By Kristen Gill, award-winning travel writer & photographer.
The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) recently facilitated a first-of-its-kind week-long adventure, dubbed AdventureWeek Chile, in combination with Turismo Chile and a select group of travel buyers, planners, and media who toured Chile’s southern Patagonia region. Three distinct areas, including Magallanes, Los Lagos, and Aysen, each of which is ideal for adventure travel opportunities, were explored.
According to ATTA’s Antonio del Rosal, Executive Director for Latin America, AdventureWeek is a multi-layered program designed to generate immediate visibility for the destination, leveraging ATTA’s network of specialized media and travel advisors and tour operators around the world.
“We are proud to have Chile as our host for this exciting new format designed by ATTA to showcase the best adventure activities that destinations have to offer. – Antonio del Rosal, Executive Director for Latin America ATTA
A Storytelling Team worked with ATTA and Tourismo Chile to design a social media campaign and to document AdventureWeek Chile, capturing images and video assets which Chile and ATTA will use to promote the destination. The highlights of AdventureWeek Chile will be showcased at the upcoming Adventure Travel World Summit in Namibia, attended by the world’s top leaders in the adventure travel sector.
The “FeelingChile” social media campaign proved successful, garnering likes and retweets of participants’ various posts describing their activities, including horseback riding, kayaking the Magellan Straights, visiting the famed Torres del Paine massif, and exploring uncharted territory in the southernmost area of South America before Antarctica, close to Cape Horn. Participants also conveyed their newfound knowledge of Chilean history and culture, including its natural history, accounts of the native Patagonian tribes and early whalers, and the unique music, dance, food and drink of the country.
“I think that the AdventureWeek concept is very helpful to us operators. We gain some experience and some knowledge of the destination, which is very exciting, and that translates when we go home and create itineraries and talk to our clients. I think it’s a great format.” – Maria Elena Price of ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours
Each region held a Marketplace event in which the participants were able to meet with the ground handlers and local tour operators. According to Raffaele Di Biase Cuomo of Birds Chile, “AdventureWeek Chile is a great chance to show our products and to speak personally, and to put our country and our region on the map.”
From glaciers to lakes, volcanoes to fjords, and islands to mountain peaks, these adventurers were shown the greatness of Patagonian Chile. Participants will return with their first-hand experiences to develop customized excursions for their clients and to share their travels through a variety of media outlets.
“ATTA is planning to use this exciting new model for more AdventureWeeks in the future,” states del Rosal.