Adventure travel is for everyone — no matter their age or fitness level.

That’s what Shannon Stowell believes. As the CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, Shannon is on a mission to help more people discover the joy of adventure tourism and learn how to do so responsibly. He joins this episode of the podcast to bust common myths around adventure travel and help you discover the adventure style that will thrill and delight your travelers..

Shannon discusses how you might be leading adventure travel without even realizing it. He puts to rest the misconception that older travelers don’t like adventure and shares a framework for traveling like respectful guests in the places we visit. Plus, we have news about dozens of cancellations from a major cruise line; a Road Tip about making your devices and appliances work well abroad; and a Hot Minute about the unprofessional habits of some travel pros.

Podcast: Embed

Insights from Shannon Stowell

Shannon had lots of ideas about how planners can seek out and deliver enriching adventure activities for travelers of all kinds. Here’s what he had to say about what adventure travel really means:

“We did this deep dive study and found that three themes came out clearly to define the core of adventure: nature, culture and activity.

“The beauty of that is it’s accessible to everyone. So an 18-year-old who’s climbing a mountain in Nepal, that’s adventure for them. Somebody up there in years who would love to walk from inn to inn in Ireland — that’s an adventure too. They’re just a little bit different…. I think everyone should have access to adventure.”

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Connect with Shannon Stowell on LInkedIn.

Purchase Shannon’s Book “Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean” on Amazon.

Learn more about the Adventure Travel Trade Association on their website.

Sign up for our FAM trip notifications here.

Key Moments From This Episode

1:08 — Travel News: Norwegian cancels 40 cruises

2:20 — Road Tip: Using your electronics abroad

8:08 — FAM tour opportunities you don’t want to miss

13:11 — Shannon Stowell’s journey from e-commerce to adventure travel

15:09 — Defining adventure travel for the 21st century

18:04 — Adventure opportunities for older travelers

21:31 — How adventure travel providers are adjusting to today’s marketplace

24:11 — The incredible growth of the adventure travel industry

26:32 — Adventure travel opportunities in the United States

28:52 — Visiting the national parks in uncertain times

31:55 — Enjoying adventure travel responsibly

39:21 — Training people to become the “right” kind of travelers

52:24 — Hot Minute: Character traits tourism professionals must develop

About the Podcast

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.

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