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One of the schools they attended was the Athenian
School in N. California; a college prep, coed boarding school with an
emphasis on academics and the outdoors. Their first rafting trips, snow
camping, backpacking trips, and x-country skiing trips, as well as
extreme skateboarding, building a bamboo hang glider out of bamboo,
secret beer-making experiments under the bed and many other adventures,
all happened at Athenian.
Part of their graduation requirements was a 28-day
survival and outdoors skills “outward bound-type” training in the
high Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It was fantastic!
And yes, between adventures, they studied too.
It was clear. They loved the outdoors, flying,
adventure and novel business adventures…
Fortunately, None of them died, was not expelled and
they eventually graduated from Athenian.
Back in San Diego, being adventurous, young and
entrepreneurial, Kevin started a business towing aerial advertising
banners low and slow along the beaches of North County San Diego with
our ultralight airplane around 1978.
He was getting $175 for 1/2 hour to pay for our hobby.
How cool, getting paid for what he loved to do!
In the early 80’s Kevin’s passion for flying
continued. He wanted to fly for the airlines and started flying buddies
into remote areas of Baja, Mexico to surf, build his flying hours and
share the cost. He started getting calls from people he never met with
questions like this,
“My buddy Jeff flew into Baja and went surfing with
you. Sounds fantastic! How can I go too?”
Kevin thought, “Could I get paid to do some of the
things I most love; surfing, flying and travel?”
---------The Answer Was a Big YES ---------
What started as a hobby, turned into a life changing
tourism career for him with the launch of Baja AirVentures in 1985.
Kevin’s early trips focused on 4-day fly-in surfing expeditions into
remote dirt strips on Baja’s isolated Pacific coast. Empty and perfect
waves, pristine nature, catered camping – just what mostly
professional men who loved to surf wanted.
Kevin’s Baja surfing tour company grew into a
diversified and profitable multi-sport soft Eco-Adventure Baja travel
company, by asking his guests what they wanted in their active
vacations,
Many tourism professionals Kevin has met over the last
15 plus years – or those wanting to get into tourism - also seek to
combine their passion for travel, sport, adventure, the outdoors and
make good money too.
Does this sound at all like you?
Or something you are dreaming of…?
Kevin’s tourism business and income have earned him
two eco-adventure resorts in Baja, Mexico, a new big 5-bedroom house in
San Diego, 4 airplanes, a lovely wife and three beautiful daughters.
Kevin’s material success is only a small part of the
more valuable rewards of: appreciating life, living your dreams and
experiencing joy daily in your tourism profession.
Success and quality of life – however you define it
- is what you can have as tourism professional if you take the right
steps.
In the second part of this series and upcoming
articles, look for more real-life tourism case studies, best practices
and resources that have absolutely increased the bottom line and quality
of life for Kevin and so many tourism projects around the world.
The travel business has been good to Kevin and sharing
these articles and tips is a way to give back to the industry.
Starting, promoting and running any type of tourism
business or destination - takes a lot of time and work. So all articles,
tips, resources and news – will be in short “readers digest”
versions. Not only will you learn what business
and marketing strategies work, but how-to avoid critical mistakes that
spell disaster.
Do you want free
travel marketing tips, resources and tele-seminars to increase
your sales, arrivals and profits? Go to http://www.AdventureBizSuccess.com
and get our E-newsletter and new Podcast, Tourism Business
Success.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com
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