Warm greetings from home - after being on the road (and in the air) for the past 2+ months. My travels began with Athens, Greece for Green Destinations conference, then I spent a week in Switzerland with ATTA’s Adventure Travel World Summit before going back to the Western Balkans. There I was able to see the major progress that the region is undertaking with a goal to establish an official entity uniting the adventure travel businesses in the region. I also stopped in Madrid, Spain for The Economist Impact event, then returned to London for WTM and wrapped up the run with a first-time visit in Northern Ireland, where I attended the Ireland Association of Adventure Travel (IAAT) annual conference.
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Céline Fortin on our team also traveled across Europe and attended several events as well:
- IFTM Top Resa in Paris, France
- The Summit in Lugano
- CycleSummit in Chambery, France
- WTM London, UK
- Azores Trade Encounter in Azores, Portugal
As you may already know, Céline is driving our French Newsletter where you can read the latest news relevant to our French-speaking community. She also recently published The Sustainability Case of the Azores Archipelagos, an insightful article from her trip to the Azores where she spoke at the Azores Trade Encounter and held an AdventureConnect, hosted by the Azores Tourism Board. Another signature AdventureConnect that both of us organized was the one at WTM London. We were also joined by our Marketing Coordinator, Imogen Martin. -large.jpg)
These were a long few months but we cannot be happier for our industry being back together in person. It’s been three very unusual years - the last one in particular has been incredibly dynamic, with last minute requests, seeing the significance of the human aspect in the travel industry, and realizing the importance of travel as a whole - both by governments and individuals.
Some of the positive insights and trends that we monitor in Europe is that the region is recovering well - especially outdoor and adventure companies and destinations have seen a positive economic impact from travelers. Other important and positive trends that we monitor in Europe are more focus on sustainability measures that focus on impact rather than as a marketing tool. Across the region we are deep in discussions on how to measure success from travel - recognizing that “counting heads and beds” is not the way forward. Climate action is a top priority and we see more and more champions from the adventure industry showcasing paths to address this urgent challenge and to inspire more companies to follow them. Destinations are also advancing and something that really impressed me is how they are sharing their learnings and success stories. We have a fantastic example from this year’s ATWS when during a Destination Insights session for destination representatives a lot of ideas and processes were exchanged and now the destination representatives continue the dialogue, meet, share and advance together. Slow (adventure) travel is more and more attractive and along with cycling, I suspect will be the biggest focus in the coming years.
With all these positive developments, the ATTA team in Europe is wrapping up a successful and very dynamic year. We are delighted to share some of our highlights:
- European membership is represented by 300 businesses and destination organizations (about 25% from the entire membership); a warm welcome to our newest ATTA members. We are very happy to have you join our family!
- The Summit was sold out and we had more buyers than at any other event; delegates representing Europe and Central Asia were half of the delegates - thank you for the trust!
- Our Ambassador community is growing globally, including from Europe - we appreciate your ambassadorship - it means a lot to us and to your local communities!
Now, we are ready to wrap up the year, celebrate, during this most special time of the year, the trust and relationships with all of you - our incredible adventure community. We promise to come back in January with fresh energy, more inspiration and to continue to serve your needs and together with you, to move the industry forward. We plan on being present at different trade events and conferences among which are:
- FITUR in Spain, Madrid - January 2022
- ITB Berlin, Germany - March 2023
- AdventureELEVATE Portland, Maine 9-11 May 2023
- Adventure Travel World Summit Hokkaido, Japan 11-14 September 2023
- IFTM Top Resa Paris, September 2023
- WTM London, UK - November 2023
The list above is not complete and will be changing. We welcome your recommendations and want to know where you plan to participate - let me know, so that we can meet there.
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With this, I would like to wish you very enjoyable and Happy Holidays, on behalf of the entire ATTA Team! Warm wishes for a very successful 2023, full of new bright opportunities, meaningful connections, unforgettable moments of fulfillment and of course - breathtaking adventures. We hope to have the chance to share some of them together! Stay in touch!
Gergana, Celine, Tereza, Miya and Franzi
