Last October, an adventure school opened its doors for the first time in Indonesia. There were no classroom bells, crowded hallways, principles, or cafeterias. Rather, this was an online adventure school for guides and adventure businesses in Indonesia. Students come and go on their own schedules. And instead of flying trainers around the globe, live sessions and self-paced courses were all offered remotely by the ATTA.
Empowering these up-and-coming entrepreneurs in Indonesia began several years ago, a result of early efforts by Impact Adventures, ATTA’s partner on the ground. Participants in Indonesia were challenged to realize the bounty of natural surroundings and take part in a photo competition to begin the local adventure product development. The rest is, well, history, as the enthusiasm and potential at welcoming international guests to the rural regions of Indonesia grew.
“Our design challenge was to connect best-in-class adventure education to early-stage adventure businesses in a remote developing market, many of whom do not speak English,” said Gustavo Timo, Vice President of Product Development for the ATTA. “Our school for adventure guides and entrepreneurs in Indonesia paved the way in localizing and tailoring an educational curriculum for a specific region and language.”
The curriculum for the guides and startup tour companies was selected from among ATTA’s library of self-paced training courses considering the stage of development, and planned areas of growth. In particular, a focus on adventure travel product development was selected, then translated and adapted to the Bahasa language of Indonesia. Complementing the self-paced training, a live virtual training on product development was offered by ATTA educator and trainer Jean-Claude Razel and was then translated in real-time to the audience.
"The combination of our programs and ATTA’s live session and online educational materials have been a great contribution to the local guides’ technical skills and provided morale boosts for them during this difficult time,” said Emil Ridwan, head of Impact Adventures BAKTI Kominfo Project. “We also witnessed some transformational changes to some guides after their involvement in the programs."
ATTA’s and Impact Adventure’s job in Indonesia is far from done. After all, meaningful impact and true transformation may take years of thoughtful curriculum planning and professional development, along with the raw grit and tireless spirit required for beginning a tour company. While the doors of the school have now been opened, the transformation of Indonesia’s adventure travel has just begun.
