Mexico will host the eighth annual Adventure Travel Trade Association summit in Chiapas Oct. 17 to 20, an event that “has generated high interest and is completely booked,” according to Chris Doyle, vice president.
Doyle, who participated in the Travel Weekly & Mexico Adventure Travel webinar on Aug. l8, said that 550 tour operators and more than 70 tourist board representatives as well as media, tour guides and travel agents were expected to attend.
“Adventure travel had always been tied to specific activities that carried an element of risk, such as rafting and climbing, but there has been a shift in the last 15 years to include soft adventure activities, cultural immersion and interaction with the environment,” Doyle said.
He described the adventure travel market as “resilient, and it tends to rebound faster.”
Tour operators as well as destinations report strong interest in and growth of that market, according to recent surveys.
Prior to 2007, 52% of tourist boards recognized adventure travel as a potential source market, according to Doyle.
“Now, 85% of tourist boards have a dedicated adventure travel department, which offers a huge opportunity for travel agents,” Doyle said.
Mexico is one of the “great undiscovered and misunderstood destinations. Yes, there are challenges, but they exist in a small portion of a very large country,” Doyle said, referring to the drug-related violence that has taken place mostly along the border with the U.S.
Sun and beach lure visitors to Mexico, but ATTA encourages tourism officials to pay attention to Mexico’s other assets, such as its cuisine, history, geography and culture.
“Chiapas is a colonial city, and it was selected because of its diversity and culture in a country with huge natural resources, such as lagoons, jungles, mountains and Mayan ruins. Mexico offers a rich mix for adventure travelers,” Doyle said.
ATTA’s recent summits, which were held in Norway, Brazil and Canada, “had enormous long-term impacts on tourism, including the formation of alliances and a new global awareness of the destination as an adventure travel option,” according to Doyle.