Supporting efforts by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) to redefine, reorganize and galvanize the fragmented adventure travel industry, more than 40 top executives are scheduled to speak at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Seattle, October, 16-18, 2005.

No previous adventure travel industry gathering has featured the depth, knowledge and influence of those addressing the 2005 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS).

Among the dozens of leaders presenting during the Summit, session speaking roles belong to top executives of Virtuoso, Lonely Planet, Orbitz, AARP, Geographic Expeditions, National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Costa Rica Expeditions, Wilderness Travel, ExOfficio, Off the Beaten Path, G.A.P Adventures, Explorandes, Outdoor Industry Association, and America Outdoors.

New Summit session highlights announced today include the following:

  • Media panel: an interactive publicity-generation workshop featuring award-winning writers and editors from USA Today, Outside Magazine, and National Geographic Adventure Magazine;
  • Research sessions: leading experts deliver new trend and research from the World Bank, AARP, Outdoor Industry Association, ActiveWomen.com, NOLS, Richard Bangs’ Adventures on Yahoo!, and Travel Tech Consulting;
  • Operational sessions: insurance, liability, guiding, recruiting and retaining staff are issues tackled by industry pioneers and those on the front lines;
  • Web/technology workshops: Orbitz, Yahoo!, AdventureCentral.com, Tralliance, MSNBC.com and Memetics Systems executives deliver practical tools for securing dot-travel URL/s and attracting, retaining and converting new customers.

    Session schedules and summary descriptions with the names of presenters are available at http://www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com.

    Helping Summit participants fuse big-picture vision with everyday practical knowledge and tools to help businesses reduce costs, increase revenues and grow their own customer bases is the primary aim of the three-day conference. Core discussion topics include trends, research, marketing, partnering, operations, sustainability, and funding. ATWS sessions will provide participants with opportunities to form partnerships, collectively analyze new research, debate challenging issues, and develop group-buying power. Every session offers take-away collateral specific to each presentation and all Summit participants will receive a CD ROM containing all session presentations and collateral by November 18, 2005.

    Hosted by the ATTA, the Summit is designed primarily for industry executives and decision makers of domestic and international tour operators, destination marketing organizations, tourism boards, lodges, and travel agencies worldwide. The outcome of the ATWS is to enable the industry to better serve travelers, promote responsible tourism, and optimize the industry’s market potential.

    Day one (Sunday, October 16th) of the 2005 Summit includes an unprecedented opportunity for attendees to raft, hike, sail, fly-fish and geo-team while participating with adventure experts and colleagues, followed by an awards program recognizing industry pioneers, and a special showing of the IMAX film, “Mystery of the Nile,” with celebrity guests. Days two and three feature interactive learning, strategy, planning, visionary, plus networking sessions and evening dining and entertainment.

    Online registration is accessible at www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com.