Ecotourism, while noble in its mission, always walks a thin line between encouraging more responsible forms of travel for environmental benefit and inadvertently encouraging too many people to visit the world’s most pristine destinations.
When that line is crossed, and it’s bound to happen as the popularity of ecotourism continues to soar, various crises can develop.
For example, according to a recent article in Cosmos Magazine, University of California, Santa Cruz researchers published findings that wildlife altered their behaviors significantly in the presence of recorded human voices:
Pumas, the researchers found, responded to the sound of human voices by significantly reducing their activity and keeping their distance.
Medium-sized predators changed their behaviour in significant ways, too: bobcats became much more nocturnal; skunks reduced their overall activity by 40%; and opossums reduced their foraging activity by a stunning 66%.
In contrast, deer mice increased their range by 45%, and the intensity of foraging by mice and wood rats increased by 17%.
In other words, eco-travel organizations must maintain enough adventurers to accomplish positive change while remaining crystal-clear in their messaging and expectations to avoid the crisis of a disrupted ecosystem. Fortunately, partnering with an agency experienced in ecotourism public relations, like Orange Orchard, can help.
Protecting your mission with PR
It’s important to choose a public relations agency to truly partner with rather than just hiring another vendor. Selecting an agency that fully understands your mission and aligns with your eco-friendly values is paramount to the success – and security – of your brand.
The right agency will put its ecotourism public relations team to work for you by:
Making sure your message concise, clear and heard – Your ecotourism PR team will work with you to clearly define your key messages, goals and expectations for your travelers. Then, they will tell your story to the right audiences through strategic media placement in key outlets. By keeping your brand’s message clear and in front of the right audience, you’ll attract the eco-conscious tourists you need and begin to weed out the ones you don’t.
Developing a comprehensive crisis response plan – While maintaining a campaign of positive PR is a key investment in your brand for when things go awry, knowing what to do when a crisis does hit is still critical. At Orange Orchard, we prefer to develop a plan, put it in place and then hope to never use it. Afterall, when entire ecosystems are at stake, you shouldn’t brave the possibility of disaster alone.
To learn more about an agency experienced in ecotourism messaging and crisis management, please contact Orange Orchard today at (865) 977-1973.