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THE SPACE AND UNDERWATER TOURISM UNIVERSAL SUMMIT
TOURISM BEYOND NATURAL BORDERS Jeff Bezos’ launch into suborbital space aboard the New Shephard rocket ship may have seemed like the stuff dreams are made of; an exciting, inspiring achievement that is light years away for the average tourist. The Space and Underwater Tourism Universal Summit (SUTUS), which will take place from September 22 to 24, seeks to prove that tourism is rising to its two biggest challenges – space and underwater tourism – much faster than expected. Now in its second edition, the event will feature talks by Sam Scimemi (Senior Assistant, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters), Hiroko Asakura (Deputy Director of JAXA, Paris Office), Pascale Ehrenfreund (President of the International Astronautical Federation), and various other experts from the space and underwater tourism industries.
WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LES ROCHES, NASA, AND SHUTTERSTOCK
A HYBRID EVENT SUTUS will feature two modalities. It will kick off on September 22 at the Les Roches Marbella campus and continue virtually for two days more. Through Medina Media Events (which organised leading top tech and business events such as the 5G Forum and the 4K Summit), individuals and companies can view the conference via live-streaming and engage in B2B discussions with other
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organisations as well as with the speakers themselves. The aim is for those interested in this type of tourism to learn more about the latest developments in the sector. Two recent milestones achieved just this year include the arrival of probes and robots on Mars from agencies such as NASA, China’s space agency, and that of the United Arab Emirates, and SpaceX’s first private trips to the International Space Station.