I attended the very first Adventure Travel World Summit in Seattle in 2005. At the time, just over 300 people from 13 countries gathered to talk about where adventure travel was headed and how we could collectively make it better.

I’m not sure any of us realized then just how important that community would become.

More than 20 years later, I’ve attended Adventure Travel World Summits around the globe, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) has grown into the world’s largest network of adventure travel leaders—bringing together guides, tour operators, lodges, travel advisors, destinations and other travel professionals from around the world.

But ATTA has always been about more than simply connecting people.

The organization has become an important voice for the adventure travel industry, helping educate travel professionals, share research and best practices, advocate for responsible tourism, and push our industry to think seriously about the impact travel has on the places we visit.

For Privada, being part of that community also gives us an incredible worldwide network.

When we’re looking for a special experience in a remote corner of the world, chances are someone within the ATTA community knows that destination intimately. Often, they’re people I’ve known and trusted for years.

That’s one of the things I love most about this industry. Business relationships become friendships. You travel together, share meals, swap ideas and experiences, and eventually build a worldwide network of people you can call and say, “I have a traveler looking for something really special. Who do you know?”

Those relationships help us get beyond what’s easily found online—to the great local guide, small lodge, emerging destination or unique experience that can make a journey truly memorable.

ATTA has also been a longtime leader in something I care deeply about: responsible and sustainable travel. Adventure travel depends upon healthy landscapes, wildlife, communities and cultures, and ATTA has spent decades working to protect them. Its efforts range from education and climate action to helping establish the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, which directly supports conservation projects in destinations around the world.

Of all the Summits I’ve attended, my favorite remains Namibia in 2013, where I had the added joy of bringing my daughter Kasey along for the adventure. 

 It was the first Adventure Travel World Summit held in Africa, and it captured everything I love about adventure travel—remarkable landscapes and wildlife, wonderful people, conservation, community and a genuine sense of discovery.

And there have been plenty of unforgettable adventures along the way.

This September, Curtis will represent Privada at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Québec, reconnecting with longtime friends, meeting new ones and sitting down with adventure travel partners from around the world. Before the Summit, he’ll spend several days riding some of Québec’s best mountain bike trails on an ATTA-organized adventure—getting out there and experiencing firsthand the kind of travel we love creating for our guests.

And knowing Curtis, he’ll come home with plenty of new ideas.

More than 20 years after that first gathering in Seattle, that’s what keeps us coming back: the people, the places, the ideas and the connections that keep opening new doors for where we—and our travelers—might go next.

See you out there!