Ep 173: Exploring the Future of Adventure Travel, with Shannon Stowell, ATTA

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13 Apr 2023 • 30m53s

“Community and sustainable travel is so hard to get right, and so easy to get wrong. How do you bring people into a place and they enjoy it, and they’ll pay for it, and they won’t destroy it? Anybody who says they have a formula for that, is kidding themselves.” This week, Gary and Hannah explore the future of adventure-based travel with Shannon Stowell, CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), a US-based organisation with members in 103 countries.

In September, the ATTA will hold its Adventure Travel World Summit in Asia for the first time, in Hokkaido, Japan. We discuss the evolution of travel focused around activity, nature and culture – and the influences of the pandemic on outdoor travel motivations.

Plus, we explore the potential for expansion in South East Asia (“The opportunity to build small, more focused travel experiences is real”). The journey also takes us around the globe, to discuss how tour operators, Tourism Ministers and local communities from the Balkans to Brazil and from Antarctica to Shannon’s beautiful home state of Colorado are rethinking travel experiences in places of unique natural and cultural diversity.

« Next Episode Ep 174: Travel Takes off in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO Previous Episode » Ep 172: Transboundary Haze Casts a Cloud Over Tourism in South East Asia

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Ep 173: Exploring the Future of Adventure Travel, with Shannon Stowell, ATTA

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 300: Thailand & Cambodia Pursue Peace, Myanmar Nears ASEAN Return & Embodied AI Tourism in Malaysia: Start the Week in The South East Asia - Part 1

Ep 301: Vietnam's Long Thanh Challenges, Thailand's China Tourism Crisis & Fuel Surcharges Go Off-the-Chart in the Philippines: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show - Part 2

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman