ADVENTURE
ATTA: A 20-Year Legacy
Congratulations to the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), its remarkable members, and the dedicated team powering this dynamic global community. What an achievement-and what an extraordinary journey it has been for all of us worldwide.
My own journey with ATTA began at its inception in Seattle and has now spanned more than 20 years. Over these decades, I have participated in Summits, Elevates, NEXTs and many other ATTA gatherings across continents. I’ve had the privilege of hosting events in Jordan, collaborating on cross-border partnerships, and-perhaps most meaningfullybuilding lifelong relationships and meaningful business through ATTA’s global network.
ATTA has shown me, and so many others, the strength of genuine relationships that transcend borders. The most transformative partnerships in my career have been possible through ATTA’s far-reaching network. I am especially grateful for the unwavering support from the worldwide ATTA community during times when Jordan, like many destinations, faced regional crises. Members from across the globe traveled, showed up, and advocated for us. Your presence and advocacy kept Jordan-and so many other destinations-top of mind for global travelers, reinforcing the power of solidarity in adversity.
A particularly moving moment was in October 2023, during Adventure Elevate in Amman. As the crisis in Gaza unfolded, many ATTA members were out exploring Jordan. Despite uncertainty, this community trusted us, and the conference and pre-adventures continued as planned. That trust and resilience, shared by a truly international community, reaffirmed our collective belief in the transformative power of travel. In 2024, the ATTA Board further demonstrated this commitment by hosting its first International Board Meeting in Jordan. These relationships, built across continents, are among the greatest rewards of working with ATTA.
Today, ATTA is the largest network of adventure travel leaders, connecting over 1,300 organizations in more than 100 countries and uniting around 30,000 individuals. Together, we are committed to a future where travel creates a positive impact on communities, cultures, wildlife, and nature. This vision is reflected in ATTA’s Membership Sustainability Commitment and our collective support for initiatives like 1% for the Planet, Tomorrow’s Air, and the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund.
I am also continually inspired by how ATTA adapts to the ever-changing landscape of global tourism. Alongside my fellow board members and advisors, I have the privilege of supporting the ATTA team as we help steer this remarkable organization into the future. As a Board, we are here to listen, serve, and support to ensure ATTA continues its journeybenefiting not just our industry, but also our communities and our planet.
Here’s to the next chapter of this powerful, global movement.
Malia Asfour, Jordan Tourism Board North America and ATTA Board Member on behalf of all board directors
ATTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHUNNIE WRIGHT Law Office of Chun T. Wright
ERIK BLACHFORD Venture Investor, Blachford Capital
KIMBERLY DALEY CEO, Daley & Company
SHANNON STOWELL CEO, Adventure Travel Trade Association
MALIA ASFOUR
Jordan Tourism Board North America and ATTA Board Member
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Photo courtesy of Court Whelan/ Natural Habitat Adventures
A Transformational
ADVENTURE
20 Years in the Adventure Travel Trade Association
BY DON MANKIN, ADVENTURE TRANSFORMATIONS, INC.
Islid the signed copy of my latest book across the table to my longtime friend and colleague, Ken Dychtwald –a world-renowned speaker, writer and consultant on the
corporate and societal impact of the aging baby boomers. He looked up from the book and asked, “Don, do you mind if I give you some career advice?” Advice from someone whose annual
income exceeds mine by several orders of magnitude? “Please do.”
“Stop writing this crap,” he replied. After I retrieved my astonished jaw from the floor, he explained: “You should be writing about your travels.”
Adventurers know we live in a beautiful world.
that academic summers were meant for research and writing, not having fun, and settled down to work on my first book.
TRANSFORMATIONAL ADVENTURES
Once the book was finished, I started traveling again, stopping for solo backpacking adventures in the American Southwest as I moved back and forth crosscountry on my way to new positions at universities in Los Angeles, Houston, and Maryland. These adventures were transformational. They opened up my eyes to other cultures, widened my perspective and perhaps most important of all, changed my self-image from an anxious, self-conscious teenager trying to figure out who he was to a somewhat assured adult, an adventurer, and a world traveler. It was largely a façade, but it worked. In time, I actually became the person I pretended to be.
My travel experiences
broadened considerably starting in the mid 90s when I started traveling twice year to SE Asia and Taiwan as a university dean overseeing an international program. Until then, I’d had little interest in Asia, but these trips dramatically changed how I think about the region, and SE Asia is now one of my favorite travel destinations.
This reawakening of my spirit of adventure was topped off by a 60th birthday present from Ken, a flight into the interior of Antarctica to camp in a tent on the ice for eight days.
Those were the trips and adventures that Ken was talking about when he turned my life around with his crude but on-themark assessment of my career.
REINVENTING MY CAREER…AND MY LIFE
Following that fateful dinner, Ken and I worked on an outline for a book describing how adventure travel had
transformed my life. He sent it to his agent (Ken is a successful author), who in turn passed it on to another agent she thought would be a better fit with the subject matter and theme. My agent (how I loved saying that!) recommended that I reorient the book toward senior travelers and add practical advice. Lacking experience in the travel industry, I realized that I needed to find an industry insider to collaborate with me on the book.
I surfed the internet for likely candidates and stumbled upon a promising possibility, Shannon Stowell, president of the Adventure Travel Trade Association. I sent him an email laying out my ideas for the book. He expressed interest and suggested I come to Seattle to discuss the proposal during the first annual Adventure Travel World Summit in 2005. And so it began, the 20-year adventure with ATTA that transformed my life. It took over a year and several
revisions of the book prospectus, but we finally signed a contract in late 2006 with National Geographic for a collection of 26 personal travel stories plus practical advice on where to go, what to look for, and how to prepare for the trip. Most of the stories were written by Shannon and me and others were contributed by friends and colleagues, including two chapters by Christina Beckmann, ATTA’s VP for Global Strategy. In a major coup engineered by Shannon, the foreword was written by Richard Branson. The book, “Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean: Fifty Extraordinary Adventures for Seasoned Travelers,” was published in 2008 to great reviews, including one in the Wall Street Journal calling the book “one of the best travel books to cross our desk this year…A wonderful and inspiring read.” Most important, it launched me on a new career, a long association with ATTA, and numerous personal friendships.
FINDING A HOME IN ATTA
Most of my involvement with the association and its members came via the annual summits. I was primarily an observer at the first three Summits, in Seattle in 2005 and 2006 and Whistler in 2007. I soaked up as much information as possible from speakers, panel sessions and interactions with other attendees, especially about the nature of the industry and how to succeed as a travel writer. I was struck by how open, collaborative and non-competitive the Summits
were, unlike the competitive, often cutthroat tenor of the many academic meetings, conventions and events I attended in my almost 40-year university career.
After our book came out, Shannon and I started talking about a follow-on book on the “transformative power of adventure travel,” the header I used for the home page of my new website, my first as travel writer, speaker and consultant. We surveyed the members of ATTA to find people whose lives had been transformed by adventure travel, and I conducted over 35 interviews. Shannon and I
The author has been to many incredible destinations around the world.
developed a prospectus for the book based on these interviews, but the Great Recession was still raging, so our agent wasn’t able to find a publisher.
The interviews, plus the National Geographic book, opened up a more active role for me at the Summit. At both Summits in 2008, in Brazil in the Spring and on the storm-tossed boat along the coast of Norway in October, I was on the Summit program as a speaker, using the interviews to illustrate the various ways in which adventure travel can transform individuals, their relationships with others, and society.
I attended every Summit until my retirement in 2024, making new
friends each year, gaining valuable information and ideas from the presentations, and having once-ina-lifetime adventures.
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
In 2009 in Charlevoix, Quebec, I met Richard Weiss and his wife Edie Heilman on the PreSummit Adventure on the Gaspé Peninsula, a friendship that continues to this day.
At the Summit in Aviemore, Scotland in 2010, I drank gin and tonics with Chris McHugo during a lunch break on a hiking trail during a PSA on the Knoydart Peninsula.
In 2011 in Chiapas, Mexico, my PSA took me to the Copper Canyon, where I ziplined, with my
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heart in my throat, over drops of thousands of feet.
The 2012 Summit in Lucerne, Switzerland opened up with a cruise on Lake Lucerne on a paddle steamer on the way to the opening dinner at the Museum of Transport.
The 2013 Summit in Swakopmund, Namibia was my favorite Summit of all. It began with an incredible PSA safari in Etosha NP, followed by an overnight DOA that involved driving a 4 WD through the desert from Windhoek to Swakopmund. The highlight of the Summit itself was the keynote address by one of my travel writing inspirations, Pico Iyer, followed by an impromptu conversation with him the next day. My visit to Namibia ended with a mind-blowing 6-day fly-in safari in some of the most remote regions of the country. There wasn’t much in the way of highlights at the 2014 Summit in Killarney, Ireland, since I got sick about half-way through and spent most of the Summit in bed within lunging distance of the bathroom.
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The 2015 Summit in Puerto Varas, Chile was one of my most memorable Summits. The PSA was a small boat cruise through the Strait of Magellan from Ushuaia, Argentina to Punta Arenas, Chile. On my DOA I teamed with Norie Quintos in a double kayak on what began as a peaceful paddle down the northernmost fjord in Patagonia and ended with a harrowing 30 minutes of whipping wind and churning surf. To add a poignant, unnerving note to this experience, the keynote speaker, Doug Tompkins, founder of the clothing companies Esprit and North Face, died two weeks later during a
person with my ATTA friends.
The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, my post summit adventure, was the highlight of the 2022 Summit in Lugano, Switzerland.
My last Summit, in 2023 in Sapporo, Japan, topped off my
short but rewarding career as an adventure travel writer. Shannon invited me to a small, exclusive dinner with Pico Iyer, the keynote speaker and my personal inspiration. My wife and I arrived early at dinner; so did Pico. He sat next to us during
dinner and was a personable, witty, and gracious dinner companion.
A LIFE TRANSFORMED
The dinner in Sapporo with Pico, one of the most memorable experiences of my brief travel writing career, says a lot about my relationship with Shannon and my relationship with ATTA, in general. He knew how much I would treasure that opportunity and made it happen.
Throughout the three years or so of our collaboration, one of the most fulfilling of my life, Shannon has been thoughtful, considerate, and accepting of a guy who, at least on the surface, couldn’t have been more different. He embraced me as a good friend and colleague, much like the rest of the ATTA community.
The past 20 years of new adventures, new friends and colleagues, new projects, new destinations to learn about and experience, and new reasons for getting out of bed in the morning transformed my life. From this emerged a new career that combined my two childhood fantasies of being a fulltime writer and traveling the far corners of the world.
But more than that. Hanging out with lively, energetic, adventurous, value-driven, inspired and inspiring people many years my junior made me livelier, more energetic, adventurous, value-driven, and inspired. Most important, they made me feel younger, act younger and, perhaps, just plain younger.
At age 83, I can now look back and thank Shannon and all of my friends at ATTA and the members I have met over those years for a magical 20 years of adventure, friendship, and a life fully lived.
JOURNEY THE
“ Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.” — C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
BY SHANNON STOWELL
Twenty-three years ago, I became captivated by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). Even as a member, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the organization was operating far below its potential. I began to imagine what it could become — though my early vision was humble: a tight-knit team of three or four, focused on supporting adventure tour operators with tangible benefits like product discounts and the occasional gathering. Still, the seed was planted — and it would grow.
I quit my job at the start-up I’d co-founded and jumped in with both feet. I knew that the ATTA would not have the income available to pay a salary for more than a year, so I tightened the belt. I sold my most precious possession - a first edition of Moby Dick - moved my family into my parents’ home while renting ours out, held a massive
yard sale of leftover outdoor gear from my former company and subsisted on rice and beans. We put our house up as collateral to launch the inaugural Summit as it was the only asset we owned.
No bank would loan to us so I borrowed money from a friend at Microsoft to make payroll for the first couple years. We did whatever it took to get the organization off the ground.
In the early days, I didn’t have the foresight to imagine the industry would become a major global movement.
A movement that would soon see ATTA hosting events all over the world serving many different cultures and regions with an equally diverse team of passionate people.
I couldn’t imagine that we would collaborate with thousands of companies and destinations and tens of thousands of people as passionate about the industry and the planet as we were.
VOCALIZING VALUES
One thing we got right was that as Chris Doyle and I imagined what ATTA could be, with 20 years of experience under our belts, we were experienced enough to know what we hoped to achieve yet naive enough to take the leap on a wildly risky entrepreneurial venture.
In 2009, when Gustavo Timo, as the head of Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Ecoturismo e Turismo de Aventura (ABETA) in Brasil, pushed me to have the ATTA be more vocal about our values around the natural world and communities, I had reservations due to our financial position and the banking crisis of 2008. He didn’t relent, saying that we needed to do both.
And he was right. As we became louder, vocalizing our values, it had a magnetic effect of attracting the right people to
build the team, ATTA members, advisors and partners.
As the years went on, the importance of adventure travel at the intersection of commerce, culture, and conservation became clear. The Presidents of Namibia, Chile and Mexico provided opening remarks at our events. Prime ministers, princes, chiefs, governors, and other leaders also attended and endorsed this movement. We authored the 2014 State of Adventure Travel report for the UNWTO (now UN Tourism). We spoke on prominent stages like the World Economic Forum, ITB Berlin, World Travel Market, and hundreds more to advocate for a form of tourism that could be as for destinations.
And it is the adventure travel community - you - who powers us. The friendships forged through the ATTA network are numerous and enduring, with some having even led to marriages, including
my own to the amazing Gabi Stowell! This network supports each other through thick and thin. Through political, natural, and other disasters, through financially hard times and mindbending existential crises like the pandemic.
I count many ATTA people as my best friends in the world, and know I have a place to lay my head nearly everywhere I go - and of course, you do too.
Remarkably, despite these relationships becoming as strong as Damascus steel, our community continues to embrace newcomers wholeheartedly. It is common (after 20+ years of getting feedback) to hear new people say “I was intimidated when I walked in my first event because everyone seems to know each other, but you know what? I was immediately welcomed in with open arms and now I’m one of you!”
The Adventure Travel Trade Association has been improving travel, and the world, for 20 years.
It is not lost on me that some consider Moby Dick a powerful symbol for humanity’s quest for meaning in a difficult and chaotic world.
The ATTA community brings this meaning to the travel industry and the communities in which we work! A spirit of generosity. A common mission to make the world a better place through travel. A set of shared values. A fierceness borne of passion and entrepreneurial grit. A safe place. A world of wonder, learning and knowledge shared freely.
All these combine to create a group of people and organizations in nearly 100 countries who will never rest until travel is done right by people and places.
Your support of ATTA through paying memberships and attending, speaking at, and sponsoring our events means you, too, have been part of this movement that HAS changed the travel industry for the better.
You are the fuel in our engine, the north star for not only ATTA but the travel industry at large. Nearly 75 of you have been members for 15 years or more!
It is a remarkable magic, no?
A business community where people from wildly different religious, cultural, political, racial and language backgrounds have come together to pursue a common passion and work to change the course of history.
You are amazing, you are powerful and you are on the right side of history. Let’s keep this going together, far into the future!
“When Shannon and I re-started the ATTA, it had no pulse and truly no way we would’ve been able to accomplish what we did without legends in the industry who challenged us while at the same time supporting us and those include (but are not limited to) Leo Lebon, Jim Sano, Michael Kaye- despite how he could poke the industry, he also was an incredible pioneer and in the end, right on many fronts. Others included Nicky Fitzgerald, Peter Grubb, Helen Nodland, Moe Carrick, George Wendt, Judie Wineland… there were hundreds of others too, but among these amazing people, we learned so much and gained incredible understanding of the extraordinary challenges the industry faces and the unending opportunities. Interestingly, we had adversaries who wanted to see us fail… We challenged them, fought them, embraced them and succeeded despite the pressure. I feel super proud that we can see this legacy move into the next 20 years!”
— Chris Doyle- Founding Team Member
Our mission is to empower the global travel community to protect natural and cultural capital while creating economic value that benefits both trade members and destinations.
ATTA ADVENTURE CHAMPIONS
ATTA Adventure Champions are the vanguards of the adventure travel industry, having been members of ATTA and leaders in the community for a minimum of 15 years. They are true believers in the power of adventure travel and have made an impact on the direction of ATTA and on the industry as a whole. We honor their
commitment to their ethos and lasting contribution to the adventure travel industry. The world of travel is a better place because of the commitment of these organizations to doing adventure travel right. It is not an understatement to say that the world of adventure travel would not be what it is without you. We salute you!
ACE THE HIMALAYA acethehimalaya.com
ADVENTURE LIFE www.adventure-life.com
ADVENTURE SOUTH NZ adventuresouth.co.nz
ALPENWILD www.alpenwild.com
BACKROADS www.backroads.com
BIKEHIKE ADVENTURES www.bikehike.com
BOUNDLESS JOURNEYS www.boundlessjourneys.com
BUSH AND BEYOND bush-and-beyond.com
CASCADA EXPEDICIONES / ECOCAMP PATAGONIA www.cascada.travel
CICLISMO CLASSICO www.ciclismoclassico.com
CLASSIC ESCAPES INC. www.classicescapes.com
CLASSIC JOURNEYS www.classicjourneys.com
COUNTRY WALKERS www.countrywalkers.com
EAGLE CREEK www.eaglecreek.com
EASIA ACTIVE www.easia-active.com
ENCOUNTERS ASIA / JUNGLE LODGES encountersasia.com
EXPERIENCEPLUS! BICYCLE TOURS experienceplus.com
EXPLORA www.explora.com
EXPLORANDES www.explorandes.com
FRONTIERS NORTH ADVENTURES frontiersnorth.com
G ADVENTURES gadventures.com
GATEWAY TO EGYPT gatewaytoegypt.com
GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS (GEOEX) geoex.com
GLOBAL RESCUE info.globalrescue.com/ atta-adventure
GONDWANA BRASIL www.gondwanabrasil.com
HIKE’N SAIL TURKIYE hikeandsail.com
ICELANDIC MOUNTAIN GUIDES BY ICELANDIA www.mountainguides.is
Photo courtesy of Court Whelan/Natural Habitat Adventures
INNOVATION NORWAY visitnorway.com
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES - GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY business.gwu.edu/research/IITS
INTREPID TRAVEL intrepidtravel.com
JORDAN TOURISM BOARD NORTH AMERICA international.visitjordan.com
JUDY KARWACKI - JUBILEE TRAVEL & SMALL PLANET CONSULTING jubileeonline.ca
LATIN TRAILS www.latintrails.com
LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS www.expeditions.com
MADURO DIVE madurodive.com
MIR CORPORATION www.mircorp.com
MOUNTAIN LODGES OF PERU www.mountainlodgesofperu.com
MOUNTAIN TRAVEL SOBEK www.mtsobek.com
NATURAL HABITAT ADVENTURES nathab.com
NEOTROPIC EXPEDITIONS www.neotropicexpeditions.com
NORTHERN OUTDOORS northernoutdoors.com
OARS oars.com
OFF THE BEATEN PATH www.offthebeatenpath.com
PAPA-LÉGUAS / 09¬∫WEST www.papa-leguas.com
PATAGONIA TRAVEL ADVENTURES www.patagoniaadventures.com
PROMPERU peru.travel
PURE ADVENTURES www.pure-adventures.com
ROW / ADVENTURE UNBOUND www.rowadventures.com
SAY HUEQUE | ARGENTINA JOURNEYS sayhueque.com
S-CAPE PARTNERS s-capepartners.eu
SOCOMPA ADVENTURE TRAVEL www.socompa.com
SUMMER FEET CYCLING www.summerfeet.net
SWITZERLAND TOURISM www.myswitzerland.com
TIERRA DEL VOLCAN tierradelvolcan.com
TOFINO EXPEDITIONS, LTD. tofino.com
TOURISME SAGUENAY-LACSAINT-JEAN saguenaylacsaintjean.ca/en TURNER www.turnerpr.com
TUSKER TRAIL www.tusker.com/
VAYA ADVENTURES www.vayaadventures.com
VBT BICYCLING & WALKING VACATIONS vbt.com
VISIT FLORIDA KEYS www.fla-keys.com
VISIT GREENLAND www.visitgreenland.com
VISITSCOTLAND visitscotland.com
VOLCANOES SAFARIS www.volcanoessafaris.com
WILD PLANET ADVENTURES www.wildplanetadventures.com
WILDERNESS GROUP - UK & IRELAND wildernessgroup.co.uk
WILDERNESS TRAVEL www.wildernesstravel.com
WORLD EXPEDITIONS worldexpeditions.com
WORLD NOMADS/NIB TRAVEL www.worldnomads.com
ZARA TOURS www.zaratours.com
The Namibian sky is peaceful at night.
Photos courtesy of the Adventure Travel Trade Association
A WONDER WORLD REVEALED
One Traveler Discovers How Adventure Reshapes Not Only Landscapes, But Lives— And Why the Journey Matters
BY PICO IYER
Suddenly I was in the cockpit of a tiny plane, watching altitude meters spin up and down as we flew low over rolling sand dunes. Our pilot brought us sweetly onto a private landing strip in the desert—five elephants were drinking in a waterhole nearby— and we got into a car to head to the Desert Rhino Camp in Namibia, where 10 friendly faces had gathered at the entrance, waiting to welcome us with a song. Next morning I ventured out just as the sun began to show, and a guide called Johan—he’d been a banker not so many years before--was pointing out rhino tracks in the red-dust emptiness and warning me away from a rock where, he
said, a horned adder might very well be lurking.
It was like nothing I’d experienced in my 55 years on the planet; every day unfolded like a festival of surprises. One evening we ate around a campfire—a gourmet feast on white-cloth tables--and then Johan marked out with a laser-torch the patterns in the heavens. One afternoon I watched a pangolin turn into a small ball to keep away from predators and drove out to the vast Africat Foundation to see a cheetah stare back at us, unperturbed, while a cub nursed beside her. By the time I boarded my flight heading home, I realized I’d spent more than two hundred hours crisscrossing the land without ever meeting an elevator, a traffic jam or an escalator.
I will never forget that first safari of my life and only my second trip to sub-Saharan Africa, all made possible by the Adventure Travel World Summit in 2012. When I was invited to deliver a talk, among the fairy-tale cottages of Swakopmund, I heard myself say that adventure has less to do with how far you go, or where, but why; it’s about a state of mind as much as any state with a table at the United Nations. I’ve never been a fearless explorer of the outdoors, like so many of the friends new and old I met at the gathering, yet now I was hearing about the paths laid down by mountain zebra and spotting lion tracks a few yards away from my verandah.
Everest or sail across the Pacific, the excitement of doing so would never be the same.
Before I knew it, therefore, I was walking up hills in the heart of Japan’s northernmost island, and eating a traditional lunch in an Ainu house, while an Ainu mother and son explained their customs and how they’d found a way to live with bears and trees. I was riding in a cable-car up to the top of the ski-jumping site from the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, and the spirited and elegant woman by my side, another new friend, turned out to be the Ambassador from Jordan.
I saw that the community brought together by the ATTA is not just a tribe, but a congregation of souls never daunted by the unknown and sharing secret loves and survival tips with the camaraderie of team-members scaling a high peak together. I love the fact that the ATTA Summit has brought me to amazements across the world and in my adopted home and that I have no idea where I will encounter this moveable feast next. All I know is that no one and nowhere is excluded, in a celebration of our glorious planet that I hope will be transporting us 20 years from now and quickening those we’ve never met well into the century to come.
Pico Iyer is the author of 17 books, translated into 23 languages, including Video Night in Kathmandu, A Beginner’s Guide to Japan and Aflame.
The author savoring some quiet time in Namibia.
BETTER TOGETHER
Beautiful Things Happen When People Come Together in Community
BY NORIE QUINTOS
For the last 13 years, at every World Summit since 2011, a core group of 16 has met at a Mexican restaurant—in Anchorage, Alaska, in Gothenburg, Sweden, even in Swakopmund, Namibia.
The once strangers from 10 countries from Argentina to Nigeria met on a pre-conference trip before the Summit in Chiapas, Mexico.
“It started out bad and went downhill from there,” recounts Maria Elena Price of Experience Plus, a cycling tour operator based in Colorado and Italy. “Many in the
group plan trips for a living and this was a lesson in everything you are not supposed to do.”
At one point, two people were left behind at a panorama point because the guide forgot to do a head count. But the misadventure bonded them like no other. They created a Facebook group called the Adventure Tequila Group.
“We’re friends for a lifetime,” says Alper Ertubey of Hike ‘n Sail Turkiye. “In good times and bad.”
When a disastrous earthquake hit Turkiye in 2023, he and others rallied the ATTA community to raise funds for tents and sleeping bags. “It was a very bad time,”
remembers Ertubey, and the Tequila Group provided vital moral support.
“I feel like the secret to our community is that the overwhelming majority of people in it are there because of passion,” says Shannon Stowell, ATTA’s CEO.
“I mean, who starts an adventure travel business because they think they’re going to get rich? No, they love rafting. They love birds. They love to learn about Indigenous culture. We all do it because we’re passionate about something. And when you’ve got an industry that’s platformed on passion, it is different. It does break the rules.”
PASSION FOR THE PLANET
Many have leveraged the community to build their businesses. Jeff Bonaldi was a New York banker who went on his first hike in 2012. He instantly fell in love with nature and adventure and built The Explorer’s Passage over nights and weekends until he quit banking in early 2018 to run the company full time.
“This community is filled with people who care about their clients and the planet,” says Bonaldi. He built his entire business through ATTA contacts, content, and tools.
This intangible and generous spirit has also enabled the adventure travel community— which represents a small segment of the travel industry— to accomplish outsize goals, influence the broader industry, and lead on environmental issues and conservation.
“This community exemplifies the ‘united we stand, divided we’re weak’ adage,” notes Stowell. “Our industry is made up of so many amazing passion-driven but small businesses. On their own, they’re drops in the ocean. But as a collection of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, we punch way above our weight.”
The nonprofit Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) is just one achievement, born out of a collective desire of individual members to give back and to conserve the places they bring travelers to visit. ATTA initiatives such as advocacy for women’s leadership, and Tomorrow’s Air, offering carbon solutions, have also arisen and expanded with member input and support.
One of the most ambitious and fondly remembered summits occurred in 2013. The first in Africa, Namibia showcased the power of community-based conservation tourism. “There were a lot of fourth and fifth timers attending, plus people who had been coming since the earliest days of Seattle and Whistler,” says Natasha Martin, then a liaison between ATTA and the Namibian government. “We were able to design an event that we knew the community would love, and which would at the same time deliver benefits to the destination and to the Namibian tour operators.”
Twelve years later, many conservation initiatives and business partnerships are still in place, and North American arrivals remain a significant part of the high-value tourism in Namibia.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
There are thousands of smaller and more personal impacts of the last 20 years—lives enriched by personal connections with others who share a love of places, nature, and culture, and a commitment to protecting
the planet. There have been no fewer than 10 marriages within the ATTA community. Nicola Wilson and Roy Ortiz first met at Adventure Week Tierra del Fuego in 2017. Wilson is co-founder of Vancouver-based Finisterra Travel, and Ortiz co-owner of TouristEd Chile. They kept running into each other at various ATTA events and eventually began a long-distance relationship. In September 2024, they celebrated a small family wedding in British Columbia.
“It’s not surprising I found my husband within this very warm and accepting community where everyone is really easygoing, kind, and trustworthy,” says Wilson.
Mar Naibi and Loren Siekman, who met at the 2014 Summit in Killarney, Ireland, also started out as friends. Naibi was working for the Snowmass, Colorado, tourism office, and Siekman had founded the tour company Pure Adventures, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. When Naibi was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Siekman visited her, first at her parents’ house—they happened to live near him—then at her place in Aspen. “He was always so reliable; I knew I could rely on him in all things.”
The couple got married in 2021 and took a delayed honeymoon to Portugal in 2024. They now run the travel company together.
Of course, the most famous married couple to come out of the ATTA community is Shannon Stowell and Gabi Stowell, ATTA’s vice president for regional development, who met in 2011 at an event in Florianopolis, Brazil. “I was surrounded by ATTA friends and colleagues when I met Gabi,” says Stowell.
“And many of them were there when we got married in Monroe, Washington, in 2015.”
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
Even death cannot break the circle of community. When Charlie Altekruse decided to attend the 2022 Summit in Switzerland two years following the passing of his wife—longtime ATTA member Barbara Banks (of California-based Wilderness Travel)—he didn’t expect the wholehearted welcome he received.
“I didn’t know anyone because I had never attended these events with Barbara, but so many
people embraced me, literally and figuratively,” says the public affairs consultant for Native American tribes. “Here is a group of people who want to share the world and to facilitate those connections for people. It was one of the most profound experiences I’ve ever had.”
For Roberto Gallo, the 29-yearold son of the late Rafa Gallo of Costa Rica-based rafting company Rios Tropicales, it was much the same. “I came to my first Summit in 2024 in Panama,” says Gallo.
“There were so many people who knew my father, and then they shared so many great stories that I hadn’t heard yet. But what made it even better was that they didn’t just take me as Rafa’s son. They said, ‘okay, now you are part of the ATTA community as well.’”
Gallo took the company, which had closed, and re-imagined and re-opened it as Rios Lodge, with a new focus on the accommodations. He’s working on the many leads and connections made from attending three ATTA events.
“Beyond business, I can say I have so many friends across the
world now, people I can stay with.”
In the early years of ATTA, its members often referred to themselves as “a tribe.” Though the term is now understood to be culturally insensitive and its use discouraged, it is indicative that members think of themselves in such close, almost familial, terms. If it is a family, it’s one that has always welcomed newcomers. For the Adventure Tequila Group, for example, friends of the core members were always welcome to the annual dinners.
“Once you attend one Mexican dinner, that’s it, you’re in the group,” says Maria Elena Price. “And I think that’s somewhat of a proxy for how the ATTA is. Anybody who wants to join can, though you’re going to have to listen to us reminisce on some of the craziness we went through. But that craziness is in itself a metaphor for all the crazy things that we in the travel industry have to deal with.”
Norie Quintos is a contributing writer to National Geographic and a travel communications consultant. She has been active in the ATTA community since she attended her first Summit in Aviemore, Scotland, in 2010. She is on the board of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund and a member of the Adventure Tequila Group.
Do you have a story about the power of ATTA’s community? Share it with us for a follow-up story at adventuretravel.biz
Adventure Tequila Group members meet up in Panama in 2024.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE Adventure Travel Companies Are
In the World of Adventure Travel, Sustainability Is a Shared Journey — Uniting Travelers, Operators and Destinations to Protect the Planet
BY JILL K. ROBINSON
Adventure travel brings travelers, outfitters and destinations together in celebrating and appreciating the world’s resources. For a community focused on responsible travel that elevates biodiversity, cultural heritage, natural assets and wildlife, sustainability isn’t a competition — but a goal sustaining us all. The simplest goals prioritize measuring where you are, making efforts to improve, and asking for help when needed. At the end of the day, there aren’t going to be places to travel to if we aren’t all responsible about what we do. The Adventure Travel Trade Association is proud to
work within a community where a philosophy of sustainability is core to the business of our members.
FACING GLOBAL CHALLENGES TOGETHER
While ATTA has been working for decades toward building a sustainable future for the travel industry, in recent years the organization has taken a more integrated approach to sustainability. “Sustainability means different things in different parts of the globe,” said Gustavo Timo, ATTA’s vice president of sustainability and impact. “We’re dedicated to leading our community and helping enable change and create impact locally. Our member organizations are
a blend of those who are global references in sustainability and those who are working to determine their own best path.”
ATTA’s Sustainability and Policy Objectives and Goals give room for making meaningful positive change through three main initiatives: measure and reduce, lead and partner, inspire and enable. By supporting partners and destinations where they are, as well as encouraging a formal commitment to sustainability by 100% of membership by 2026, the objectives allow for this vibrant community to grow together toward a responsible and profitable future.
LOOKING AFTER ONE ANOTHER
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Angama Mara, a high-touch safari lodge on the
edge of the Oloololo Escarpment overlooking the Maasai Mara. The setting gives visitors the feeling of being suspended between heaven and earth, and everywhere in the lodge is the best seat in the house.
Following its success, Angama Amboselli opened in 2023 in the heart of Kenya’s Kimana Sanctuary, where some of Africa’s last Super Tuckers roam.
“First and foremost, we’re a hospitality business,” says Nicky Fitzgerald, co-founder and former CEO of Angama.
“Our guests and our staff are everything. By prioritizing them, we make money, and can give back over and over again. It’s our responsibility.” The Angama Foundation is one method of giving back. Funded by microdonations through the lodges’ Safari Shop and a $20 per-night donation per guest, it supports
Adventure travelers can get up close to incredible wildlife.
Natural Habitat Adventures transforms lives through exploration.
CATALYST for Sustainability
How Adventure Tourism is Driving Community Empowerment and Conservation
BY JENN SMITH NELSON
ECO -TOURISM. REGENERATIVE TRAVEL. CONSERVATION. SUSTAINABILITY.
These idealistic buzzwords fill the travel industry, however real impact goes beyond lingo and good intentions. Tourism can drive significant change, and a simple and powerful way is through community empowerment. When thoughtfully designed and delivered, community-led tourism can provide tremendous benefits to locals, travelers and the environment.
Enter the transformational role of adventure tourism.
Adventure travel is defined by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) as “a trip that includes at least two of the following characteristics: physical activity, interaction with nature, and cultural learning or exchange.”
Think trekking through remote landscapes, wildlife viewing, foraging with locals or
learning a traditional craft like weaving. At its heart, adventure travel blends immersion in nature with cultural knowledge sharing, making the inclusion of communities an obvious partnership.
Adventure travel often offers deeply meaningful and transformative experiences for travellers. However, additional transformation is achievable when operators leverage locals to co-create and deliver experiences. In addition to building inclusive economies, it turns tourism into a co-operative rather than extractive industry, supporting empowerment, conservation and preservation of traditional knowledge.
Encouragingly, several companies are leading the way, and the timing couldn’t be better. With the adventure tourism sector projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8% from 2025 to 2030, its potential to drive impactful change for
communities and conservation has never been grander.
Among them, Encounters Asia and Volcanoes Safaris stand out as models demonstrating how adventure travel and community engagement can be used to amplify conservation and cultural efforts, to create positive and lasting benefits.
Operating in and around India’s national parks and wildlife reserves, regions known for tiger tourism, Encounters Asia exemplifies community-first adventure tourism. Founded by thirdgeneration conservationist Amit Sankhala, the company is deeply committed to low-impact travel that supports wildlife conservation and community development.
“It is only when the communities living around the national parks understand the importance of saving India’s natural heritage that they will act as guardians of the very wildlife our guests have
Encounters Asia exemplifies communityfirst adventure tourism.
Photo courtesy of Amit Sankhala
Founded by Amit Sankhala, Encounters Asia is committed to low-impact travel that supports wildlife conservation and community development.
come to see. For us, working with local communities is the first step,” says Sankhala.
Creating awareness, cultivating pride and empowering communities as tourism solutions designed to benefit all, Encounters Asia hires and trains locals as naturalists, guides and lodge staff. As a result, the company has created sustainable job opportunities, fostering economic independence for many locals. They also collaborate with local artisans on tourism initiatives to preserve traditional knowledge and crafts.
Enabling programs in antipoaching, environmental education and habitat restoration, these key partnerships engage communities as stakeholders
in conservation initiatives, are essential to ensuring the longterm sustainable protection of wildlife in India.
CREATING LONG-TERM CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Over the past two decades, Volcanoes Safaris, led by Praveen Moman, a pioneer in gorilla and chimpanzee eco-tourism in East Africa, has remained steadfast in the belief that conservation cannot succeed without the involvement of community.
“Over the last 28 years, I’ve observed the challenges of safeguarding habitats for wildlife, funding preservation of wilderness areas and conservation, and ensuring
communities have a livelihood,” said Moman.
Connecting local communities with tourism revenues through the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSTP), the company has launched several projects ensuring conservation efforts benefit those living close to protected areas.
VSPT aims to create long-term, self-sustaining projects that enrich livelihoods, conserve great apes, restore natural habitats and work with communities to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
In turn, guests at Volcanoes Lodges can participate and share in these experiences alongside the local communities.
According to Moman, a community fee collected
Photo courtesy of Amit Sankhala
ATTA’s impact on the tourism industry has been substantial.
How ATTA is Redefining
ETHICAL ADVENTURE
ATTA Aims to Both Facilitate Travel and Do
Something Good in the World
BY ARNIE WEISSMANN
Upton Sinclair famously said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
Atta Aims to Both Facilitate Travel and Do
That has some application to the travel industry in 2025. As we
Something Good in the World
see the impacts of human activity accumulate to the detriment of the planet, it occurs to any sentient person who makes a living sending or escorting people around the world: Is it possible to truly be a conservationist and work in the travel industry? and pollute natural spaces. Are we, like Sinclair’s uncomprehending counterparts,
Photo courtesy of Amit Sankhala
I had been asked to facilitate a discussion that year on “How to grow a company without losing its core values” during the summit.
I began by asking group members (owners of small tour operations, for the most part) to, in a sentence, articulate the values they most wanted to preserve as they scaled up. It was an interesting exercise and after it was over, my conclusion was that a key difference between traditional travel companies and ATTA members is that the former have mission statements and the latter have missions. Many of their responses were emotionbased, not clinical.
During another session, I sat next to a woman who told me that after discovering ATTA, “for the first time, I felt proud of my trade.” She said that there was a word in Norwegian, a noun, for passionate people: ildsjel. “Literally, it means ‘fire soul,’ she said “Here, there are a lot of fire souls.”
A ‘SQUISHY’ WORD
I’ve subsequently attended Summits in Chile, Italy, Switzerland and Japan, and each reflected how both the organization and even the definition of “adventure” has changed.
The gathering in Italy, in 2018, was in the Tuscan spa city of Montecatini Terme. I was a bit surprised by the selection of a province better known for producing olive oil than adrenaline.
I sat down with ATTA CEO Shannon Stowell and asked him
about it; he acknowledged that adventure can be a “squishy” word; the preconference activities that year ranged from whitewater rafting to truffle hunting.
But even so, I found that, although the experiences of whitewater rafters and truffle hunters were vastly different, both the emotional charge and sense of satisfaction appeared to be at similar levels. That reinforced something else Shannon told me: Although the definition of adventure travel could be elastic, “it requires some sort of immersion. No drive-bys.”
Over the years, some of my thoughts about ATTA’s impact and its importance on the global tourism stage have taken shape outside of ATTA events. I learned only earlier this year about the role ATTA plays in facilitating development projects in poor countries. ATTA had planned to nurture tourism in the Balkans, the Middle East/North Africa region, Latin America and Central Asia, but all those projects were cancelled after President Trump’s DOGE eliminated USAID grants.
The benefits of these types of ATTA activities are bilateral; not only would they work to provide ethical adventure travel experiences but they would provide jobs in countries where they’re desperately needed. It’s rare for a trade organization to see its mandate in such a 360-degree fashion. ATTA not only connects its community members, it supports initiatives to help that community stay true to its values and nurtures a greater sense of purpose than
might typically be found in a trade group.
ATTA is unique in the industry. I truly respect its expansive understanding of how it can support its members and the field of adventure travel, and how it helps an important segment of the industry hold its head up and say, yes, I can both facilitate travel and do something good in the world.
Fire souls, unite!
“When we travel, we empathize, not demonize. When we ‘adventure travel’ we enjoy a muchneeded antidote to the various toxics of modern existence.”
— Thornton May- Futurist and Founder of the Digital Value Institute
Our mission is to empower the global travel community to protect natural and cultural capital while creating economic value that benefits both trade members and destinations. Learn more at about.adventuretravel.biz
ADVENTURE TOUR OPERATORS
Adventure tour operators specialize in crafting unforgettable travel experiences that allow groups to explore the world in dynamic, meaningful ways. By handling logistics, guiding activities and offering insider knowledge, they make it easy for travelers to access remote or exotic destinations while staying safe and comfortable. These operators often design itineraries that go beyond sightseeing—encouraging full immersion through cultural exchanges, outdoor adventures and hands-on experiences in breathtaking natural settings. Whether it’s trekking through lush rainforests, kayaking along pristine coastlines, or connecting with local communities, adventure tour operators open the door to deeper, more impactful global exploration.
Here are 10 such tour operators who will help your group see the world.
Photo courtesy of Court Whelan/ Natural Habitat Adventures
Trekking Hellas, the No1 outdoor company in Greece, has been crafting unique nature experiences since 1986— combining top standards, expert guidance, and local partnerships to connect people with the Greek countryside and support its sustainable future.
info@trekking.gr
+30.210.3310323 trekking.gr/en
UNITED KINGDOM
Wilderness Group is the UK & Ireland’s leading premium adventure tour operator and specialist DMC, crafting small group and tailor made adventures across beautiful landscapes with expert guides, exceptional accommodation, and a firm commitment to sustainability, authenticity and high-quality travel.
trade@wildernessgroup.co.uk
+44 (0) 1479 420120 www.wildernessgroup.co.uk
Operating since 1995 in the Himalaya and beyond, we run treks, climbs, river trips, kayak school, camps, and even an activity lodge. Operating year round options for individuals, families, corporates choose to customise your adventure or join an existing one!
vaibhav@aquaterra.in +91-9811103831 www.aquaterra.in
UNITED STATES
Pure Adventures specializes in self-guided hiking and biking tours and privately guided multi-sport adventures. With over 30 years of experience, our motto, “Your Trip, Your Way,” ensures private departures and a personalized, authentic travel experience from start to finish.
info@pure-adventures.com 970-230-5896 1.800.960.2221 pure-adventures.com
“For over 20 years, ATTA has lit the way for responsible travel—where purpose meets partnership, and vision turns into action. As the former ATTA President and now an executive coach to travel business owners and leaders, I tell my clients: show up to an ATTA event, and you won’t just find your people—you’ll find the future of your business.”
— Casey Hanisko - Coach + Consultant, www.caseyhanisko.com
Joining the ATTA helps your business grow, introduces you to the best and brightest minds in the industry, and allows your business or organization to have a bigger impact by collaborating on a collective purpose. Learn more at membership.adventuretravel.biz
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Photo by Christie Fitzpatrick - Visit Greenland