Pick up your badge and conference materials at AdventureNEXT Check In at the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum and enjoy a visit at the museum before the opening gala. Delegates will be required to show badges to enter all AdventureNEXT sessions, meals, and special events.

The AdventureNEXT India opening gala and welcome dinner for all delegates will take place at the artistically themed Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum. Arrive between 4:30-6:30pm if you would like time to explore the galleries and learn about tribal lifestyle; small groups will be offered 30-minute guided tours. Unique souvenirs and art is available – please carry cash in IRP / card swiping facility available at the museum shop.

During cocktails and chai tea, our official words of welcome come from tourism officials from the host destination, the Chairman of the Adventure Tour Operator Association of India, and the ATTA’s CEO Shannon Stowell. 

Come to Minto Hall before the opening plenary session to pick up your badge and conference materials, if you did not collect them yesterday. All delegates must wear badges throughout AdventureNEXT to gain access to all sessions, meals, and special events.

AdventureNEXT India’s event emcee will open the program, alongside ATTA’s CEO, Mr. Shannon Stowell and destination host officials from Madhya Pradesh and India’s National Tourism Board.

Values-driven businesses are common in adventure travel. Many entrepreneurs find their way to this sector through a personal awakening tied to a social or environmental issue tourism can help address. Can you keep your values intact and build a business, small or large? In this inspiring talk, Sanjay Bhargava — credited by Elon Musk for creating the world’s first low-cost method of authenticating terrestrial bank accounts, which was central to PayPal’s business model —  is joined by his wife and business partner Anita Bhargava, to share the journey leading them to found Bharosa Club. Motivated by the notion of universal prosperity, Bharosa Club is a digital utility company enabling low-cost micro-investments in mutual funds.

As dedicated adventure travelers who believe tourism can be a very powerful force to create a more prosperous world, the couple has a relevant message for those operating in the sleekest boardrooms and those working in most rugged wilderness: Staying true to your values not only benefits your heart—it can also benefit your bank account.

The AdventureNEXT MARKETPLACE features up to 50 inbound tour operators and accommodations from India. It provides a focused setting to connect with potential partners, hold business meetings, and promote adventure brands. A global delegation of outbound tour operators, wholesalers, travel advisors, editorial media, and influencers attend MARKETPLACE events for introductions to new companies and product development discussions.

Immersive technology is swiftly becoming the next generation’s smartphone. Due to the complex way in which virtual reality (VR) interacts with a user’s sense experience, it readily touches people’s emotions and, as such, can be used to educate customers, boost sales, and train global staff and partners. This workshop offers an introductory approach to VR as a medium to help adventure businesses and destination brands consider its uses as an effective communication and sales tool. Expert facilitator Francois Mark shares VR’s real-world applications in the tourism industry,  demonstrates how to build your own VR experiences using free existing tools, and explains how to effectively share these experiences with your audience. This session includes a group workshop with time for questions.

This session is intended for anyone interested in new technologies as business drivers.

Understanding the profile of today’s adventure traveler is at the core of tourism product development and marketing decisions. This session shares market research on global international travelers in general and dives specifically into the preferences and habits of adventure travelers originating in the United States. One of the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s (ATTA) regional directors, Gabriella Stowell, shares detailed information from the global tour operator perspective along with responses from a proprietary survey of 1,700 U.S. adventure travelers, illuminating travel motivation, preferred activities and destinations, planning habits, expenditures, and satisfaction with tour operator services, highlighting important areas for product and market focus.

This session is intended for travel business representatives in India looking for an overview of North American adventure traveler trends.

This session offers an intimate and contemporary view into one of the most prominent and popular folk arts of India practiced by one of the largest tribes in India — the Gond — who are predominantly from Madhya Pradesh. First, learn about Gond art and its history and evolution to contemporary times by artist-ceramist Shampa Shah. Shah’s talk is based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel Bhimayana: Incidents in the Life of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, created by Gond artists Durgabai Vyam and Subhash Vyam, and writers Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand. Next, experience a demonstration-workshop on the traditional techniques and contemporary practices of Gond Art. Meet Subhash Vyam, who will share his own journey through materiality and content over the last three decades. Paired with Vyam will be young Gond artist, Japani Shyam, who will share her creative process of making her art. Following the talk and demonstration, you also have an opportunity to try making your own Gond art on paper.

The AdventureNEXT MARKETPLACE features up to 50 inbound tour operators and accommodations from India. It provides a focused setting to connect with potential partners, hold business meetings, and promote adventure brands. A global delegation of outbound tour operators, wholesalers, travel advisors, editorial media, and influencers attend MARKETPLACE events for introductions to new companies and product development discussions.

Successful marketing in today’s noisy travel marketplace requires strong branding, personalized communications, and compelling narratives to capture people’s imagination. Adventure tourism lends itself beautifully to storytelling, and framing stories for potential clients can be achieved effectively by understanding traveler motivations. Recent research confirms one of the strongest motivators for travelers today is learning, personal growth, and, in many cases, personal transformation. Examine your company’s branding and how it is positioned to stand out in the cacophonous world of online experience marketing and purchasing. In this highly participatory workshop, the facilitator guides you through several experiments. Through these experiments participants learn how to develop “the best” of their offerings into a robust portfolio of honest and uniquely branded products to successfully gain new partnerships and clientele.

This workshop is intended for travel providers.

This year, India’s prime minister announced the nation will be the first country to eliminate all single-use plastics by 2022. It is a large vision for the world’s second largest country. Award winning Australian adventurer and environmentalist Huw Kingston takes us on a journey interweaving his effective campaign for plastic elimination with some of the adventures informing his work. Kingston, named by Time Magazine as one of its 25 Worldwide Responsibility Pioneers, has been protesting single-use plastic for many years, and, in 2009, galvanized his Australian hometown to become the world’s first bottled-water-free city. He has since worked with communities and organizations around the world to reduce plastic waste and is a great believer that individuals can be unstoppable tidal waves of change.

Depart Minto Hall immediately following the plenary session on complimentary transfers provided in time for dinner and a cultural program with Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board on the lawn of the Hotel Lake View. 

During this workshop, learn how to create fine art travel photography — images that go far beyond the “I was here” photograph. As travel providers, marketers, business owners, and, of course, travelers, learn how to create beautiful landscapes and townscapes as well as powerful environmental portraits and photo essays. After a presentation of travel images by award-winning photographer Mark Edward Harris, put ideas into practice on location in India. You’ll also learn how to approach newspapers and magazines with travel story ideas and bring individual projects into fruition.

This session is designed for all delegates with an interest in travel photography.

The AdventureNEXT MARKETPLACE features up to 50 inbound tour operators and accommodations from India. It provides a focused setting to connect with potential partners, hold business meetings, and promote adventure brands. A global delegation of outbound tour operators, wholesalers, travel advisors, editorial media, and influencers attend MARKETPLACE events for introductions to new companies and product development discussions.

Successful marketing in today’s noisy travel marketplace requires strong branding, personalized communications, and compelling narratives to capture people’s imagination. Adventure tourism lends itself beautifully to storytelling, and framing stories for potential clients can be achieved effectively by understanding traveler motivations. Recent research confirms one of the strongest motivators for travelers today is learning, personal growth, and, in many cases, personal transformation. Examine your company’s branding and how it is positioned to stand out in the cacophonous world of online experience marketing and purchasing. In this highly participatory workshop, the facilitator guides you through several experiments. Through these experiments participants learn how to develop “the best” of their offerings into a robust portfolio of honest and uniquely branded products to successfully gain new partnerships and clientele.

This workshop is intended for travel providers.

From jungles to the ocean, India is one of 17 countries identified as the most biodiversity-rich countries of the world. The region’s diverse wildlife is preserved in more than 120 national parks, 18 bio-reserves, and more than 500 wildlife sanctuaries. Wildlife management is essential to species protection, but it also allows local communities and adventure tourism businesses to thrive when responsible practices are upheld. Given the wide range of experts, knowledge sources, and opinions on India’s wildlife tourism, this session will be facilitated as a mock debate among friendly and knowledgeable individuals invested in animal welfare and protection while also keenly sensitive to the economic realities of responsible tourism and the resources it takes to meet the market demand for wildlife observation and interaction.

This session is intended for any delegate passionate about or involved in conservation or wildlife tourism, and there will be dedicated time for audience participation and discussion. 

Moderator

This session provides an in-depth look at fine Maheshwari handlooms, the enchanting town from which the craft derives its name, and the history of a passionate foundation involved in their revival. You will learn about the handlooms themselves as well as the creative craftswomen and men creating the fabric. Led by Nivedita Rai, the Executive Director of the Gudi Mudi project and the Acting Director of The Handloom School (THS), and other senior team members of the Rehwa Collective and Women Weave, two pioneering crafts organizations in India, the session includes a presentation about the craft and its history. The organizations leading this session were founded by the inimitable Sally Holkar of the Royal family of Holkar from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Finally, enjoy a demonstration of the process by two fine young weaver graduates from Madhya Pradesh with weavings on display to touch and feel.

While most of the discussions about younger generations entering the travel marketplace have been about their behavior as travelers, it’s important to recognize millennials are also very entrepreneurial and a source of ideas already transforming the travel world. With their new ways of thinking about traveling and a natural relationship with technology, India’s young leaders are developing solutions to complicated challenges affecting tourism worldwide. Discussing the importance of entrepreneurship and showcasing select innovation projects, this session’s speakers invite you to celebrate the original and clever thinking this young generation brings to the tourism industry and beyond, exploring how some of these specific products and solutions might enhance offerings and destinations in the adventure travel domain.
This session is designed for destinations, tour operators, and media. 

Moderator

While the tactics that make digital marketing effective may be constantly changing, the core rulebook for creating content inspiring travelers and motivating them to book does not. In this session, review established guidelines for successful digital marketing, focusing specifically on how to create respectful and effective messaging using personalization and automation. Learn how to integrate low-cost or free personalization into key online channels used by most operators and destinations, such as Facebook and TripAdvisor. Learn how to create simple and powerful email automation along with innovative ways to use chatbots to increase conversions and the value of customer service.

This session is designed for travel providers who work in B2B and/or B2C settings.

This session, led by renowned Dhrupad exponent, Pt Ramakant Gundecha, will encompass the Indian classical music tradition with a special focus on Dhrupad. Madhya Pradesh has played an important role in Dhrupad’s evolution both historically (with Raja Man Singh Tomar’s patronage and then Akbar’s reign) and in the current times, with the establishment of the historic Dhrupad Kendra in 1981, and now the Dhrupad Sansthan. The session will provide an introduction to the Dhrupad form and other allied forms through a lecture presentation and demonstration. Madhya Pradesh has a rich legacy of other musical forms – both classical and folk – and this session will cover the nature of sound and music and the various forms it has taken in this region. In the session, Ramakantji will also address music education in the Indian context, and what it takes to maintain traditions and integrity in the modern age successfully.

The AdventureNEXT MARKETPLACE features up to 50 inbound tour operators and accommodations from India. It provides a focused setting to connect with potential partners, hold business meetings, and promote adventure brands. A global delegation of outbound tour operators, wholesalers, travel advisors, editorial media, and influencers attend MARKETPLACE events for introductions to new companies and product development discussions.

In this closing session, hear from Surmai Kaushik, a climate activist working for car manufacturer Mahindra, one of India’s largest companies. While the automotive and tourism industries may seem very different, they both share a common challenge and opportunity as industries responsible for a large percentage of the global carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change. Paradoxically, in addition to being a prime climate change offender, the travel industry is also a key to climate resilience for many communities. In this uplifting and optimistic session, Kaushik shares her perspective, hopes, and lessons learned as a young Corporate Social Responsibility executive at Mahindra along with a powerful call to action for tourism businesses to energize and enlighten their guests, always look for ways to improve their operations’ carbon footprint, and, perhaps most importantly, lead the charge for larger-scale changes.

Depart Minto Hall immediately following the plenary session on complimentary transfers provided in time for our closing dinner and a cultural program with Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board at the Boat Club.