this blog is about the regional ATTA, Adventure Travel Trade Association meeting in Boulder, and what is capturing the imagination of tour companies and travelers today. 

The buzz word in the industry right now is 'experiential'. I am not sure that word is in Mr. Webster's lexicon, but it is all around when discussing travel these days. The meaning is to garner the full experience of your travels---not just the luxurious hotel, or sumptuous cuisine, but experiencing the culture, meeting and working with the locals. This term goes hand and hand with the exploding growth of voluntourism. Small companies to well established tour companies have jumped in with both feet to offer the traveler a chance to give back to the community to which they are visiting.

 Lindblad Expeditions , the well known small ship expedition leader, is offering a chance to go to the Antarctic, winter 2010, to help assist in conducting census activities of penguins. They are partnering with Oceanites, a non-profit Antarctic focused organization that works with penguins and studies the impact of tourism on their environs. Once in a lifetime experience---experiential.

Africa, South America and Australia are hotbeds of newly coined 'experiential' travel. A new magazine is being launched in August, even in this economic climate, AFAR. It is dedicated to 'experiential' travel. If you are familiar with the magazine 'DWELL', it is very similar. Give it a look and we will be following along with adventures that will certainly define the our new travel word.