Ferreyros, Kaye and Wineland Earn ATTA Lifetime Achievement Honors

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. October 14, 2008

SEATTLE, WA< October 17, 2007. At the start of the third annual Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), held October 4-7, 2007, in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Alfredo Ferreyros, Michael Kaye and Judith Wineland each were honored by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) with a Lifetime Achievement Award for the inspiration and legacies they have provided to the global adventure travel community.

Honoring past and present pioneers of new routes and destinations, commercial adventure travel enterprises, responsible tourism practices, innovative partnerships, and groundbreaking consumer education and awareness initiatives in the world of adventure travel are at the heart of the ATTA's annual recognition program. Ferreyros, Kaye and Wineland, each of whom remain active, progressive and influential leaders and who represent a combined 100 years experience, are respected worldwide for their individual contributions to the responsible and sustainable adventure travel industry growth.

Specifically, Lifetime Achievement Award honorees were evaluated by the ATTA against multiple measures including: quality of management and leadership; creation of new adventure market niches; spearheading industry-galvanizing initiatives and strategic collaboration efforts that led to innovative and lasting partnerships; introduction and advancement of responsible tourism practices (e.g., ecotourism, sustainable tourism, voluntourism); professional support, mentoring and development of others; setting of 'gold bar' service standards; execution of business strategy and on-the-ground operations; and legacies left behind for others in the industry build upon.

Ferreyros founded the adventure tour operation Explorandes in Cusco, Peru, along with Luis Raffo in 1975. Under Ferreyros' leadership, Explorandes became Peru's first adventure tour company and began operating the Inca Trail before pioneering many of Peru's most famous trekking and river rafting trips. He was a founding member of the Peruvian Association of Adventure Travel and Ecotourism (APTAE) and has been active in conservation, having been a founder of five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supporting environmental causes. He also co-founded the first environmental consulting firm and was a member of a team designing the social and environmental management plan for an important hydrocarbon project in southeastern Peru. In 2003, he led an environmental certification process which made Explorandes the first tour operator to receive such certification in Latin America. He was a founding member of the board of the National Council of the Environment (CONAM) from 1995 - 2000 representing the private sector, and, since January 2006, has served as the Executive Director of Conservation International - Peru.

In 1971, Kaye co-founded Mother Lode White Water Experience and pioneered white water paddle rafting in the Western United States. An adventure tour operator and visionary, Kaye has earned the reputation as a global adventure/ecological/tourism and lodging industry expert. Between 1975 and 1978, Kaye devoted his energies to the exploration of white water rivers in Mexico and Central America. In 1978, he founded Costa Rica Expeditions, which pioneered environmentally sensitive travel, nature tourism and white water rafting in Costa Rica. Among his many industry firsts and accomplishments, Kaye has: been an outspoken advocate for sustainable travel practices; served on the Advisory Board of The International Eco-Tourism Society; mentored many young adventure travel industry professionals; led the Costa Rica Expeditions' management team that developed some of adventure travel's most comprehensive documents on wilderness guiding and interpretation for the developing world; spearheaded efforts to bring adventure travel safely down to the level of school-aged children ages 6-12; and has pioneered the adaptation of modern participatory management techniques to remote places in the developing world.

Wineland was the first female pioneer in the adventure travel world, taking her personal passion for interesting cultures, exotic landscapes and unexplored places and translating them into a series of successful businesses. She founded Overseas Adventure Travel in 1978, the first adventure travel company on the east coast of the U.S. Three years later she and Rick Thomson started the first licensed U.S. safari company in Tanzania called Overseas Adventure Travel, East Africa, and subsequently called Thomson Safaris. On a shoestring budget, Thomson Safaris invested in Tanzania with a progressive long-term environmental and social vision, despite the inherent hurdles of minimal infrastructure, no history of tourism and a complete lack of supplies. The mission of Thomson Safaris ultimately resulted in a model of ownership that makes every one of the nearly 300 employees part of a broader, long term plan to help protect Tanzania's natural resources.

Wineland also pioneered efforts in community based tourism and family adventure travel. Her work with local communities has resulted in volunteering safaris that are part of a long range plan to keep communities involved in tourism so they too can protect the land and animals around them. On the heels of the successes of Thomson Safaris, Wineland's instincts recognized yet another emerging trend: in 1996, she started Thomson Family Adventures, one of the first adventure travel companies to focus exclusively on families and one that shares a similar mission to support and grow with the communities they visit. Under Wineland's watch, Thomson Safaris has become recognized as one of Africa's most respected operators and Thomson Family Adventures as one of the industry's best serving the family adventure sector.

Previous ATTA Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Leo Le Bon, founder of Mountain Travel Sobek, in 2005, and in 2006: Mike McDowell, founder of Deep Ocean Expeditions (2006), George Wendt, founder of O.A.R.S. (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists), and Buddy Bombard, founder of Buddy Bombard's Europe.