ATTA News
Designing a To-Do List for Tourism in the Western Balkans
May 21, 2013
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Kirsi Hyvaerinen of National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro and features the ATTA’s Chris Doyle, Executive Director of Europe. Autochthonic grape Vranac Filip Stojanovic, the lead person behind the RCI conference ATTA’s Chris Doyle “Designing a To-Do List for Tourism in the Western Balkans” was the motto of a two-day event at Sipcanik winary (Plantaze) near Podgorica, organized by Regional Competitiveness Initiative Project (RCI/ USAID). The overall goal was to engage tourism stakeholders from the Western Balkans region in generating ideas and initiating commitments for future activities on to continue growing and promoting the Western Balkans region as a growing and competitive destination. The opening evening of the meeting presented an exhibition with photos from the Western Balkans with visual highlights of the region. Over 50 participants from Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia... Read More →
ATTA Events
ATTA Members Webinar: Video Storytelling in the Digital Age
May 21, 2013
ATTA Guest Presenter Richard Bangs Thursday, June 20 10:00 AM PST / 17:00 UTC Register Now Learn how to use and create video to capture the attention of your desired audience and influence the decision making process. The host and presenter, Richard Bangs, will cover the following topics during this webinar, followed by Q&A with listeners: How video has changed travel and tourism Buzz words: Digital, Branding, Storytelling, Experiential Relating digital to the full travel funnel from start to finish Use of video, with case studies from a variety of destinations Performance ROI and the shelf life of your finished product How online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Orbitz.com fit into the digital strategy spectrum – from attracting a desired customer, to delivering a call to action, to capturing the conversion/booking Regardless of the size of your organization, you can benefit from the use of video. It’s the quality of the images that is most important, according to Richard Bangs:... Read More →
GSTC Interviews Shannon Stowell on Values Statement Decision
May 21, 2013
Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted by The Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Talia Salem and was originally published here. Longtime partners of the GSTC, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) recently published its Values Statement for the first-time. These values will help guide the ATTA, its membership, and its mission going forward. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) criteria were included in these values. We chatted with Shannon Stowell, president of the ATTA, about the decision to release these new values, what they mean for his organization, and the GSTC. Tell me about the your involvement with the GSTC? I’ve been on the board of the GSTC for a few years now and I wanted to help promote the mission of the GSTC. We feel that GSTC is the best bet the industry has as a central place for standards and to get some key players together to really mainstream sustainability in the tourism industry. As the ATTA, we have been encouraging our... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
2013 ATMEX Featured on Travel Weekly
May 21, 2013
Adventure Travel Mexico (ATMEX), the annual adventure travel show put on by the Adventure Travel Trade Association and Visit Mexico, was recently featured in an article on Travel Weekly by Gay Nagle Myers: In support of Mexico’s efforts to position itself as a premier adventure travel destination, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is partnering with Visit Mexico and the state of Veracruz to host the second annual Adventure Travel Mexico (Atmex) event Aug. 14 to 17. Gay goes on to describe the brief history of the event: The show evolved from the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas at which then-President Felipe Calderon outlined plans for adventure tourism development in Mexico. That summit led to the inaugural edition of Atmex, held in Veracruz in 2012. Read the original article here: Adventure Travel Mexico Show Set for Veracruz Read More →
ATTA Events
ATTA Members Webinar: Trafficking in Tourism: Child Protection Guidelines
May 21, 2013
ATTA Guest Presenter Michelle Guelbart MSW, ECPATUSA Thursday, June 6 10:00 AM PST / 17:00 UTC During the 2012 Adventure Travel World Summit in Switzerland, ATTA became a member of the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct. The Code is a set of 6 guidelines travel and tourism companies implement to put in place policies and procedures to identify and protect children from sexual exploitation. (www.thecode.org) This webinar will examine the issue of sexual exploitation of children as it intersects with the travel and tourism industry, identify the role ATTA members have in addressing the issue, and talk about real world implementation of the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct. Register for this ATTA Webinar. Click here. About the Presenter: Michelle is in charge of ECPAT-USA’s (www.ecpatusa.org) engagement with the private sector on issues related to child protection. Her expertise is in tourism. In her role, Michelle manages relationships with corporations, NGOs, and... Read More →
ATTA Events
ATTA Member Webinar: Multi-Channel Promotions via Customer Reviews, Tours & Contests
May 7, 2013
ATTA Guest Presenter Travis Pittman CEO, TourRadar Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:00 AM PST / 18:00 UTC If you’re looking to increase your online footprint and drive more bookings, it’s important to leverage the right tools to maximise your chances of success. In this webinar, TourRadar’s CEO, Travis Pittman will be taking a deeper dive into what value and benefits the recent TourRadar/ATTA partnership provide to you as a tour operator. Join us for this live webinar to learn more about: Taking full advantage of the opportunities available to you from ATTA and TourRadar Tips to increase the chances of your customers writing online reviews TourRadar’s Dashboard where you can edit your tour listings, respond to reviews, etc How to embed reviews and tours directly on your own website and Facebook Page How to create a micro-community on your Facebook Page where travelers can connect before their tour departs Running a Contest on Facebook to increase likes, gain email addresses for marketing... Read More →
ATTA Events
ATTA Webinar in Spanish: Guía para Conocer y Aprovechar la Membresía de ATTA
May 7, 2013
ATTA Team Presenters Antonio Del Rosal Director Ejecutivo, América Latina Rebeca Yanez Directora de Membresías, América Latina Martes, Mayo 21 10:00 AM PST / 12:00PM CST / 17:00 UTC Acompáñanos para conocer y aprovechar la membresía de ATTA, una guía diseñada para ayudarte a navegar por los diferentes portales e identificar las herramientas que ATTA ofrece a sus miembros. Describiremos una amplia variedad de beneficios, dominios en línea, oportunidades de promoción y alianzas potenciales disponibles para nuestros miembros. Puede ser que actualmente ya seas un miembro activo, o que estés interesado en afiliarte pero quieras más información- en ambos casos, este webinar te aportará tips e información de cómo capitalizar los beneficios de ATTA y las oportunidades de vinculación o networking. Algunas de las preguntas más comunes que abordaremos incluyen: Entre casi 900 empresas, ¿cómo puedo encontrar y contactar a los que pudieran llegar a ser mis socios potenciales... Read More →
ATTA Press Releases
Mexico Partners with the Adventure Travel Trade Association on ATMEX 2013 Adventure Travel Event
May 1, 2013
Seattle, WA – In continued support of Mexico’s efforts to position itself as a “go to” premiere adventure travel destination, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is partnering with Visit Mexico and the State of Veracruz on the second annual Adventure Travel Mexico (ATMEX) trade fair. This year, from August 14th – 17th, over 400 inbound Mexican operators, outbound tour operators, international buyers and media will gather to learn more about the benefits of offering adventure travel and will develop partnerships to grow the adventure travel industry in Mexico. The success of ATMEX in 2012 as well as the Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas in 2011 has created growing awareness in Mexico of the sustainable benefits of adventure travel. After meeting with the CEO of Mexico’s Tourism Board, Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, ATTA’s president Mr. Shannon Stowell said, “Visit Mexico understands the economic and social advantages of the adventure travel industry with... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
Outdoor Economy Praises AdventureTravelNews’ Article on Empowering Women in Adventure Travel
April 30, 2013
Outdoor Economy recently applauded the ATTA’s article “Empowering Women through Adventure Travel Bolsters Local Economies“: This article on the Adventure Travel and Trade Association about empowering women through adventure really embodies how natural resources can bring prosperity and raise the quality of life of the local populations. [...] This article goes through three case studies of women in Africa and Latin America who have had to overcome challenges in order to do what they love and earn a living. They are truly inspirational stories that show what can be done with determination and hard work. You can read the original Outdoor Economy article here: Empowering Women Through Adventure Travel Or read the original ATTA article here: Empowering Women through Adventure Travel Bolsters Local Economies Read More →
ATTA Events
ATTA Members Webinar: Risk Management Primer
April 18, 2013
ATTA Guest Presenter Jim Sano, World Wildlife Fund Rescheduled to Tuesday, May 7 10:00 AM PST / 17:00 UTC Eventually, even the best tour operators will experience a significant accident or illness on a trip. How an organization identifies, assesses, and mitigates the objective risks inherent with any trip can greatly influence outcomes, and ultimately one’s risk profile in the eyes of a liability insurance carrier or potential partner. This ATTA Member Webinar covers a diverse range of risk management topics including: The contents of a successful risk management plan Realistically assessing security and health risks in an uncertain world Effectively communicating those risks to your travelers Emergency response protocols The legal/insurance tools that will help your organization minimize its true exposure This webinar is designed to be interactive and the goal is to provide participants with a “toolbox” of practical templates to build or refine your risk management plan. Register... Read More →
