ATTA News
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 →
Adventure Travel World Summit
Lucerne, Switzerland Announced as the 2012 ATWS Location at Concurrent Press Events in North America
September 28, 2011
Chris Doyle presents to San Francicso media about the ATTA and ATWS. The Adventure Travel Trade Association today made two nearly simultaneous announcements yesterday revealing Lucerne, Switzerland to be the host of the 2012 Adventure Travel World Summit. The first was delivered by ATTA Vice President Chris Doyle at a press event in San Francisco, presented by Swiss Tourism and its regional partners, and attended by local consumer media. Shortly after, President Shannon Stowell also announced the winning bid at the Future of Tourism event in Toronto, held by ATTA member GAP Adventures, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and Planeterra.org, in honor of World Tourism Day. President Shannon Stowell accepts a Swiss cow bell at the announcement in Toronto. The Future of Tourism event featured industry expert panelists across a range of sustainable tourism topics, in an effort to initiate increased visibility and conversation globally around... Read More →
Adventure Travel World Summit ATWS Press Releases Featured Article
Lucerne, Switzerland Selected to Host the 2012 Adventure Travel World Summit
September 27, 2011
(SAN FRANCISCO/TORONTO) – SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 – Lucerne, the famous resort town at the shores of Lake Lucerne in the heart of Switzerland, right at foot of Mount Pilatus and the Alps, has won the bid to serve as Destination Host to the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s (ATTA) ninth annual Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS). Expected to draw 600 adventure tourism professionals from more than 50 nations, the ATWS will be held October 8-11, 2012 at the KKL Luzern (Culture and Congress Centre), built by renowned architect Jean Nouvel. Announced by the ATTA and Switzerland Tourism officials today during events in San Francisco and Toronto, the ATTA reported its decision came after extensive review of several sites throughout the world. In addition to meeting all prerequisites outlined in the bidding process, Lucerne won the 2012 ATWS bid primarily for its long-standing partnership with the ATTA and readiness to share its extensive experience in modern adventure travel and tourism,... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
ATTA and Members Featured in TIME Magazine Piece
September 16, 2011
The ATTA, along with members Cruceros Australis, Andean Treks and Go South Adventures, were featured in a recent TIME Magazine article on how climate change is changing travel itineraries and even creating new opportunities: The Adventure Travel Trade Association, which offers resources to tourists, points out that even those who aren’t super physically fit are doing springtime hikes in Greenland and eastern Tibet on mountain trails that had been covered in snow until summer. New trails are opening up in South America. “Due to the rapid glacial recession in the high Andes of southern Peru, we are now doing treks over 17,000-ft. [5,000 m] passes on routes which until five years ago were snowfield,” says Peter Robertson, president of Andean Treks, an operator based in Watertown, Mass. The article also covered the negative aspects of climate change and how they impact the travel industry. Access the digital version on TIME, entitled Go with the floe Read More →
ATTA "In the News" Travel & Outdoor Gear
Eight Ways for Retailers to Tap into the Adventure Travel Trend
September 16, 2011
Assistant Editor’s Note: This piece was written by the Outdoor Industry Association, in cooperation with ATTA, and is now part of their Resource Library. It is posted here with their permission. Adventure travel is already a multi-billion dollar business. But according to the Adventure Travel Trade Association, it may just be hitting its stride. “Tourism bureaus only now are pouring money into adventure travel,” notes ATTA President Shannon Stowell. “For outdoor brands right now, it’s still largely unexplored territory.” Larger adventure travel promotion budgets mean millions of new consumers will be introduced to outdoor recreation in coming years, providing a huge source of growth for outdoor brands. ATTA describes the three pillar attractions of adventure travel as physical activity, interaction with the environment and cultural exchange. Eight of ten adventure travel operators surveyed offer hiking and walking, while 54 percent offer wildlife viewing and 53 percent offer... Read More →
ATTA "In the News"
The Adventure Travel Development Index is Used in Forbes Travel Article
September 8, 2011
The Adventure Travel Development Index was the basis for a recent Forbes article, a lifestyle piece called Top 10 Adventure Travel Destinations You Didn’t Know About, by Andrew Bender: Where to go on your next trip? So many choices, no? Well, the Adventure Travel Trade Association is out with its newest survey of adventure travel destinations. Some of them, particularly in the developing world, may surprise you. The Adventure Travel Development Index (ATDI) defines adventure travel as interaction with nature, interaction with culture and a physical activity at least two and preferably all three in the same trip. Researchers polled over 315 tour operators, travel writers, assorted tourism officials and hospitality industry experts and ranked countries on 10 factors including sustainable development, safety and security, health, natural resources, cultural resources and infrastructure. The growing consumer recognition of adventure travel, and of the ATTA as an industry leader, is reflected... Read More →
Trade Events
AdventureDrinks networking succeeds in cities around the USA…where will it be found next?
August 31, 2011
Attendees at Seattle's AdventureDrinks, after the ATTA's April 2011 Regional Meeting The original idea started during a familiarization trip in Madagascar when Justin Wood from REI Adventures and Kurt Kutay from Wildland Adventures were having drinks at the end of the day, discussing how much fun it was just hanging out together. “We declared then and there, ‘Why not continue this when we’re back home in Seattle, and invite others to join us?’” And thus, Seattle’s monthly networking gatherings soon dubbed AdventureDrinks was born. “From the start, it was designed as a casual no-host social gathering for our friends in the adventure travel and outdoor industries – it was just a matter of picking a place and making an announcement,” says Kutay. With little time or funds to sponsor or organize ongoing events, a committee was formed to share the tasks of choosing venues, creating a website for RSVPs, and generally spreading the message. Between Wood, Kutay, Troy... Read More →
ATWS Press Releases
Adventure Travel Trade Association Launches “Changing the World” Video Contest
August 29, 2011
Winning Video to Premier at the ATTA’s October 2011 World Summit photo: Eduardo Doig of Viajes Pacifico Seattle, WA.—The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) today announced its first ever video-contest, exclusively for the more than 600 Adventure Travel World Summit delegates expected for the October 17-21, 2011 Summit in Chiapas, Mexico, a sold-out executive conference themed, “Prosper with Purpose”. The winner of the 60 second video – selected through private voting by Summit Delegates – who best conveys how his/her business is changing the world for good through adventure travel experiences will be announced and earn a seat next to Bill Richardson at the event’s closing dinner after his keynote address on Oct. 21st, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Richardson, a former U.S. Congressman, Secretary of Energy, Ambassador to the United Nations, Governor of New Mexico and U.S. Presidential candidate will speak (in English and Spanish) on peacekeeping through tourism.... Read More →
ATTA Press Releases
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2011: ATTA’s Report on the Adventure Travel HUB
August 15, 2011
Productive partnership meetings took place at the Adventure Travel Hub. The Adventure Travel Hub, brought to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market by the Adventure Travel Trade Association for the second consecutive year, was the confluence for more than 35 meetings between outdoor gear and apparel brands with the world-class adventure tourism destinations of Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mexico and Belize. The meetings, cultivated by ATTA through its extensive network, were designed to help foster creative partnerships and innovative marketing promotions between the adventure travel industry and the outdoor industry, whose overlapping interests and areas of expertise make for rich, synergistic outreach and branding initiatives. ATTA also fostered meetings with the destinations with over a dozen top media executives to introduce and foster new editorial content in publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Audubon and many more. Doyle and Stowell present on Tapping into... Read More →
