<< Return to AdventureTravelNews - December, 2006
GLOBALLY RENOWNED EXPERTS ELICIT STANDING OVATIONS DURING THE 2006 ADVENTURE TRAVEL WORLD SUMMIT
Joining more than 70 adventure travel pioneers and experts from five continents, four world-renowned experts represented the fields of cultural anthropology, environmental and wildlife conservation, work-life balance, and archaeology and addressed more than 400 adventure travel business leaders in Seattle during the second annual, trade only, Adventure Travel World Summit held October 19-21.
Summit keynote addresses included:
-
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
explained what travelers to the world’s 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 Magazine’s “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 spoke about how the consequences of global warming,
including newly emerging diseases, weather fluctuations, and
even wildlife migration disruptions affect adventure travel and
addressed 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, showed Summit delegates 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 argued 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
world’s leading archaeological writers. Fagan’s 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 presented “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 –
during the closing keynote – asked fundamental yet provocative
questions and challenges adventure travelers to be responsible
stewards of the world’s priceless and irreplaceable cultural
heritage. (Presented by Archaeology Magazine)
Other notables from among the more than 70 experts who presented during the Summit included: Urs Eberhard, Vice Director - Switzerland Tourism; Neel Inamdar, Ecotourism Business Advisor - Conservation International; Tek B Dangi, CEO - Nepal Tourism Board; 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 helped to equip delegates with tools to better their business, enable the industry to better serve travelers, promote responsible adventure tourism, and optimize the industry’s market potential through productive debate, dialogue and collaboration.
If you missed the 2006 Adventure Travel World Summit, you have the opportunity to purchase Summit proceedings, which include audio recordings of virtually all presentations, as well as collateral offered during most presentations, by clicking here….