The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) recently announced that the next AdventureNEXT Latin America will be held in Panama City, Panama. Revealed at ATTA’s latest AdventureELEVATE event held in Sedona, Arizona, the announcement was made in-person by Iván Xavier Eskildsen Alfaro, Panama’s Minister of Tourism. AdventureNEXT Latin America Panama will take place 9-11 February 2022 and center around Panama’s new sustainable tourism vision, highlighting the need for governments to embrace a more regenerative and responsible framework for bringing tourists back post-pandemic.
With sustainability as a core pillar of ATTA’s vision, AdventureNEXT Latin America Panama will focus on Climate, Connection, and Community, with an eye for incorporating innovative tourism strategies. The event’s three-day agenda will start off with a set of pre-adventures taking place throughout the region, connecting international and regional buyers, alongside travel media, and showcasing the local cuisine, community, and culture of Panama. The conference will also include a keynote and roundtable discussions, a marketplace of pre-scheduled meetings to develop partnerships, and networking opportunities that focus on conversations around the positive impact of community-based tourism.
Gabriella Stowell, ATTA Latin America and Caribbean Director shared, “I am so excited to have an AdventureNEXT Latin America event in-person again, and Panama is such a perfect place for this gathering because of its unique history of connection. During this event, we will keep our ‘Una Fuerza movement’ strong and will share ideas, develop friendships, experience Panama’s incredible culture and nature and, of course, build strong business relationships. With the theme of Climate, Connection, Community, this event will inspire us to restore tourism.”
With the goal of rebuilding Panama’s visitor economy over five years, the Panamanian government is in the midst of spending an ambitious $301 million on its sustainable tourism master plan. Led by Alfaro, this new model-based plan aims to target conscientious travelers - the “viajero consciente” - by embracing and elevating climate awareness and community-based tourism. Before the global COVID-19 pandemic, Panama was one of the strongest performing economies in the Latin America and Caribbean region, growing at an average of 4.7 percent annually, but the pandemic led to a 70% decrease in visitors. Panama hopes that this framework will not only boost the image of the country as a climate-conscious destination, positioning the country to attract the sustainable adventure traveler, but also potentially serve as a new tourism governance model for regions where leadership has historically excluded local communities and embraced mass tourism.
Eskildsen shared, "We are incredibly pleased to host AdventureNEXT Latin America 2022. It is the undisputed next step to show our industry the enormous potential that Panama has to inspire ideas that can set new trends for tourism businesses, and showcase that we are cultivating a stable and sustainable economy through responsible practices, respecting and interacting for the benefit of local communities and their culture, science, ancestral wisdom, and the planet."
Registration is now open and applications will be accepted through 15 December 2021. Media and buyers are invited to apply. In order to protect delegates and the community of Panama from COVID-19, ATTA requires that all ATTA event attendees, including AdventureNEXT delegates, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.