|
|
|
Air
Highways and Africa Travel Magazine editorial team
participates in ATTA Adventure Travel World Summit
in Whistler, BC, Canada Googled
us lately?
More than a show of numbers and a reflection of
growing sector interest, industry progress was made
on multiple fronts. At the ATWS-South America,
leaders: introduced the Adventure Tourism
Development Index (ATDI) which supports responsible
and sustainable development of emerging adventure
travel destinations worldwide; heightened awareness
of accessibility issues for handicapped adventure
travelers and for community-based tourism
initiatives; and increased industry attention to
safety management and guide training to improve the
professionalism of operators worldwide.
Additionally, an immediate outcome of the South
American gathering was the formation of a new
Latin-speaking network of adventure and eco-travel
trade associations which will collaborate to
heighten the global profile of adventure travel in
South and Central America. The initiative is
expected to serve as a continental model to more
fully network the adventure travel trade
worldwide.
Luis Baretto, Brazil's Minister of Tourism, was
among the featured speakers at the opening ceremony
on Thursday, along with ATTA President Shannon
Stowell and ABETA (Brazil Ecotourism and Adventure
Travel Association) President Israel Waligora.
During his opening remarks, Minister Baretto said,
"This is the beginning of a new phase in Brazilian
tourism and the Adventure Travel World Summit has
contributed to this phase. Our adventure travel
tourism will greatly benefit from the collaboration
between tour operators, international media, and
global tourism boards."
Building off the success of its ATWS-South America,
the ATTA continues its 2008 networking initiatives
with the introduction of its Adventure Travel World
Summit-Europe to Norway, October 21-25. Already,
representatives from 25 countries are registered
for the conference in Norway, an event designed
specifically to strengthen North American, European
and African business-to-business relationships,
while further professionalizing the specialty niche
and setting bearing points for businesses to pursue
responsible and sustainable growth.
In 2005, the ATTA introduced the ATWS, an executive
level gathering of leaders representing the
sustainable growth interests of the global
adventure travel community. Since then, the
Adventure Travel World Summit has become the travel
industry's largest conference specializing in
adventure tourism which includes physical, cultural
and nature-based travel.
ATTA Summit events continue to attract influential
business leaders. For last week's ATWS-South
America, featured speakers included Brazil's
minister of tourism, one of Fortune Magazine's "Top
100 Most Powerful Women in the World", and the
co-author of "Authenticity," a book which Time
Magazine recently named as one of the "10 Ideas
That Are Changing the World".
Representatives from international conservation
organizations, major media outlets, educational
institutions, and travel agencies are the primary
participants in the ATTA's executive conferences.
ATTA's Summit conference sessions are geared toward
giving market professionals tools to grow and
improve their businesses, promoting and
professionalizing adventure travel worldwide, and
increasing business-to-business networking and
collaboration. In addition, the Summits address
regional business needs and discuss cultural and
environmental sustainability issues impacting the
world today.
Major Sponsors of both 2008 Adventure Travel World
Summits include: Brazil Tourism, ExOfficio travel
clothing, Innovation Norway, Men's Journal
magazine, and W.L. Gore and Associates. Key
Sponsors include Adventure Central, Alpine Tourist
Commission, Best of the Alps, Chile, National
Geographic Adventure. Adventure Travel World
Summit-Europe information is available
at
Established in 1990, the Seattle-based ATTA
(www.adventuretravel.biz) is a global membership
organization dedicated to unifying,
professionalizing, promoting and responsibly
growing the adventure travel market worldwide. ATTA
Members include tour operators, destination
marketing organizations, tourism boards, travel
agents/agencies, guides,
lodges/resorts/attractions, media, and service
providers. Host of the Adventure Travel World
Summits, the ATTA provides professional support,
development, education, research, marketing, career
building, networking and cost saving resources to
its member Global Adventure Travel
Community Rallies Behind 2007 Adventure Travel
World Summit From Europe to the
Americas, tourism boards, destination marketing
organizations, tour operators, media and gear
companies are rallying behind the Adventure Travel
Trade Association (ATTA), which today announced it
has sold-out its three main evening sponsorships
for its 2007 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS)
being held October 4-7 in Whistler, B.C.,
Canada. Eight ATTA Key
Sponsors have committed to the highest levels of
sponsorship to further their interests, while
backing the ATTA's vision for a progressive and
highly networked global adventure travel community
dedicated to responsible growth. Key Sponsors of
the ATTA and the 2007 ATWS include: • Innovation
Norway &endash; www.visitnorway.com • Alpine
Tourist Commission &endash;
www.alpseurope.com • Best of the
Alps &endash; www.bestofthealps.com • Brazilian
Bureau of Ecotourism &endash;
www.bbeco.org • Canada
Tourism Commission &endash;
www.canadatourism.ca • ExOfficio
&endash; www.exofficio.com • National
Geographic Adventure &endash;
www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure • Adventure
Central &endash;
www.adventurecentral.com Annually increasing
support from top-level sponsors has demonstrated
the ATTA's evolving influence within the broader
travel and leisure industry. Returning sponsors,
combined with diverse new supporters, reflects the
ATTA's reach into relevant markets and its ability
to serve as the hub of the global adventure travel
community. "We're grateful to
our new sponsors for bringing to the ATTA, and to
the industry at large, a fresh infusion of
knowledge, expertise and resources," said ATTA
President Mr. Shannon Stowell. "New member and
sponsor growth brings innovative market insights,
increased networking and sharing of experiences,
and leads to a web of collaborators seeking to
contribute in meaningful ways." Every ATTA
sponsorship delivers an exchange of value that
enables supporters to reach specific business and
marketing objectives. In addition to helping
its sponsors create new business opportunities, the
ATTA's broader initiatives are enhancing the
professionalism of the industry and helping to make
adventure travel an attractive leisure choice for
consumers worldwide. "We partner with
the ATTA to support their work promoting and
facilitating arenas for the adventure industry to
meet, network and learn from each other," said Hege
Vibeke Barnes, Manager Tour Operator & Trade
Relations, Innovation Norway. "Norway, a
natural choice for adventure experiences, needs to
be more visible and available, and we have found
the right channel to do that through our
cooperation with the ATTA". In just two years,
the ATTA has held two global summits and grown its
membership base to more than 250, which includes
representation from six continents. "Switzerland
Tourism was extremely impressed by the
professionalism, the spirit and support it received
from the ATTA during last year's Summit," said Urs
Eberhard, EVP Markets & MICE Switzerland
Tourism. "The ATTA provided us with more than
enough information to decide on the next steps of
how to position the Alps as the perfect destination
for adventure travel. An important next step will
be our participation at the 2007 Adventure Travel
World Summit." ATTA Supporting
Sponsors in 2007, each of which serve vital roles
in promoting adventure travel worldwide, features
the return of: • Virtuoso,
Specialists in the Art of Travel &endash;
www.virtuoso.com • VAST
(Virtuoso Active & Specialty Travel) &endash;
www.virtuosovast.com New and returning
ATTA Contributing Sponsors include: • New:
Ecuador Tourism Promotion Fund &endash;
www.purecuador.com •
New: Outside Magazine &endash;
www.outsidemag.com • New: Tourism
Whistler &endash;
www.tourismwhistler.com • Archaeology
Magazine &endash;
www.archaeology.org • DISCOVER
magazine &endash;
www.discovermagazine.com • Eagle Creek
&endash; www.eaglecreek.com • Quotient
Marketing &endash;
www.quotientmarketing.com For the 2007
Adventure Travel World Summit, the ATTA has
expanded its display space and will include
approximately 45 exhibitors. Committed exhibitors
seeking direct exposure and access to the more than
500 adventure travel industry professionals
expected to gather in Whistler, include: World
Concern, MonkeyBean Solutions Inc., Tourism
Ireland, Macabi Skirt, Exclusive Tents,
Ventura Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Outdoor
Prolink, which will join all sponsors in exhibiting
during the October conference. In its third year,
the ATWS will deliver a premier international forum
for executive-level industry networking,
multi-disciplinary sessions aimed at sustainable
and responsible growth, and solutions-oriented
dialogue, debate, and deliberation on critical
topics. Delegates include tour operators,
destination marketing organizations, tourism
boards, lodges/resorts and transportation companies
(air, auto, etc.). Adventure travel agents,
attractions, and travel-oriented gear manufacturers
also will participate along with media, travel,
marketing and technology service organizations,
academic institutions, research enterprises,
tourism and recreational governmental
agencies. For information on
sponsorship opportunities and exhibition space,
contact ATTA Director of Business Development Chris
Chesak at cchesak@adventuretravel.biz. More ATWS
information may be accessed at 866-411-3131 or
info@adventuretravel.biz . Established in
1990, the Seattle-based ATTA
(www.adventuretravel.biz) is a global membership
organization dedicated to unifying,
professionalizing, promoting and responsibly
growing the adventure travel market
worldwide. Media
Contact: Mr. Shannon
Stowell President,
Adventure Travel Trade Association 360.805.3131 shannon@adventuretravel.biz |
.
The
third annual Adventure Travel Trade Association's
World Summit, October 4-7, 2007 in Whistler,
British Columbia was an outstanding success
according to travel magazine editors Muguette
Goufrani and Jerry Bird. It attracted and tourism
travel professionals from 34 countries to the
mountain resort north of Vancouver, which will
co-host the 2010 Olympic Games. A series of photos
from the event are available from the website
The
first of two 2008 Adventure Travel World Summit
(ATWS) events organized by the Adventure Travel
Trade Association (ATTA) set event attendance
records with more than 700 representatives from 33
countries participating in the sold-out, September
3-7 event in São Paulo, Brazil. The Summit
was its first ever outside of North
America.
