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Ultimate Ecotourism Activity

family of five building sand castles

Planning a vacation for an environmentally conscious family can be a daunting task. It seems just the idea of a family vacation could increase your carbon footprint. And will the whole family enjoy an eco-activity. How do I find ecotourism business? Before we can find an ecotourism business we need to know what we are looking for.

There are lot of guidelines and outlines for businesses desiring to offer eco-friendly activities. The phrase “triple bottom line” coined by John Elkington in 1994 gives us a good idea of the three benchmarks used to measure sustainable business. “Essentially, the triple bottom line takes ecological and social performance seriously, building it into a three-part organization model that functions along three axes: people, planet, and profit. In other words, rather than considering only profit in measuring a business’ success, the triple bottom line gets companies thinking beyond money to social and environmental factors as well”, suggests Green Marketing TV in an article titled, What is a Green Business?

According to the previous definition ecotourism activities that are concerned with and positively affect people, and do not damage and possibly even enhance the local/global environment are considered sustainable. Businesses that manage the first two points; people and environment also have to maintain profitability to continue being a Green Business. So there you have it! Where then can such an ecotourism activity be found?

On The Emerald Coast of course

Beach Sand Sculptures is a professional sandsculpting company based in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. For several years now they have been playing on the beautiful sugar sand beaches of Destin and South Walton County, using and reusing the same water over and over again to create memories in the sand for family on vacation. These professional beach bums believe they offer the ultimate ecotourism activity in all the US and possibly the world.

It’s not just a SandCastle Lessons . . . it will be a vacation memory to last a lifetime!

Not only do they give “SandCastle Success” to their clients every time, they also create “SandCastle Envy” up and down the beach. “We teach them about tools, give them techniques and mentor them in creating their own 3 ½ foot tall sandcastle tower – first time!” explains owner and Head SandCastle Coach, Rick Mungeam.

Turtle welfare is a huge concern in Florida.  SandCastles are constructed in consideration of the turtle’s role in our ecology. The top lighter sand is used to create stronger more detailed SandCastles without digging hole which may endanger the life of both females and hatchlings alike. The same sand can be infinitely re-used for SandCastle building without any effect on the environment.

The second ingredient in building SandCastles is water. It is the surface tension of water that actually holds the pieces of sand together; just as two plates in a sink of water are sometimes difficult to separate. Water is the magic that allows the construction of taller towers. SandCastle construction takes a considerable amount of water, but gravity drain through the sand and returns it back the emerald green waters of The Gulf of Mexico. Therefore the two natural resources using in SandCastle Lessons; sand and water are always recycled and return to their natural state.

If you remember our three part axes you might be asking the question; what about people? How do SandCastle Lessons affect people. That’s a good and very important question.

When Rick and Capri Mungeam started teaching SandCastle Lessons they were trying to teach people how to build taller more successful sandcastles. Then something very exciting happened. The SandCastle Lessons started getting Tripadvisor reviews expressing something magically unexpected. First, the #1 Tripadvisor Activity in Destin, Florida. Second, the tenor of the reviews continues to be, “Best Family Activity Ever”. This was a pot of gold at the end of a spectacular rainbow.  Not only do SandCastle Lessons utilize the environment in a positive manner, they also provide an exceptionally unique quality family experience that creates family memories like none other. These Tripadvisor reviews have moved SandCastle Lessons with Beach Sand Sculptures to become the #1 Tripadvisor Activity in Destin, Florida thus creating an increased demand for more SandCastle Lessons.

“iI 2013 we could not keep up with the demand – the two of us could only do so many lessons per week”, Mungeam confessed. Rick’s wife, Capri, sadly expressed, “It was heart breaking to turn people away because we knew how great the experience would be for their family”. To meet the need in 2014, the couple hired and trained several new SandCastle Coaches who provided the same tips and techniques to give families “SandCastle Success” and cause “SandCastle Envy”, and therefore turning The Emerald Coast beaches a whole lot more GREEN.

For more information on SandCastle Lessons and to Schedule your own ecotourism activity go to www.BeachSandSculptures.com

Resources:

http://www.greenmarketing.tv/2010/03/27/what-is-a-green-business/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_business