The ATTA has had a busy autumn schedule, with team members speaking and participating in a wide range of key industry events - events which are diverse across several continents and industries, as the burgeoning adventure tourism market permeates other industry niches and increasingly involves communities and conversations in conservation, academia and politics. Here’s a round-up of events we’ve attended and upcoming chances to connect with us at trade shows, meetings and AdventureConnect events.
Past Speaking Appearances
Failte Ireland’s annual Adventure Tourism Forum, Ennistymon, Ireland - 9/9/13-9/10/13
- Ireland is reshaping, redefining and refreshing its brand.
- Ireland’s nature, culture and activity resources match adventure travel’s three pillars, this is complemented by Ireland’s core strength local business and local people.
- Adventure travel ambassadors within Ireland are already creating regional commitments to adventure tourism that will prepare the country to be an international player.
- Ireland’s strong business environment provides the ideal building block for sustainable adventure tourism development at this critical stage of Ireland’s modernization.
- Ireland provides easy access globally in contrast to our long haul choice for 2013.
AdventureConnect, London - 9/12/13
Shannon Stowell, Casey Hanisko and Chris Doyle presented an interactive AdventureConnect before approximately 60 tourism industry professionals at the Zimbabwe Embassy and supported by Wanderlust Magazine (U.K.) and Orbital Communications. They facilitated peer-to-peer discussions on a variety of “hot” topics, needs, issues and matters that are most important to the success of the U.K. market and for the future of the industry. The groups also explored and shared what the global network can do to support these topics in both the short and long term.
Read the brief report on European Industry Trends: A Field Report from AdventureConnect.
AdventureConnect, Iceland – 9/17/13
Chris Doyle and Ulrika Larsson, Europe’s Member Advocate, presented an AdventureConnect before approximately 45 Icelandic tourism professionals, nearly doubling the pre-registered number as word got out about the gathering. After providing participants with a global adventure tourism trends update and background on the ATTA, the discussion covered concepts relating to developing stronger networks within Iceland, in the greater Iceland-Greenland-Faroe Islands region, and with international markets. Active engagement by participants also resulted in a sharing of pertinent issues the island nation is facing – along with possible ways to begin tackling the same.
Travel Mart Latin America, Quito, Ecuador - 9/18/13-9/19/13
Executive Director of Latin America, Antonio del Rosal hosted key meetings as well as presenting new research and information, slanted particularly towards the Latin American audience, in two speaking roles. The first seminar, on Adventure Travel: Tips and Trends, elaborated on the state of the adventure tourism industry, the current outlook for 2013, industry trends and the results of the 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study. In the second presentation, Antonio joined a panel assembled by ATTA Partner The Rainforest Alliance on sustainability in tourism, where he talked on the intrinsic sustainability of adventure travel.
VestNorden Travel Mart, Greenland – 9/21/13
Chris Doyle served as a keynote speaker before more than 300 governmental and private enterprise representatives from Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, three territories collaborating to generate international awareness and business, with an eye on capitalizing on increasing interest in adventure travel worldwide. Chris asked the delegation to consider what the region was prepared to do with its abundant adventure assets, both cultural and natural, and what legacy they were prepared to leave, how they would engage rural communities and capacity issues, and offered recommendations on how to pursue the best travelers, in terms of financial yield, but also as a means of managing their own resources for a sustainable future.
AdventureEDU, Western Balkans –9/25/13 - 9/27/13
Russell Walters, Jack Delf and Chris Doyle provided AdventureEDU seminar on market trends, risk management, marketing, product development and innovation, and then presented at the Western Balkans’ Tourism Council meeting about next steps for regional players to organize. The program, for approximately 30 attendees, was held in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Outdoor Industry Association Rendezvous, San Diego, California - 9/30/13-10/2/13
VP of Business Development Chris Chesak attended the Outdoor Industry Association Rendezvous, a gathering of over 400 industry leaders, retail owners, marketing executives and business experts who have the pulse on what’s happening in the outdoor space in the United States. He also spoke on a panel sponsored by ATTA partners Teva and Jordan Tourism, Dynamic Partnerships: Energize Your Budget and Brand to Tap New Audience, providing effective strategies and case studies to help the audience identify the best partners, perform due diligence and activate those partnerships, and establish sound collaboration and communication with partners to ensure a win/win scenario.
Colorado Governor's Tourism Conference, Telluride, Colorado - 10/2/13-10/4/13
Chris Chesak attended the Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference, continuing to bolster ties in the U.S. adventure tourism market, as well as presenting a breakout session on Growing New Markets: Adventure Travel & Ecotourism.
Mediterranean Luxury Travel Summit, Athens, Greece - 10/7/13 - 10/11/13
Chris Doyle attended the Summit on“Regional Cooperation and Development” and served as a panelist on Accessing the Potential of and Tapping Emerging Markets, on which he spoke to strategies and tools available to increase the number of visitors from emerging markets.
2013 ATIA Annual Convention & Trade Show, Sitka, Alaska - 10/8/13-10/10/13
Chris Chesak attended the premier gathering for Alaska’s tourism industry leaders, to hold key meetings among over 400 Alaskan tour operators, vendors, destination marketing organizations and elected officials. He also presented on the Marketing Track, on The Rise of Adventure Travel –and How to Tap into this Fast Growing Segment.
Black Sea Tourism Forum and Workshop, Athens, Greece - 10/10/13 - 10/11/13
Chris Doyle attended the Black Sea Tourism Forum & Workshop, a dedicated travel trade workshop aiming to enhance tourism business partnership with the Black Sea Region where he contributed key niche market insights on adventure tourism in the panel Destination Marketing: Integration all the way! Chris conveyed, in context to the focus of the panel, why and how market indicators, trade and consumer research, economic impact studies and drastic shifts in the tourism industry poise the Black Sea region for a responsible (adventure) tourism renaissance within one of the world’s most environmentally and culturally rich crossroads of the ancient world.
Upcoming ATTA Appearances - Connect with Us on the Road!
Ohio Conference on Tourism, Cincinnati, Ohio - 10/16/13
Connect with Chris Chesak at The Ohio Conference on Tourism is the annual convention for Ohio’s tourism industry.The Adventure Travel World Summit, Namibia - 10/26/13-10/31/13
Connect with the entire ATTA team at our tenth Summit, and first Summit event on the continent of Africa. Over 650 adventure tourism professionals will enjoy a host of adventure and in-the-field activities, extensive interactive networking programs, special keynotes, and high quality presentations on restorative tourism, marketing, risk management, partnerships and more. Whether or not you are registered for this sold-out event, you can follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Instagram via #2013ATWS and #Namibia.
World Travel Market, London - 11/4/13
Connect with Ulrika Larsson, ATTA Europe Advocate, at the World Travel Market, a vibrant, four-day business-to-business event, presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to UK and International travel professionals.
AdventureConnect Cape Town, South Africa - TBD
Connect with Business Development Rep Meredith Guzy and New Media / Managing Editor to AdventureTravelNews Nicole Petrak in this casual, no-host AdventureConnect event. Time and location to be announced.
PURE, Marrakesh, Morocco - 11/12/13
Connect with Executive Director of the Middle East & North Africa, Manal Kelig and Business Development representative Meredith Guzy at PURE.
Visit ATTA on The Road to see additional events the ATTA will attend in 2014.