Naked tourism is a $440 million industry in the US
Still, Americans are, on the whole, much more squeamish about public nudity than Europeans.
According to The Economist, the nude tourism industry is seeing a big change as the mom-and-pop operations are going belly up and the survivors are going upscale.
Naked tourism is a $440 million industry in the United States, according to the American Association for Nude Recreation. Luxury nude travel is on the rise because the customers tend to be older and richer, according to the Naturist Action Committee.
AMERICANS are, on the whole, much more squeamish about public nudity than Europeans. Even a toddler frolicking naked on a sunny beach attracts disapproving frowns. No federal law bars public nudity, but plenty of state and local rules do. Last summer, for example, New York began enforcing a state law banning public nudity, nixing the state’s last remaining nudist haunt on Fire Island. Only a handful of beaches in America officially allow folks to bob away in the buff.
Early nudists may have been happy gathering at campsites, but today they like to be pampered. Of the more than 250 nudist and clothing-optional resorts and clubs sprinkled around the country, the small mom-and-pop operations are folding, while the survivors are going upmarket, says Susan Weaver of AANR. The Cypress Cove Nudist Resort & Spa in Florida, for example, began in the 1960s as “basically a lakefront with a windscreen,” says Ted Hadley, its owner. Now it is a 300-acre resort, with hot tubs, restaurants, and a spa. 'We have bank presidents and we have bus drivers, although we have more of the bank president white-collar types." Erich Schuttauf American Association for Nude Recreation.
One reason for the rise in luxury nudist travel is that customers are aging. Nudists tend to be older, richer and whiter (OK, pinker) than the national average, and they travel mostly in romantic pairs, says Bob Morton of the Naturist Action Committee, an advocacy group. Many are not full-time naturists but think a clothing-optional holiday sounds fun: some 18% of American leisure travelers say they are game for it, according to a 2014 survey by MMGY Global, a marketing firm.
There is still plenty of demand for public nudist beaches. Haulover Beach in Miami, the country’s largest, lures more than 1.3m visitors each year, many of them “cottontails” (white-bummed novices), says Shirley Mason, the beach’s founder. They spend over $1 billion a year, according to Miami’s convention and visitors bureau. Ms Mason is now raising capital to create three new clothing-optional resorts near the beach. But there are few public beaches like Haulover left. This is the challenge facing the nudist travel industry: few people know they want to do it until they try it, perhaps by stumbling on an inviting beach of cottontails. Or as Mr Morton says of the joys of skinny-dipping: “I can’t explain it if you haven’t experienced it, and if you have I don’t need to.”
In other Nude News... Peru takes dim view of nude tourism at Machu Picchu, the Inca ruins. Peru has increased surveillance at popular archaeological sites to counter a new trend of tourists taking nude photos at the Machu Picchu Inca ruins. Tourists have been posting the naked pictures on blogs, prompting a statement from the cultural ministry rejecting "any disrespectful act committed by visitors" to the sites. "We have redoubled efforts for continuous surveillance and monitoring of the site", so security personnel could intervene to stop the exhibitionist photography, it said.
Nude Photobombing also on the rise, and, nude food! Walk through any grocery story and it’s clear that Americans today place a greater emphasis on natural and organic foods—Naked Juice, Bare Naked Pita Chips, Bear Naked Granola, etc. This new trend is leading many to explore the possibilities that exist to nourish their mind, body and soul. Editor's note: this gives new meaning to: "You are what you eat!"
Naked Hiking Trail for Nudists in Northern Germany in the Harz Mountains a special pedestrian route is created especially for nudists. The 18-kilometer trail is fenced with warning signs, so as not to frighten the locals. The route is located from the town Dankerode to the artificial lake Vippertal. Indeed, the new project has all chances to become popular. In Germany there has been a boom in nude tourism. In the town of Freudenstadt a hotel will be opened, where only the bare tourists will stop. Wearing clothes in the hotel territory of Rosengarten is strictly forbidden, and guests will have to undress as soon as registered. However, many will do so with pleasure, because Naturism in Germany is in high esteem. These hotels are successfully operating in France, Scandinavia, and Croatia.
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