The next Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) will be held in Panama City, Panama, 7-10 October 2024. Gabi Stowell, Vice President of Regional Development for ATTA, made the official announcement after the closing plenary at this year’s Summit in Hokkaido, Japan.
In front of a packed audience, representatives from Japan and Panama joined together onstage for the ceremonial handoff from one country to another. Despite early murmurings from delegates – which included both correct and incorrect speculation about the next host destination – the formal announcement at the end of each year’s event has become a beloved Summit tradition, marked by an exchange of gifts between countries.
This year, the gifts chosen by each delegation felt particularly meaningful and symbolic as a sign that the values and priorities of the adventure travel community are continuing in the right direction. Both gifts were handcrafted by Indigenous artisans from each country – a nod to cultural heritage that has survived.
Representatives from Japan gave a hand-carved owl made by an Ainu craftsman which was accepted by Denise Guillén Zúñiga, Panama’s Minister of Tourism. Summit emcee Kensuke Takada shared context with the audience, “This hand-carved wooden owl is the highest ranked god, and is the protector of the village,” he said. “This is a gift for Panama, to harmonize from Lake Akan to Panama.”
In exchange, representatives from Panama offered a gift of handwoven baskets made by Emberá artisans in addition to the country’s famous Geisha coffee. Known for its prize-winning status and delicate flavor, Geisha coffee is also notorious for being extremely difficult to grow. Farming, carving, and weaving by hand – all three are all labors of love. There’s something to be said for intentionally doing things the hard way, and the gifts were a reminder of this.
At a time when homogenization and mass-production threaten just about everything, celebrating and protecting a country’s cultural heritage and natural resources requires effort, humility, and commitment. Panama has been a stellar example of what a destination can do right when this ethos is applied to tourism.
In recent years, Panama’s tourism industry has put notable effort into developing a strategy that focuses on sustainable adventure travel, with key initiatives aimed at partnering with local communities. The model was created to protect the country’s natural beauty, diverse cultures, and rural communities. A few examples from recent years stand out.
Led by the Panamanian Tourism Authority (ATP), the project "Mil Kilómetros de Senderos" (One Thousand Kilometers of Trails) aims to develop and improve more than 1,000 kilometers of land and water trails across Panama by the year 2030. The goal of this initiative is to connect travelers with the country's extraordinary biodiversity and cultural heritage while partnering with local communities to host unique experiences. The first phase, Ruta de la Caldera, was inaugurated earlier this year.
The country also has a vision for supporting small companies and projects that are challenging the status quo of mass tourism and innovating for a more sustainable future. In May 2023, ATTA CEO Shannon Stowell served as a judge for the Innovative Community Tourism Experiences Contest. The event was organized in partnership with the Panama Tourism Authority, Panama por Naturaleza, and the UN World Tourism Organization. The top five winners received support and funding for their projects from the Panamanian government, UNWTO, and the ATTA.
To create a broad support network and infrastructure for community tourism startups, the government of Panama partnered with the Panamanian Foundation for Sustainable Tourism (APTSO), Fundación Natura, and Planeterra to establish the Panama Alliance for Community Tourism (PACT). One result of this initiative is SOSTUR, a website for travelers to directly book experiences with participating communities. The platform and project were recently included in Conde Nast Traveler’s roundup of “Bright Ideas in Travel 2023.”
While Panama’s efforts and initiatives have been recognized on a global scale, the country’s partnership with the ATTA has been growing and flourishing as well. With about 50 members at the time of this writing, ATTA's relationship with Panama has included an AdventureEDU research partnership, an AdventureWeek in 2018, and AdventureNEXT Latin America, which took place in Panama City in 2022. Having the next Adventure Travel World Summit in Panama is the culmination of years of working together and collaborating on a shared vision with the community on the ground.
“Since 2017, ATTA has been working with partners in Panama to increase community-based travel in the country,” explained Gabi Stowell, ATTA’s Vice President of Regional Development. “Along the way I learned so much about this amazing destination and discovered that Panama is truly a gem, filled with diverse culture and biodiversity, and endless adventure. In 2024, the ATTA community will gather for the first time in Central America, and I can’t wait for the world to see and experience all the things that made me fall in love with Panama.”
Denise Guillén Zúñiga, Panama’s Minister of Tourism, shared Stowell’s enthusiasm. “Since we have been honored to be chosen as the host country for the next Adventure Travel World Summit, we are delighted to extend a special invitation, especially to our esteemed friends from Asia,” Zúñiga said. “Panama has so much to explore, with hidden treasures waiting to be discovered and enjoyed! We have been curating this event to welcome intrepid travelers from over 60 countries across the globe, and we eagerly anticipate your arrival in 2024!”
The biggest event of the year for the adventure travel industry, the Adventure Travel World Summit brings together hundreds of industry professionals from around the world for four days of educational programming and workshops, a marketplace, lauded keynote speakers, ample time for one-on-one networking, and of course, opportunities to experience the many adventures the host destination has to offer.
To register and receive updates about the Adventure Travel World Summit 2024 Panama, visit the event homepage.