Fernando Escudero
Fernando Escudero – General Manager Tourism Promotion Institute of Salta. Founder and Vice President of AAETAV (Argentinian Adventure Travel Trade Association)
Fernando was born in Salta, Northwest Argentina, in 1970. He’s been passionate about adventure travel since he was a teenager, visiting the diverse and striking landscapes throughout Argentina.
He graduated in Buenos Aires University as an industrial engineer. After working in different companies and industries, he decided to change his way of life and pursue his core interests. In 1995, he founded Gaucho Trails, the first company in Argentina dedicated exclusively to horseback riding with circuits in different regions in Argentina, such as Salta, Patagonia and the Andes Mountains, among others.
In 2003, Gaucho Trails received World Tourism Organization (WTO) recognition for the adventure tour operator’s “Exemplary Practices in Ecotourism”. In 2005, together with Language Experience, Gaucho Trails launched a sponsorship program of rural schools in Amblayo and Isonza, both small villages located in the mountains. Gaucho Trails works with different international institutions to make improvements in tourism infrastructure and education including The World Learning / Experiment International Living, which runs The Summer Abroad Program, and The Robertson Program, which is a foundation that sponsors students from Duke University and North Carolina University.
In 2007, Fernando served as Secretary for the Riding Quality & Safety Commission (IRAM – SECTUR ARGENTINA) to improve Quality Management in adventure travel companies. He has participated in the ATTA’s Adventure Travel World Summit events in Brasil, Norway, Canada and Scotland. Inspired by the values proposed by the ATTA and convinced that the adventure travel is one of the most important tools to improve people´s way of life, to protect the environment and to achieve a better world, he started working in the Government of the Province of Salta as General Manager Tourism Promotion Institute of Salta.
The Province of Salta, located in the NW of Argentina, has a great diversity of landscapes that make it an ideal place for adventure travel development including its mountains higher than 18,000 feet, its enormous Salt Flats, the Calchaqui Valley where some of the highest wineries of the world are located, and an incredible and virgin jungle of Yungas. One of Fernando`s main goals in his current role is to place Salta as one of the world’s leading destinations in adventure travel. Under his leaderhsip, he influenced the use of Salta landscape images by the Adventure Sport Fair, one of the world’s biggest adventure tourism fairs held in Brasil. In addition, he was the manager of the City Chase Final World, an adventure reality program featured on National Geographic television worldwide. Today, Fernando is the manager of the Development and Marketing Tourism Plan of the Province of Salta.
Fernando also currently serves as the Vice President of AAETAV (Argentinian Adventure Travel Trade Association), an entity he co-founded, and where he served as its first president
Fernando is married to Soledad Gaztambide where he lives in Salta with their three sons, Santiago, Nicolás and Tomás.
The importance of ATTA for me:
“Learn, Share and Inspire, themes conveyed to delegates at the 2010 Adventure Travel World Summit, were more than just three words for me. They have absolutely changed my way of thinking and my way of working to turn Salta, my home in Argentina, into a leading destination for adventure travel.”
