Peace-Plus-One at the Adventure Travel World Summit

A tongue-in-cheek story by Theresa Storm - Freelance Travel Writer who met Philip McMaster at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Whistler, B.C.

Oct07 2007
Giving The Finger…s. Pass It On.
Giving the finger to the 500+ delegates gathered in the Whistler Conference Centre was a most unusual start to the third annual Adventure Travel World Summit, held for the first time in a Canadian outdoor playground.
Holding up two fingers, lanky Canadian expat Philip McMaster asked the multinational crowd what it means.
“Peace!” folks from 34 countries shouted in unison.
Adding a third finger, McMaster continued, “And this?”
Silence…
Rushing like a bull into the stillness, McMaster enthused, “the meaning of the three-finger salute is sustainability!”

He created it, he explained, to help his Asian university students remember sustainability’s three elements: caring for society, environment and economy.

Like the peace symbol, McMaster hopes it will soon be universally recognized.
Showing their adventurous spirit, speakers and delegates alike embraced the timely symbol, giving each other “the fingers” throughout the four-day shindig.

National Geographic Adventure Magazine Publisher Francis Farrell and Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association

(Photo: National Geographic Adventure Magazine Publisher Francis Farrell and Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association)

After all, sustainable, a.k.a. green, a.k.a. eco, is one of the hottest trends in travel today and came up time and again.
As well as crystal-ball-gazing at trends in the global adventure travel market, the industry types spent a couple of days sharing ways to move lookers to bookers – a challenge for all in the rapidly changing travel biz.

Philip McMaster and Theresa Storm share the Sustainability Symbol