Adventure Travel World Summit Wrap Up
It was a years-long wait to be back in-person, but the 2022 Adventure Travel World Summit in Lugano, Switzerland, was fantastic! ATCF executive director Soraya Shattuck, along with several board members Richard Edwards, Chunnie Wright, Gordon Seabury, Shannon Stowell, and Steve Barker were in attendance. We connected with new, returning, and prospective members while we discussed our conservation plans and priorities for 2023!
During our annual member breakfast meeting, we had a great panel of speakers, including ATCF board members (Gordon Seabury, Richard Edwards, Chunnie Wright), Praveen Moman, founder, and CEO of Volcanoes Safaris, and Georg Schwede from Campaign for Nature, who talked about 30x30 and tourism's role in the most significant global collective conservation push in the planet's history. 30x30 is a global initiative that aims to protect at least 30% of the planet by 2030. This includes working with local communities and governments to designate and expand protected areas for biodiversity conservation and the expansion of the nature-based tourism sector. The 30x30 movement has made significant progress in protecting the natural and cultural resources of our world. The ATCF is committed to representing the travel industry and prioritizing our efforts to work with local communities to support this global initiative and expand the reach of protected areas for increased conservation.
We also unveiled the Barbara Banks Vision Fund, a fund started by Charles Altekruse with his sons Ben and Jeremy, in honor of his late wife, Barbara Banks. A pillar of the adventure travel community, Barbara was an early supporter of the ATCF. In a touching moment, Charlie addressed the assembled group, many of whom knew and loved Barbara,
“Barbara’s life was dedicated to celebrating and sharing this beautiful, fantastic planet with others, finding locations of natural beauty and then illuminating the people, food, art, and traditions that tell the deep story of the place. And Barbara was a master storyteller of the world.”
The fund’s proceeds will go to the ATCF for its programs and initiatives. The fund has already received some donations, including a generous $10,000 contribution from ATCF member Wilderness Travel, where Barbara spent much of her career as the director of trip development. For more, or to contribute, click here.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, it was a wonderful turnout of support for our annual ATCF meeting. A huge thank you to Freely for sponsoring our annual membership breakfast meeting and to MiiR, Grayl, and Toad&Co for donating event favors!
We look forward to seeing some of you next year in Maine, and in Hokkaido at the next World Summit!