The Adventure Travel World Summit 2024 in Panama City is just a few months away, and this event is slated to be groundbreaking. This year’s theme is “Connection,” and Panama is the perfect country to host an event with that theme. Geographically, Panama connects two continents and two oceans. Historically, Panama has been a bridge between communities, religions, and ethnicities. This year, Panama will be the place where the adventure travel community will connect like never before.
The Future of Adventure Travel
As the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) celebrates its 20th anniversary under the leadership of Shannon Stowell, the ATTA is reflecting on the past while looking to the future by bringing together the collective experiences of every delegate to chart the next 20 years of the adventure travel industry.
One of the ways this will happen is through a workshop led by Lee Kitchen, an innovation catalyst from Magical Dude Consulting. Whether you’re familiar with his astounding career or not, you’re in for a ride! Kitchen had a 30+ year career at Disney, where he worked his way up the ranks to ideate and spearhead some of Disney’s most impactful marketing campaigns and memorable guest experiences. He now specializes in training teams to think more creatively, invent solutions, and find outside-the-box ideas.
Given his expertise, the ATTA invited Kitchen to facilitate a session designed to unlock creativity and channel big ideas into even bigger innovations. This interactive session will be unlike anything that has been done at a Summit before. Delegates will gather to brainstorm, dream, and share their most exciting ideas to solve the industry’s biggest challenges while building a new framework for the sustainable future of adventure travel. If you have a vision, this is the place to share it - hear more from Kitchen himself! Watch the video.
New Experiential Sessions to Connect with Oneself—and Each Other
After the dynamic brainstorming workshops and engaging keynote sessions, the Summit will give delegates the opportunity to take a step back, unplug, and connect with oneself. Throughout the event, we will host meditation sessions to allow everyone to pause for a moment, go within, and settle into the present moment. These sessions are inspired by recent wellness travel trends and are meant as a space for delegates to quiet their minds before re-engaging in the Summit’s activities.
Once delegates have re-energized, there will be a myriad of engaging experiences to pick from: ATTA’s own Ciara Turner-Ewert will lead a walking photography tour through Panama City. As a successful photographer, storyteller, and content producer, Turner-Ewert will show delegates how to tell compelling narratives through photography and storytelling. If art is up your alley, visit Ronald, a South American artist who will attend the Summit to live-paint a mural reflective of the adventure travel community and the Summit’s theme, “Connection.”
For anyone wanting to move their bodies, join other delegates for a casual run or cycle along the peninsula near the convention center. This activity is open to all fitness levels and will be an energizing start to the day.
Be the First to Unveil the Trends in the Industry
This year’s regional AdventureELEVATE events took place in Latin America, Europe, and North America. At each one, delegates gathered in Adventure Accelerators to discuss the most relevant topics in the industry. All the information about ideas, challenges, and trends collected by the ATTA in its regional events will culminate in sessions at ATWS, where experts will weigh in on the nuances and expectations of travelers, how technology is shaping experiences, how or whether sustainability is a priority, and ways destinations and operators can make the most of the burgeoning segment of the global travel market.
After a week of travel insights, networking, thoughtful conversations, and creative workshops, the 2024 Summit will end with a keynote by the ATTA’s CEO, Shannon Stowell, who will share the results of the brainstorming workshop with Kitchen. Join the delegates at the closing party, featuring the band Making Movies, who played at ATTA’s three AdventureELEVATE events this year.
With Panama City as our host and with groundbreaking sessions, this year’s Summit will be a key moment in the history of the adventure travel industry, a moment when our presence with the land and our connection as a community will mark the dawn of the next 20 years of adventure travel—the best ones yet! Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of the Adventure Travel World Summit 2024! Learn more about the event, check out the full agenda, and register today!