ATTA News
Adventure Travel Trade Association Releases 1H 2012 North America Regional Meeting Schedule
February 1, 2012
Seattle, WA—The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) announces its regional meeting schedule for 2012; in order to further enhance its member services, the ATTA built much of the 2012 schedule for its North American Regional Meetings next to each other, stringing five Regional events together in a 14-day period. This will allow any ATTA member to utilize these events as a platform to build a North American ‘roadshow’ around these dates. Tentative dates for the Regional gatherings are: 18-Apr ATTA Regional New York City 24-Apr ATTA Regional Denver 26-Apr ATTA Regional Seattle 1-May ATTA Regional Vancouver, Canada 3-May ATTA Regional San Francisco The ATTA will be delivering key news and information at each meeting regarding the state of the industry, business insights, and the latest travel trends, research and news. While the ATTA will help promote a member to its regional tour operators and agents, it will not be setting up any actual meetings. If successful, the ATTA... Read More →
ATTA Events
President Shannon Stowell Speaks as Entrepreneur-in-Residence to Montana State University Business Students
January 26, 2012
ATTA President Shannon Stowell presented to the College of Business at Montana State University (MSU) as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, being involved in multiple aspects of the program for several days. Stowell’s November 30th presentation to the students focused on an introduction of global adventure travel and its pivotal role in international economies and how it can be developed in a manner critical to the protection of local environments, wildlife and culture. Stowell spoke about the transformative possibilities of adventure tourism for individuals as well as organizations and communities – a personal tenet that led him to leave Altrec.com, a successful outdoor retail start-up he co-founded in 1998, to restructure and rebuild the ATTA in 2004. What prompted you to participate in the Entrepreneurial program of the MSU Business Program? I was invited by Dr. Scott Bryant, the director of the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship Program at MSU to come and spend some time with... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
ATTA Chris Chesak Interviewed at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2012
January 25, 2012
ATTA Vice President of Business Development, Chris Chesak, represented ATTA at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market last week, meeting with various outdoor brands to help facilitate partnerships between them and our extensive network of global destinations. Chesak was interviewed for a full page article (at right) in the OR daily publication. Read More →
Member Press Releases
Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition Announces Seven New Board Members, Including ATTA’s Alice Gifford
January 4, 2012
Two current members transition to new roles on the Board of Directors Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC) is pleased to welcome seven extraordinary volunteers to its Board of Directors. The newly elected Board members – Michele Flamer, Beth Gordon, Deanne Buck, Sharon Scott, Meaghan Cunningham, Alice Gifford, and Laura Schaffer—join 17 current members, broadening the skill set and reach of the Board of Directors extensively. In addition, two current members, Ali Sacash-Johnson and Lu Setnica, transitioned to new roles on the Board. Board members were selected as part of OIWC’s strategic focus on growing the organization’s business acumen and technical skills (i.e. a website specialist, fundraising, etc.) and recruiting leaders with excellent communication skills and the ability to influence and impact our industries. Each incoming Board member brings their unique skills and talents, creating a diverse group of volunteers with the same goal: provide advocacy, education... Read More →
Summit Feedback Letter from Mexican Tour Operator Attendee
November 30, 2011
Assistant Editor’s Note: The ATTA received the following note from a 2011 Summit delegate, and wished to share his message. It is exactly this kind of opportunity that the ATTA team strives for in producing the annual Adventure Travel World Summit: to positively affect the individuals and organizations in this unique and treasured space. Hello, I am a tour operator based in Mexico with a focus on creating experiences that show off Mexico’s immensely rich and little known culture. Over the last 5 years we (tour operators in general in Mexico) have been hit by a perfect maelstrom. Swine flu cut tourism to Mexico in 2007, then the global recession and the drug war. To complicate it more, I am based in Oaxaca and in 2006 we had a massive popular strike and uprising that stifled tourism in the state for a year. Fast forward to October 2011 and my business, Traditions Mexico, is hanging on by a thread. Or perhaps not quite that. It is immensely demoralizing to work long hours with... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
ATTA’s Stowell Quoted in MarketingWeek Around Adventure Travel Stats and Trends
November 22, 2011
The ATTA’s Shannon Stowell was quoted extensively from his recent talk at World Travel Mart as the basis for an article in Marketing Week, entitled Travel brands can exploit a ripe market for adventure and romance holidays. An excerpt is below: Stowell said the whole travel industry is heading towards adopting an adventure approach because as travellers become more experienced, they are demanding new and unusual destinations and experiences. He backed this up with stats – in 2009/10 the mass tourism industry grew by an average of 4%, while adventure tourism grew 17%. He said 60% of 18 to 41 year old adventure travellers don’t book with tour operators, preferring to go it alone, while 61% of 41 to 70 year olds do. This suggests several things – the obvious, that older adventure travellers would be more receptive to engaging with tour operator brands, but also that there is an opportunity to cater more for the agent-averse younger audience. For more information, please... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
The 2011 ATWS Extensively Covered in Travel Weekly
November 22, 2011
The Adventure Travel Trade Association’s 2011 Summit in Chiapas, Mexico was extensively covered in a two-page spread in Travel Weekly after the publication sent reporter Diane Merlino to attend the event. Summit goals, content, notable quotes and partnership announcements comprise of the feature article, as well as the preparation the country undertook to support the industry conference of 600+ delegates, representing over 50 nations globally. Read the entire article. Read More →
Featured Adventure Travel World Summit News
Making Business Happen Inside the 2011 AFAR Exchange Global Marketplace
November 15, 2011
Photo: K. Gill Within the colonial courtyard and garden of the El Carmen Cultural Centre in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Day 2 of the Adventure Travel World Summit saw successful business-to-business meetings in the AFAR Exchange marketplace. Now in its third year as a full day component of the Summit, marketplace forges successful long-term partnerships between tour operators around the globe. Limited to 100 exhibitors (adventure-focused tour operators and destinations from around the world) and with a heavy emphasis this year on promoting Mexico’s adventure tourism opportunities, the comfortable venue and structured, mostly pre-scheduled meetings allowed outbound operators, wholesalers and specialty agents to learn firsthand about new regions, develop itineraries and check in with current partners. The 2011 AFAR Exchange featured tour and service providers from 40 countries and 12 Mexican states. Buyers participated from a wide range of micro- to large-sized businesses, but... Read More →
President Felipe Calderón Inaugurates 8th Annual Adventure Travel World Summit: Lauds Adventure Travel as “path to correcting inequalities of our country and the world”
November 1, 2011
ATTA President Stowel shakes hands with Mexican President Calderon. Seattle, WA—More than 600 tourism industry professionals from 50 countries gathered in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico October 17-20 for the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit, which was inaugurated by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón—the first head of state to champion adventure travel as the crux of tourism promotion for an entire country. In his opening speech the President addressed the importance of the adventure travel industry as a restorative force for both the people and land of Mexico and beyond. “It is an honor to be hosting the eighth edition of the Adventure Travel World Summit,” stated Calderón “…I believe that if we know how to find, through adventure travel, the ability to employ those who own the land, woods, rainforests or deserts, the lakes or lagoons, that we will find a path to correcting the terrible inequalities of our country and the world.” Calderón continued, “Adventure... Read More →
Adventure Travel World Summit
Chiapas is Ready for the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit
October 13, 2011
Lorenzo Campos Maurer, Katyna de la Vega, Rodolfo López Negrete, Antonio del Rosal. More than 650 tourism industry professionals, from 54 countries, will be gathering in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas for the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit. In a press conference with the Federal and Chiapas State Government, Mexico announced that everything is ready for the country to host its biggest international tourism event of the year. Rodolfo López Negrete, Director of Consejo de Promoción Turística de México, said that hosting this event is key to increase tourist arrivals to Mexico because “in all the previous hosting cities, the Summit has been a watershed for local tourism industry, and we can assure that Mexico will have the same impact and success.” Chiapas offers solid important tourism infrastructure, with 794 hotels (17,293 rooms) and 1,242 restaurants. Katyna de la Vega, Director of the Commission for the Development of Alternative Tourism in Chiapas, declared... Read More →
