The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) announced it will host two distinct Adventure Travel World Summits in 2008 on two continents.
Each promises to improve industry-wide access to networking; increase business-to-business marketplace opportunities; provide world-class learning and address regional business needs along with addressing common, global issues aimed at sustainable growth.
ATTA’s first Adventure Travel World Summit of 2008, the ATWS-South America, will be held in São Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 3-6, in conjunction with Brazil’s consumer and trade Adventure Sports Fair – which draws thousands of companies and more than 70,000 visitors.
Additionally, between 21-25 October, the ATTA will hold the Adventure Travel World Summit-Europe in Norway. Held aboard Hurtigruten’s MS Midnatsol, an expedition passenger ship, the meeting will be a voyage from Tromsø through Norway’s fjords to Bergen. Special on-shore opening and closing events will be held in Tromsø and Bergen respectively, and the voyage includes a port-city visit in Trondheim.
ATTA will continue to host multiple regional networking events throughout the US during the year and will investigate potential venues for a North American Summit in 2009 and beyond.
Geographically relocating its Summits in 2008 allows the ATTA to improve marketplace access to influencers throughout the greater adventure travel supply chain and help to call attention to important adventure travel hot spots around the world.
As a global trade association, the ATTA is responsible to nearly 500 members: tour operators, destination marketing organizations and tourism boards, agents and other strategic trade association partners based in more than 40 countries worldwide.
“Despite record bookings already registered by many of ATTA members for 2008, the industry is in ‘no-nonsense mode’, especially with the mixed economic outlook worldwide,” said ATTA President Shannon Stowell.
With an emphasis on connecting buyers with suppliers of adventure tourism, each Summit agenda, in addition to multi-disciplinary sessions aimed at sustainable growth, will include a full day of structured marketplace appointments to meet demand for business development needs.
Report by David Wilkening
