Selected as a site for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and recognized as a world-class environment focused on outdoor adventure, recreation and responsible tourism, Whistler was chosen by the Adventure Travel Trade Association as the site for the 2007 Adventure Travel World Summit. An official announcement will be released to the media the week of January 1, 2007.

Hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), the 2007 Adventure Travel World Summit will be held at the award-winning TELUS Whistler Conference Centre October 4-6.

In its third year, the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) will continue to deliver a premier international forum for executive-level industry networking, multi-disciplinary sessions aimed at sustainable and responsible growth, and solutions-oriented dialogue, debate, and deliberation on critical topics. In its sold-out (delegates and exhibitors) October 2006 ATWS in Seattle, more than 400 executives from 26 countries convened, an increase of 32 percent more delegates over the prior year.

In addition to Whistler ranking top in a survey conducted by ATTA, “Tourism Whistler, Whistler’s mayor and the Canadian Tourism Commission have made the 2007 Adventure Travel World Summit organizers feel welcome from the start,” said ATTA President Shannon Stowell. “Commitment to partnership, a fantastic venue, and sharing a common vision for the thoughtful development of adventure travel in this region and beyond – was crucial in our selecting this spectacular site.”

“Conversion” is the underpinning theme for the 2007 ATWS. Keynote presentations and a mix of strategic and tactical interactive roundtables, workshops and forums will help adventure travel organizations turn operational, marketing, partnership and prospect opportunities into results-oriented endeavors. Select areas of emphasis for the 2007 ATWS will include:

• Marketing – trends, branding, marketing, advertising, public relations, etc.


• Sales- customer acquisition, turning ‘lookers’ into ‘bookers’, etc.


• Future Vision – emergent, impacting trends, destinations, niches, etc.


• Internet – SEO, Web design, email marketing, blogs, etc.


• Business – operations, training, risk management, insurance, etc.


• Customer Relationship Management – Client retention and loyalty


• Distribution & Selling – technology platforms, GDS, partnerships, etc
.

• Strategic Alliances & Collaboration – Networking sectors within the adventure travel community (agents, operators, destinations, lodges, media/publishers, service providers, etc.)


• Sustainable/Responsible Tourism – Community based tourism, volunteer-based tourism, carbon offsets, etc.

Further addressing delegate feedback from the first two Summits, the ATTA has adjusted the 2007 ATWS flow to include: half day of conference on October 4 starting at 1:00PM; one full day of conference on October 5; and a half day of conference on October 6, followed by a half day of adventure activities including hiking, canoeing, mountain biking, zip-trekking and more.
In addition to conference sessions and keynotes, special events and local networking events are planned before, during and after the dates of the conference for interested parties. To meet significant demand for increased networking, the ATTA has added an optional add-on networking day on October 7. For this, the ATTA will set up structured networking venues, times and appointments to allow delegates extra time to building business and personal relationships.

Delegates include tour operators, destination marketing organizations, tourism boards, lodges/resorts and transportation companies (air, auto, etc.). Adventure travel agents, attractions, and travel-oriented gear manufacturers also will participate along with media, travel, marketing and technology service organizations, academic institutions, research enterprises, tourism and recreational governmental agencies.

In the ATTA’s post-Summit (October 2006) delegate survey, 95 percent of respondents were extremely satisfied or satisfied with the conference, confirming the solid ROI that attendees receive for their involvement.
“This year’s event went so far beyond [expectations] as to lift in a category of its own,” said adventure travel industry pioneer, author and co-founder of Mountain Travel Sobek Richard Bangs. “It was brilliantly executed, as organized as a Swiss timepiece convention, with speakers who fiercely challenged, informed and entertained, with participants whose passion for adventure was only surpassed by a fervor to learn and share, and featuring good coffee and fare, which may be the rarest of the qualities cited.”