AdventureELEVATE will inspire you to reflect on successful businesses; learn about trending technologies, adventure activities and changing consumer preferences, especially in the North American market; and consider how your business can innovate and change with the times because… Adventure Means Business.
Join Sree Sreenivasan at 8am on June 7th in the lobby of the Westin for a 45-minute practical walkabout around Snowmass. Get ready to take some photos and get posting. Tip: come with an Instagram and/or Facebook account and the apps on your phone. Or just bring along your smartphone and learn the latest tricks and tips – and get some exercise, too!
#ATTAElevate #GoSnowmass
Welcome by ATTA President Shannon Stowell
Join climbing and mountaineering legend Conrad Anker for a presentation featuring some of his most challenging and exciting climbing adventures. Anker has seen so many of the places that adventure travel businesses are offering to their clients, and he started his own climbing business years ago, so he’s in a unique and exciting position to discuss the challenges and changes he has seen around the world and what that means for the business of adventure. Anker’s presentation will be full of amazing photos and videos from his travels, showing just how strong mankind’s desire is to explore new places.
Keynote Partner
Using Business as a Force for Good + Charting the Future of Capitalism
Come share in a bold and exciting vision for the future of our civilization, one where companies are harnessing the power of business to solve society’s problems and laying the foundation for a vibrant new economy and prosperous future for the inhabitants of planet Earth. Hear the story of the B Corp movement and how a global community of entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, consumers, and policy makers are working together with one unifying goal — to redefine what it means to be “successful” in business, so that all companies compete to be not only the best in the world, but the best for the world. Hear the unique and compelling stories of a handful of Certified B Corporations around the world, including some innovative adventure travel companies, who are using business as a force for good and helping solve some of our civilization’s most intractable problems, one company, one employee, one community at a time.
The Journey
Paul Bennett from Context Travel joins Kim Coupounas on stage to share his experience in building a new kind of business — from office logistics and staffing to impact on cities. Paul will touch on the practical business problems that affect us all in the adventure business.
Keynote Partner
Learn more about the adventure and nature of Chile — from top to bottom — while enjoying a delicious lunch.
Get ready for an intense two hours of social media learning. Sree will kick things off with Instagram best practices and tips as well as ideas on how to get the best photos from your clients and guides making them your on-the-ground influencers and social team. Sree imparts a fury of social media tips on all that is new, changing and possible in social media and digital mobile today.
Concurrent Room Sponsor
National Parks are often the introduction to nature for children, as well as many adults, and become an outdoor activity playground as well as a supporting environment for adventure travel activities. As we prepare for the Centennial Celebrations of the National Park system in 2016 we’ll hear about new outdoor initiatives, trends the parks are noting that may affect adventure businesses’ future, creating opportunities and challenges. We’ll learn about the work of Brand USA and their Great Outdoors campaign, designed to attract international visitors to the National Parks and we’ll hear case study examples from National Park experts. Our panelists will discuss these issues and talk about the communities mobilizing around National Parks and cross state and National Park cooperation.
Concurrent Room Sponsor
Can news-making trends like “nature deficit disorder” and climate change or historic anniversaries or even popular books or feature films drive adventure travel? You bet! Grabbing itinerary ideas from headlines, creating experiences that have travelers following in the steps of historic figures and cultural icons, even promoting ways visitors can relive their favorite blockbuster or indy movie — our panelists have proven that being innovative yields results, earns media coverage and drives even more attention to your destination or experience. Big budgets or small – tapping into popular culture, looking back into history and jumping onto growing trends may be the best marketing initiative you have all year. Case studies and best practices will help you prepare to meet the demands of media and consumers. Come prepared to share your own ideas of current culture and trends waiting to be tapped into for future business.
ATTA’s DNA Cocktail (Disruptive Networking Adventure) is a new take on a networking event. Tour operators, travel media, destination professionals, travel advisors — we’re all looking to build relationships with like-minded people. At the DNA Cocktail, there will be drinks and giveaways, a chance to win gear from ExOfficio, and a surprise game that will make sure you create memorable connections and have fun doing business.
DNA & Cocktails Partner
A gondola ride to the beautiful Elk Camp is the right way to Discover Switzerland at this memorable dinner.
Your guest, your client, your average everyday traveler is now also a travel guide, an accommodation provider, a taxi driver or a chef cooking up local meals. Erik Blachford is at the leading edge of the sharing economy, advising companies and bringing to the table his experience at the helm of diverse travel businesses like Expedia, Butterfield & Robinson and Couchsurfing. In this keynote he’ll share his perspective on the growing world of experts and consumers turned competitors that will shake up how travel companies do business.
Keynote Partner
Ski.com considers itself a technology company yet only a small percentage of its sales are converted online. Harry Peisach, CEO of Ski.com will discuss the importance of human capital – including reservation agents and travel advisors – and its compliment to online content and ecommerce. The story of Ski.com’s success is one to learn from as adventure businesses strive to provide exceptional service amidst dramatic technology shifts and also work to deliver dynamic and personalized content to meet global customers increasingly specific needs.
You have an amazing itinerary planned and you’re ready for some bookings. You open up your internet browser to start promoting your trip online, but you don’t know where to start. You are not alone. This session is designed for small to mid-sized adventure travel operators who haven’t had the opportunity to learn about the all the available media channels to use on the web. The panel will offer in-depth advice on how to use paid search, how to optimize your site for search engines (SEO), writing good searchable content, social media best practices and digital display advertising within the adventure travel space. Additionally, you’ll learn how to create a successful refer-a-friend program.
Concurrent Room Sponsor
Adventure travel and outdoor activities have always been close allies. Our research experts will present their latest research, profiling both the adventure traveler and the outdoor consumer. Their data will showcase lifestyles, behaviors and motivations to help you identify with your clients and potential clients, show shifts in preferences, and help you craft your marketing strategy and product development based on your learnings.
Concurrent Room Sponsor
AdventureELEVATE attendees have the option to select their top media choices from a group of up to 20 adventure travel media professionals (their profiles are available to assist in your selections). The ATTA team will review your selections and arrange meetings based on your requests as well as based on the volume of interest from ELEVATE attendees. The staff will do their best to accommodate as many media requests as possible. By the beginning of June the ATTA will notify you of your final appointments. You should expect to receive between three to seven media appointments, lasting between seven to ten minutes each.
Come experience locally sourced food while you learn about the beauty and wonder of Colorado.
Your client’s journey starts well before the plane leaves the tarmac or even before a booking is confirmed. Every interaction a traveler has with your brand matters, but a great customer experience doesn’t just “happen.” A great customer experience is mindfully crafted by leaders in tune with the customer. In this session you’ll develop an adventure travel customer persona, then travel with this persona through an adventure travel journey. You may have already perfected your product, but here you’ll have the chance to optimize every stage of the customer experience within your organization, from start to finish. You’ll walk away from this interactive presentation and workshop with ideas about how to massage your marketing and business practices to create loyal and satisfied clients. You will also pick up some lessons from a customer experience management veteran to get you started on your journey to provide your customer a world-class experience.
Concurrent Room Sponsor
Can news-making trends like “nature deficit disorder” and climate change or historic anniversaries or even popular books or feature films drive adventure travel? You bet! Grabbing itinerary ideas from headlines, creating experiences that have travelers following in the steps of historic figures and cultural icons, even promoting ways visitors can relive their favorite blockbuster or indy movie — our panelists have proven that being innovative yields results, earns media coverage and drives even more attention to your destination or experience. Big budgets or small – tapping into popular culture, looking back into history and jumping onto growing trends may be the best marketing initiative you have all year. Case studies and best practices will help you prepare to meet the demands of media and consumers. Come prepared to share your own ideas of current culture and trends waiting to be tapped into for future business.
AdventureELEVATE attendees have the option to select their top media choices from a group of up to 20 adventure travel media professionals (their profiles are available to assist in your selections). The ATTA team will review your selections and arrange meetings based on your requests as well as based on the volume of interest from ELEVATE attendees. The staff will do their best to accommodate as many media requests as possible. By the beginning of June the ATTA will notify you of your final appointments. You should expect to receive between three to seven media appointments, lasting between seven to ten minutes each.
In the next fifteen years, international travel will double from one billion to two billion travelers. That growth, while impressive, will not be equally distributed around the world. There will be winners and there will be losers. Winners will be the leaders of destinations and operators that not only invest in tourism, but seek to better understand the key motivators that will drive travelers of the future. // The good news is that the marketing channels and media needed to reach travelers have been disrupted, leveling the playing field for even the smallest of operators and destinations. Those who embrace social media, big data and content, and those who profoundly understand the travelers of the future will be rewarded with a disproportionate share of tourism revenue growth.
Keynote Partner
Keep the networking going and stop by the Bar at Wildwood for a non-hosted event to connect with fellow ELEVATE delegates and listen to a live local band.
About Us
Established in 1990, the Adventure Travel Trade Association is the largest global network of adventure travel leaders. Our community is made up of ~30,000 individual guides, tour operators, lodges, travel advisors, tourism boards, destination marketing and management organizations, outdoor educators, gear companies and travel media who share a belief and commitment to sustainable tourism. The connections and creativity of this vibrant community come together both virtually and in person to create and deliver the solutions that propel our businesses and our communities toward a responsible and profitable future.
