Joining more than 70 adventure travel pioneers and experts from five continents, four world-renowned experts representing the fields of cultural anthropology, environmental and wildlife conservation, work-life balance, and archaeology are set to address approximately 400 adventure travel business leaders converging in Seattle for the second annual, trade only, Adventure Travel World Summit in Seattle.
Global warming, poverty alleviation, and cultural conservation headline, while strategic insights, best business practices and practical tools sessions complete the 2006 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS). Themed, “Todays Tools for Tomorrows Adventures,” summit keynote addresses include:
Wade Davis, anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, opens the ATWS with “Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures.” From his work in Peru to Borneo, Tibet to the Arctic, Davis sees biological crisis, indicated by a loss of species, in addition to a cultural crisis as indigenous cultures and languages vanish. Davis contends that the decline of biological diversity goes hand-in-hand with the decline of cultural diversity and will explain what travelers to the worlds most exotic sites and the companies transporting these travelers must do to preserve this precious diversity. (Made possible by Trinidad & Tobago)
Mary C. Pearl, president of Wildlife Trust and Discover Magazines “Natural Selections” columnist, is a leading wildlife biologist who has spearheaded the development of conservation medicine a scientific exploration of the links between the health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems. Dr. Pearl will speak on how the consequences of global warming, including newly emerging diseases, weather fluctuations, and even wildlife migration disruptions may affect adventure travel and will address the role the travel community can play in helping to secure a sustainable future for humans and nature alike. (Presented by Discover Magazine)
Joe Robinson, author, speaker, trainer, and work-life consultant, shows that adventure travel is a necessity of life a health product, best medicine, and the ultimate annual tune-up for the body and mind in this overworked, overbooked, overcooked world. Author of, “Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life,” Robinson will argue that the average Joe is searching to escape the overworked and overbooked qualities of everyday life in exchange for the novelty, challenge and direct engagement with cultures and the environment that only an adventure travel getaway can adequately provide. (Presented by the Adventure Travel Trade Association)
Brian Fagan, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is widely regarded as one of the worlds leading archaeological writers. Fagans archaeological observations have been printed in Archaeology Magazine and in more than 45 books, including the best-selling Adventures in Archaeology for the National Geographic Society. Fagan will present “Global Warming, the Ancients, and Us,” and offer lessons from adventure travelers from the past. Looking at 15,000 years of human footprints as evidence, Fagan asks fundamental yet provocative questions and challenges adventure travelers to be responsible stewards of the worlds priceless and irreplaceable cultural heritage. (Presented by Archaeology Magazine)
Other notables from among the more than 70 experts presenting at the summit include: Juthamas Siriwan, Governor – Tourism Authority of Thailand; Urs Eberhard, Vice Director – Switzerland Tourism; Neel Inamdar, Ecotourism Business Advisor – Conservation International; Tek B Dangi, CEO – Nepal Tourism Board; James Hepple, President and Director – Tourism Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Development Company; Valyn Perini, Executive Director – OpenTravel Alliance; Eric Brodnax, General Manager – The Away Network; John Rasmus, Founder & Editor In Chief – National Geographic Adventure; Everett Potter, USA Weekend, National Geographic Traveler, Skiing Magazine Contributor; Abraham Foss – Innovation Norway; and Gustavo Timo, Co-Founder & Executive Coordinator – ABETA (Brazilian Adventure Travel Trade Association).
Keynote addresses and session forums, workshops, panels and roundtables are designed to equip delegates with tools to better their business, enable the industry to better serve travelers, promote responsible adventure tourism, and optimize the industrys market potential through productive debate, dialogue and collaboration. Sessions, intended for industry executives and decision makers within the travel and tourism industry, are designed to elicit summit delegate interaction with expert presenters and to enable participants to voice opinions and pose provocative questions for industry-wide discussion.
