Adventure Travel World Summit 2015 in Chile

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By Jorge Moller
 
The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is an organization that brings together more than 1,000 members in the adventure travel industry from around the world, including specialized tour operators, media, products, and consultants, among others. Chile has participated in this organization for more than seven years through Turismo Chile, seeing an important opportunity to promote our travel sector to this niche. Every year a summit is organized in different parts of the world that brings together more than 700 members for a four day event to discuss issues and industry trends such as marketing, sustainability, social networks, and business practices. 
 
Chile has been proposing for a few years now to host the summit, which will involve a series of efforts and joint planning among ATTA, SERNATUR, Turismo Chile and the private sector to prepare the meeting. In October, we received the good news that we will host the summit in 2015. The event will take place in Puerto Varas on October 5-8, 2015. This means that some of the most important tour operators and journalists in the world of adventure travel will visit us -- an incredible opportunity to show the attractions of our region and our country.
 
There will be a Pre-Summit Adventures, a program consisting of travel for three or four days prior to the summit at different destinations in our country, such as the north, the central zone, the islands (Easter Island, Chiloé, Juan Fernández , etc.) and, of course, Chilean Patagonia. This is a great opportunity for tourism clusters in various locations to coordinate with their local government and tourism organizations and be part of this important action to promote their destinations among those attending the event.
 
Further still, during the first day of the meeting delegates will have the opportunity to experience a day of adventure in which they can visit some of the wonderful tourism opportunities that surround Puerto Varas. This is where everyone who has services and products in and around Puerto Varas are invited to participate.  
 
 
 
 
In addition, on the second day there is the option of participating in a trade fair where local businesses meet with the international demand, generating an excellent environment for networking and doing business with buyers from around the world. 
 
We have a great challenge to show our visitors that Chile has quality and sustainability in its nature tourism sector, thus it is very important to work intensely on these issues between now and the summit. Moreover, the great differentiator ought to be the richness and variety of cultures that exists throughout Chile. The stated goal is that delegates not only go away with the image of a beautiful country, but also with the idea that this is a country that has much to offer with its cultural identity.
 
WINTA (World Indigenous Tourism Alliance) is an organization that works with ATTA and brings together the world of indigenous tourism. We are preparing to work together with them to ensure that our indigenous communities throughout Chile can get involved with communities and organizations such as WINTA. It’s a great alternatives for exchanging experiences and trends concerning how to articulate this special and sensitive tourism opportunity during the Puerto Varas 2015 meeting.
 
Everyone is invited to work to make this event a milestone in our history, the history of a country that not only does things well, but offers nature travel at the highest level, and which is tied to a deep commitment to sustainability.
 
Chile is opening to the world of sustainable tourism!
 
Jorge Moller is director of Darwins Trails in Chile and a board member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC)
 
 
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