New Board Appointments at the Adventure Travel Trade Association

4 May 2007
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Reflects Global Expansion

(SEATTLE, WASH.) – (May 4, 2007) – International destination, transportation and tour operator sectors today joined the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) Advisory Board with the new appointments of representatives from sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Qatar and Switzerland.

Continuing to build a diverse composition of active, strategic advisors, the ATTA has newly appointed Nicky Fitzgerald, Sales and Marketing Director of Conservation Corporation Africa (CC Africa), Gustavo Timo, Executive Coordinator of ABETA (Brazilian Adventure Travel Trade Association), John Hogan, Regional Director of Qatar Airways, and Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President of Markets & MICE, Switzerland Tourism.

Responsible for global marketing and branding of CC Africa, one of Africa’s leading luxury safari ecotourism companies committed to its core ethic of “Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the People”,  Fitzgerald oversees more than 40 exclusive safari camps and lodges in wilderness locations across Africa, and more recently India.  She previously served as Director of Operations for CC Africa, which has received numerous prestigious ecotourism awards, including recognition as global winner of the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award. For her work, Fitzgerald was recognized as Relais & Chateaux Woman of the Year in 2005.

Timo, co-founder of ABETA, has been active in adventure and nature travel for 12 years. He is involved with a major government initiative in Brazil to organize the adventure travel sector using higher levels of standards, certification and sustainable development initiatives.  He previously served as an elected member of the ABETA Board of Directors, as its Technical Director, and as the Executive Director of Brasil Aventuras Expedições where he oversaw the development of new destinations, marketing, established strategic partnerships, developed distributions channels in Brazil, and training of adventures travel guides.

Hogan, a seasoned airline and travel industry veteran of 25 years serving domestic and international airlines and major tour operators has held key executive positions at US Airways, Emirates, and Malaysia Airlines.  He was Qatar Airways’ first Western Hemisphere employee establishing the company legally and commercially in the United States and Canada.  Prior to the airline industry, Hogan’s tour operator experience included stints with Kingdom Vacations, Club Med, and GlobeTrek Adventures, plus serving as a consultant for The Earth is Yours Walking Tours.

Eberhard is responsible for the department Markets & MICE within Switzerland Tourism, the marketing organization for Destination Switzerland. Previously, he served as Director of Switzerland Tourism North America in New York overseeing offices in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. Eberhard was instrumental in the launch of Switzerland Tourism’s new website www.MySwitzerland.com which catapulted the company into the cutting-edge realm of E-commerce.

Fitzgerald, Timo, Hogan and Eberhard join eight other adventure travel industry experts committed to support the ATTA and its efforts to grow and sustain the adventure travel industry.  For nearly a year, the ATTA has sought strategic development of an advisory board representative of its membership and the critical elements essential to building a vibrant industry.

Along with the newly appointed, ATTA’s Advisory Board includes:

  • Richard Bangs, adventurer, entrepreneur, author, producer and director
  • Francis X. Farrell, Publisher, National Geographic Adventure Magazine
  • Rick Hemmerling, Vice President, BuzzOff™
  • Kurt Kutay, Founding Director and President of Wildland Adventures, Inc. and non-profit Travelers Conservation Trust
  • Perry Lungmus, Vice President Marketing, Cruise West
  • Thornton May, Contributing Futurist, World Bank
  • Everett Potter, Contributing Editor, New York Times Syndicate, USA Today, Outside  and others
  • Steve Trautman, Principal, Solution Strategies, former Expedia.com executive
  • Russell Walters, President, Northern Outdoors
Previous ATTA Advisory Board members whose terms have expired have earned ATTA Advisory Board Emeritus status:
  • Megan McCormick, Host of PBS Television’s “Globe-Trekker” Series
  • John Poimiroo, travel and tourism marketing communications consultant, Travel Editor of California Magazine, and former California State Tourism Director
  • Ed Viesturs, America’s leading high-altitude mountaineer, author of “Himalayan Quest”
The Seattle-based ATTA (www.adventuretravel.biz) is a strategic membership organization dedicated to raising the profile of adventure travel globally. Established in 1990, the ATTA provides services, knowledge, and connections that help its members succeed in their businesses and contribute to responsible industry growth. The Adventure Travel Trade Association also is host to the annual Adventure Travel World Summit (www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com).

Media Contact:
Chris Doyle
ATTA Director
916.791.9409
[email protected]

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