SALT LAKE CITY -- In a newly forged agreement slated for implementation in 2009 and 2010, Nielsen Business Media Sports Group (NBM) and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) announced today it will partner to deliver the first ever dedicated “adventure travel” presence within four selected NBM sports shows. In the agreement, Nielsen and the ATTA will introduce and establish innovative adventure travel-oriented conference content, exhibitions and sponsorship initiatives within NBM’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, Interbike and Fly Fishing Retailer shows throughout 2009 and 2010.
“Bringing adventure travel destinations, tour operators and other businesses together with outdoor retailers and brands focused on adventurous activities will contribute to a more vibrant lifestyle approach,” said NBM Vice President Sports Group Joseph Flynn. “Adventure travel is absolutely a part of who we are. Like the outdoor industry, the ATTA is committed to promoting the industry and to service the communities it serves. Together, we’re better positioned to provide productive cross selling environments for retailers, manufacturers and travel companies, which, in the end, brings more value to our businesses, outdoor enthusiasts and travelers.”
Designed to align and connect the outdoor and adventure travel industries for mutual benefit, the ATTA will provide NBM with sales, marketing, public relations and conference content services related to having adventure travel businesses and organizations participate in, exhibit at, and sponsor NBM Sports Group shows. The partnership provides the adventure travel channel for retailers and brands as another opportunity that can help open new distribution channels and encourage more participation in outdoor recreation activities.
Introductory elements of the dedicated adventure travel initiatives and exposure in the shows are currently under development. Details about the adventure travel concept and how it will be presented at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, set for January 2009, are to be revealed in the fall. Looking ahead to 2009, the partnership is expected to result in new adventure travel trade content tailored for the trade conference programs at OR Winter Market in areas that it has not yet covered in depth, plus an adventure travel exhibit area.
Already, brands such as Eagle Creek, ExOfficio, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)/REI Adventures and W. L. Gore & Associates have for years played active roles within and benefitted from association with the ATTA through sponsorship of the organization, participation in global conference events, launching joint consumer outreach and sweepstakes initiatives, and commercial sales programs. The ATTA’s early inroads with prominent outdoor brands were made possible in part through its leadership’s combined four decades of experience from inside the outdoor industry. Brands such as CamelBak, Keen, Kelty, Leki, and others have also benefited from participating in special adventure travel initiatives facilitated by the ATTA, which include familiarization tours hosted by and within travel destinations that result in the backdrop for photo and film shoots.
“Adventure travel has been identified by many industry experts and futurists as representing ‘the future’ of the travel and leisure market,” said ATTA President Shannon Stowell. “It’s the unique blend of physical, cultural and nature-based activities within adventure travel that gets at the core of what’s real and authentic in this world, and can also bring with it compelling solutions to combat poverty, over-development and exploitation of the people and places visited. Partnering with Nielsen and the outdoor industry is ideal. It’s timely, represents incredible opportunities to extend our respective businesses by connecting them to each other, and adds a truly unique vibrancy to the markets we serve that is unlikely to be matched elsewhere.”
About Nielsen: Outdoor Retailer, produced by Nielsen Business Media’s Sports Group, is the leading outdoor industry business-to-business trade event, bringing together top manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of the recreational outdoors. Currently in its 26th successful year, OR gathers approximately 40,000 attendees on a semi-annual basis for both Fall/Winter/Holiday and Spring/Summer markets. The Nielsen Business Media Sports Group, which includes the Outdoor Retailer, Interbike, Action Sports Retailer (ASR) and Fly Fishing Retailer trade shows, is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Nielsen Business Media is part of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company. For more information, please visit: www.nielsen.com.
About the ATTA: Established in 1990, the Seattle-based ATTA is a global membership organization dedicated to unifying, professionalizing, promoting and responsibly growing the adventure travel market worldwide. ATTA Members include tour operators, destination marketing organizations, tourism boards, travel agents/agencies, guides, lodges/resorts/attractions, media, and service providers. Host of the Adventure Travel World Summits, the ATTA provides professional support, development, education, research, marketing, career building, networking and cost saving resources to its members. For more information, please visit: www.adventuretravel.biz.