Nudist Tourism Puts On A Layer Of Opulence

(From The USA Today -- By Jayne Clark)

The once bare-bones ambience of the archetypal U.S. NUDIST CAMP is turning posh as owners add amenities from full-service spas to high-speed Internet. But there's still no need to dress for dinner.

No shirt, no pants, no problem -- ALL-NUDE CRUISES are becoming increasingly popular.

In fact, much of the industry has cast off the term CAMP in favor of RESORT in the conviction that it better reflects the growing number of upscale venues.

"The bar has been raised," says NANCY TIEMANN, owner of BARE NECESSITIES, an AUSTIN travel agency that specializes in NUDE TRAVEL. "(NUDIST RESORTS) have come from being 5 miles down a dirt road behind a junkyard fence to really upscale resorts that are a far cry from that."

Driving the trend, they say, is the growing number of mainstream vacationers who don't necessarily identify themselves as nudists but nevertheless are willing to shed their inhibitions at a nudist resort. At the same time, they're not willing to sacrifice a certain level of service and comfort.

"We addressed a market segment that has heretofore not been addressed," says STEPHEN PAYNE, founder of DESERT SHADOWS INN RESORT AND VILLAS in PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, where rooms start at about $200 a night. "These people don't belong to any nudist organization. They're not pitching tents. They visit us just like they would any other resort."

But besides concierge service and the like, DESERT SHADOWS offers amenities not encountered in so-called textile resorts. There's nude hot-air ballooning, in-the-buff moonlit hikes and naked drive-bys (via tour bus) of the homes of PALM SPRINGS' rich and famous.

Among other upscale developments in naked travel:

* The year-old CALIENTE RESORT AND SPA north of TAMPA sports a 33,000-square-foot clubhouse with spa and meeting facilities and five dining venues. Resort homes start at $400,000-plus.

* BARE NECESSITIES TOUR AND TRAVEL has sold out SUMMER NUDE EUROPEAN CRUISES with fares ranging from $2,295 to $6,595. A CARIBBEAN CRUISE in February already is 80% sold out. "Fifteen years ago, the cruise lines wouldn't take my calls. Now they're jockeying for our business," says Tiemann.

* At PARADISE LAKES RESORT near TAMPA, the latest additions to the 510 housing units, starting at $250,000, have sold out before construction commences.

Nude recreation grew tremendously in the 1990s and is now a $400 million industry, according to THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR NUDE RECREATION (AANR). The group has almost 50,000 members and 270 affiliated clubs and resorts. Still, a 2005 poll commissioned by the AANR indicates that the vast majority of Americans aren't exactly itching to take it all off in front of strangers. A mere 14% gave an unqualified thumbs up to the idea.

Regardless, the industry stresses its family-oriented nature amid increasingly upscale trappings. "We're selling nudity, not sex," says CALIENTE's CARRIE SCHULTZ.

Adds DESERT SHADOW's Payne -- "There's never been a hooker here. And God knows, I don't have to worry about strippers at bachelor parties."

[Now I know what all those RECREATION MAJORS in college are now doing.]