Pamela Lanier - Eco Ambassador

Introduction 1978 - 1986 1982 1992 Always On The Go

Pamela Lanier at one of her many speaking engagements

Pamela has spoken at over 100 lodging and tourism conferences worldwide, both as a keynote presenter, panelist, and conference convener.

Introduction

"As an expert in the lodging industry, my main objective is to share with others the knowledge and insight that I have gained over the years regarding the best sustainable development approaches and techniques. I have 28 years of hands on experience with literally hundreds of small lodging properties worldwide. I’ve spoken at over 130 conferences, taught classes, and written articles on the subject of creating and marketing small lodging experiences. Since 2000, I have focused my personal travels on eco lodging. And have built up an extensive background of experience. I know what works for travelers, I know how to market it, and I love to create fun, education, and highly interactive learning sessions. You won’t be disappointed."

National Geographic Geo Tourism Ambassador Training Certificate

In 2010 Pamela Lanier was trained as a Geotourism Ambassador by the National Geographic in Washington, D.C.

1978-1986

1978-9 Overland trip to South America, visiting over 60 remote archeological sites where she had the opportunity to experience first-hand the impact of even small amounts of tourism on fragile areas.

1980-1986 Assisted Maxine McCloskey (wife of Mike McCloskey, president of Sierra Club) in opening and maintaining the Whale Center in Oakland, CA, an NGO dedicated to keeping Maxine McCloskey attending and working on cetacean issues, especially advocacy on the international level. Attended several UN Cetacean Conferences as Maxine McCloskey’s volunteer assistant. All of the above work was pro-bono.

1982

Founded Bed and Breakfast Inns and Guesthouses International, a membership organization for small and independent lodging worldwide. Currently there are over 8,500 members in 117 countries. The Complete Guide to Bed and Breakfasts, Inns and Guesthouses, a directory-style book stemming from this membership has been published by Lanier Publishing International annually for 28 years. Ms Lanier is also the author of Elegant Small Hotels, Family Travel and Resorts, Cinnamon Mornings cookbook series (8 cookbook titles), Condo Vacations, Sustainable Travel and Eco Resorts co-authored by Dr. David Edgell, introduction by Stanley Selingut. Pamela is working on a subsequent/follow-up title Eco Travels and Resorts – Caring for the Earth on the Go, to be published in the summer of 2012.

1992

Lanier Publishing went online with AOL and over the course of the next 10 years provided travel content to over 30 different platforms, including Microsoft, MSN, the Bloomberg, etc. and established the sites TravelGuides.com, LanierBB.com, ElegantSmallHotels.com, FamilyTravelGuides.com, which have enjoyed as many as one million visitors per month.

Always On The Go

During the course of Ms Lanier’s travels she has had the opportunity to visit and explore a number of different types of ecologically sensitive travel experiences such as Maho Bay Campground and Harmony Cottages, which used the latest and best waste recycling, water reclamation and conversion technologies. Last year, she traveled aboard The Eric, flagship for Eco Ventura, in the Galapagos, getting a firsthand look at one of the principle examples of sensitive larger-scale tourism. On a trip to the Tiwi Islands, Pamela was exposed to an encapsulated tourism experience; dawn to dusk visitation only is allowed on these islands. This creates an interesting paradigm that may be useful in other areas where extensive contact with the stakeholders and their culture is not desired.

Pamela has hands on experience in off-the-grid living, having spent 3 winters in the Denali wilderness in a fly-in/hike-in lodge where she took part in creating a root cellar, and helping to erect a wind generator.

By her own reckoning, Pamela has visited and toured over 1000 lodging properties. She brings a strong sensibility of what guests want and need in a travel experience, perhaps unparalleled and bolstered by feedback from the 55,000 opt-in members of Lanier Publishing’s travel e-newsletter.

2010 Invited and took the Geo Ambassador training from National Geographic.

Pamela has written several articles that have been published in the Cornell Quarterly on specialty lodging and tourism. It is an interest that each of these articles brought the voices of many to the discussion where Pamela chose to act as editor/moderator.