Are Nudist Clubs & Resorts the Answer?

In post, "The Same Old Question", I mentioned that the evidence suggests that young adults reject old school nudism. In particular it seems they shy away from visiting traditional nudist landed clubs and resorts. Today I wanted to look at some suggestions that have been put forth for changing that.

Focus on the Clubs & Resorts

As Nikki Hoffman noted when she was interviewed for recent Wall Street Journal article on the decline of nudism & naturism, traditional nudist clubs & resorts simply aren't geared to attract the 18-35 demographic. I think it is hard to disagree with that since young adults seem to be staying away from traditional nudist venues in droves.

One suggestion frequently put forth in the interest of attracting more young adults to the clubs directly and nudism indirectly centers on changing the economic model. Most results charge annual membership fees as they always have. One club I have personal knowledge of allows a person only three visits before he or she must either purchase an annual membership or stop visiting. Tom Mulhall, who owns The Terra Cotta Inn resort with his wife Mary Clare, in a comment posted at Nudist Day, declared that landed clubs should stop charging annual membership dues and go to a charge per visit model.

Tom isn't the only one who believes that the high cost of annual memberships, which from personal experience run $300 or more per year, serves as a barrier to participation by young adults, many of whom simply can't afford them. The vast majority (90%) of the readers of this blog who participated in the most recent poll indicated that annual memberships should not be required but made an option. That way those who preferred to purchase them could but everyone would have the pay-as-you-go option of paying per visit.

It is true that younger adults, many of whom are just starting out in the workforce or only working part-time while attending college, likely find costly memberships unaffordable. At resorts where a person can visit only a few times without buying a membership, I agree that it could be a reason young adults might not visit. Yet it costs a good deal of money to operate clubs & resorts and seems reasonable to assume that those who sold fewer annual memberships would have to charge more in the way of per visit fees.

Day fees are already pretty pricey at many clubs in comparison to other recreational activities. Perhaps a change of economic models would then merely substitute one economic barrier for another. Yes, others have suggested offering discounted daily fees to young adults to counteract that, yet I am simply not convinced that the cost factor is really the reason why young adults don't find traditional nudist venues a major attraction. I tend to agree with Nikki Hoffman in that clubs & resorts simply don't offer what young adults are looking for.

Suggestions that have been put forth to attract younger adults that involve a change of focus on the part of club owners and managers to me make more sense than changing the way people pay for access. Some recommend that clubs establish specific areas devoted to young adults. I think it has to be accepted that many twenty to thirty year olds simply have no interest in hanging out nude with a group of people who are predominantly the age of their grandparents. As an alternative to segregation by age, another frequent suggestion is setting aside specific dates where the clubs are only open to those between the ages of 18-35. Some clubs already host annual weekends devoted to college age adults and have found success in attracting young adults for these events. Perhaps such events simply need to be offered on a more frequent basis.

Offering programs and activities aimed at young adults is another common suggestion. The traditional activities ─ potluck dinners, volleyball, themed dances, etc, simply aren't the kind of things younger adults find appealing. A little market research into the recreational likes and dislikes of the younger set might reveal things clubs could offer to enhance the appeal.

Certainly clubs could I think make some changes that might make the venues more appealing to the younger generation yet in my own opinion, the existing club model, even among clubs willing to incorporate major changes, simply is not the means by which nudism is going to attract younger adults in greater numbers. Rural-based clubs, often an hour or more from urban centers are I think the past not the future of nudism & naturism in this country.

Next time, we will take a look at some of the unconventional means used by some groups that have proven successful in attracting young adults to nudism.

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The Same Old Question

In the last week I have come across no less than a half dozen new articles predicting the end of nudism. Each focused on what now should be a familiar theme ─ the aging of nudists resulting from the inability of the nudist establishment to attract young adults to the lifestyle. Although the question, "What can be done to attract young adults to the nudist lifestyle?" has been discussed to the point that some may see broaching the topic again as beating the proverbial dead horse, this new round of articles prompted me to revisit the topic once again.

Young Adults Reject Old School Nudism

One article in particular noted that adults who are members of Generation Y and Generation X (the 18-43 age groups) simply have little interest in traditional nudist clubs and resorts. At least with regard to the nudist venues I visit regularly, the points of the article seem valid. Very rarely have I encountered men or women of the younger generations. As a member of the Baby Boomer generation in my mid-fifties, frequently I find myself among the youngest at the landed clubs I visit.

It is no secret that membership in major nudist organizations has been flat or declining over the past several decades. Both AANR and Naturist Society membership stopped growing years ago. Many people now in their twenties and thirties simply aren't interested in joining. Another article noted that even the operators of nudist cruises and upscale nudist resorts are now starting to feel the pinch of a declining nude recreation industry that can't simply be attributed to economic circumstances.

With nudists growing more grayed and wrinkly and many even dying off, is America in danger of running out of nudists? Nicky Hoffman, head of The Naturist Society believes it could happen. Quoted in the May 2, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, "Wearing Only a Smile, Nudists Seek Out the Young and the Naked," she stated, "The whole lifestyle will just disappear unless we attract a younger crowd." Also according to Ms. Hoffman, "The problem is most of these resorts aren't geared to young people. They've become like retirement homes; they've sort of calcified."

Defining the Problem by Examining the Question

“How can we attract more young adults to nudism & naturism?” When I consider this question, I think it all boils down to the word "attract" and what we mean by attracting them. Both AANR and The Naturist Society have attempted to reach out to young adults and have tried to find new ways to appeal to the younger generation. Both have asked their younger members to reach out to their peers. AANR has organized an entire program, Vita Nuda, aimed at the under 35 demographic. Yet the slick videos produced by Vita Nuda that I've seen on You Tube seem an attempt to market nudism in the same old ways using younger spokespeople.

The thing is, the two big American nudist organizations seem to be searching for a program or solution to bring young adults into the existing nudism structure and therein I think we find the problem. If the under 35 crowd doesn't find the existing structure greatly appealing, to borrow a campaign quip from Barack Obama, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." To gain any real attraction among young adults, there will have to be some fundamental changes to the existing nudism structure. I'm not suggesting that the more than 250 nudist clubs and resorts in the U.S. need to go away. I do think there are ways that the existing clubs and resorts can find to appeal to a younger generation. But I also think it is time that nudists accept that nudism isn't defined by clubs and resorts. No matter how trendy, grand, amenities-intensive, or whatever they may be, clubs and resorts are only incidental to the survival of nudism. Nudists are nudism and it's the lifestyle that is fundamentally important.

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In the next post, I will share some suggestions that I as well as others propose for improving the attraction of existing clubs & resorts. In a third and final related post, some new, unconventional strategies that have shown success in attracting young adults will be examined.