MARKET NEWS

Registration for 11th International Adventure Conference 2024 — now open

The Adventure Tourism Research Association, an international association of adventure tourism experts and professionals, announced the registration for its annual conference, the 11 th International Adventure Conference, is now open.

The International Adventure Conference is taking place from 9-11 September 2024 in Knysna, South Africa. This is the first time this conference will take place on the African continent.

The tourism and hospitality industries are amongst the world’s most exciting and vibrant places to work, and nowhere more so than here in Africa. Outdoor adventure provides a great context in which to explore the ways landscape, peoples and morethan-human communities interact — in forests, in the sea and on the plains. South Africa provides an extraordinary stage for this significant conference.

Prof Uwe P Hermann, Department of Tourism Management, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), said: “South Africa is honoured to host the event. The event is important as this is the first time that an international event of this type is held in South Africa. The event will host well known academics from the field and will provide valuable opportunities for industry to learn from the latest research, and for researchers to learn from industry, to drive the development of future research. This reciprocity we hope will allow for the further development of the adventure tourism sector in South Africa.”

The original idea for the International Adventure Conference (IAC) came from Professor Peter Varley. While working at the Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, he saw a gap amongst the numerous tourism conferences for an event that was focused on outdoor adventure research and learning. Peter and his colleague, Dr Steve Taylor, organised the first IAC in Fort William, Scotland in 2012, which attracted an eclectic international audience. At the second conference, the Adventure Tourism Research Association (ATRA) was established, built on the relationships and consensus developed in the first two events.

Dr Steve Taylor, based in Fort William, Scotland, expressed delight at collaborating with the conference hosts in South Africa, stating that: “This is a wonderful opportunity for the International Adventure Conference to visit the African continent for the first time and for the adventure tourism community to come together in the stunning setting of Knysna to consider the ways that people, cultures and landscapes interact to provide extraordinary tourist experiences.

“Since that second conference and the formation of ATRA, the hosting of the conference has rotated to countries as diverse as Norway, Ireland, New Zealand and Spain. South Africa provides an incredible landscape for adventure tourism experiences, and it is only fitting that such a conference, with a focus on cutting-edge and industry-relevant research, should be hosted here. It creates a wonderful chance for participants from around the globe to come together in South Africa to present, learn about and discuss the latest issues in this growing, and increasingly relevant, tourism sector. It gives Knysna the opportunity to showcase the diversity of its amazing natural and cultural environments as a stage for an array of world-class adventurous experiences.”

Why attend?

The conference provides a platform for experts and professionals to meet and deliberate on issues related to the adventure tourism sectors.

Benefit from the opportunity to present, learn about and discuss on leading adventure and outdoor recreation research, and their business applications in a friendly, supportive and informal atmosphere, while being immersed in a wonderful natural and cultural environment, conducive to supporting sustainable, slow and low-key immersive adventure experiences in Africa.

Who should attend?

The event has been designed to accommodate professionals, managers and business owners from the adventure tourism sector as well as researchers, academics and postgraduate students.

Registration

To register, please click here

For more information click here or contact our event management team at info@weareevents.co.za