I recently returned from Global Travel Marketplace (GTM) West, held in Lake Las Vegas, Nev. For agents, the conference offers important resources, including education and one-on-one meetings with suppliers. For me, it’s a lot more fun. (Sorry.) In fact, the main benefit I get out of attending is inspiration from the community of amazing travel advisors I meet. I love feeling like I’m part of a group of smart, hard-working professionals who are guiding us toward a more successful industry.
Community like that is something that should never be taken for granted. Like so much in life, things are better together — problems seem less insurmountable and success so much sweeter when you feel like you’re part of a team.
For travel agents who often work on their own, it’s especially important to seek out a community. Luckily, advisors who specialize in adventure travel have a great organization they can partner with. The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) has long been an advocate for experiential travel, and in recent years has been working to bring more travel advisors into its ranks — in particular, the ATTA now has a partnership with Travel Leaders, which offers an adventure travel specialist program.
Along those lines, there are two current initiatives from the ATTA that agents might be interested in learning about.
First, Adventure Angels — a group of women who are committed to the spirit of adventure — will provide a scholarship for a woman-owned adventure business to attend the Adventure Travel World Summit this fall in Salta, Argentina. This scholarship might be of interest to travel agencies that operate tours, but it also can be a way to reward a woman-owned business you work with and think is especially worthy of acknowledgement.
Second, the ATTA and its Adventure.travel website, in partnership with Afar magazine and ExOfficio, has announced the Adventure in Motion short film competition. Tourism organizations and businesses with short films created in the last year that inspire viewers to experience adventure travel are encouraged to enter the contest. This year’s campaign is looking for films that tell a story; educate and inform; and inspire action.
Agents can find more information on both programs on the ATTA’s website (AdventureTravel.biz). That’s also where agents can find more information on the ATTA in general. After all, the journey to more community support begins with the first click.
