The Adventure Travel Conference has helped us to see in a fantastic start to 2018. We enjoyed two whole days (and a couple of rather late nights) of seminars, a meetings marketplace, networking and adventure awards. It was an exhausting week, but so worth it.
The team headed up on Wednesday evening to prepare for the conference over a few glasses of wine and pints of Guinness. As Thursday morning approached, we were feeling bright eyed and ready to start. With nine of our clients attending from all over the world including India, Vietnam, Tanzania and the Azores, plus ourselves, we had a whole row of tables, which we dressed with the Adventure Connection pens and the Adventure ConFection polo mints.
After a couple of introductory seminars in the morning, it was time for the meetings marketplace. With the appointments prepared online beforehand, the marketplace ran very smoothly and was the perfect opportunity for suppliers, buyers and anyone else to have a chat and swap business cards. (Our pockets were overflowing by the end!) 15 minutes to discuss, share ideas and learn all about those who were attending and what they had to offer.
The day seemed to whizz by, with
several hours to make the most of the meetings marketplace, a free lunch to enjoy, and a few seminars in the afternoon, giving us the chance to rest our voices. As well as the appointments throughout the afternoon, there was a networking lunch, networking drinks and our very own canapé and drinks evening, which was another perfect networking opportunity.
We hosted an Adventure Connection party on Thursday evening, giving our clients who had been at the conference a further chance to discuss opportunities and get to know buyers from leading UK based adventure travel operators. The evening was a huge success, and with the wine flowing and the mini burgers being devoured, people were relaxed, faces were put to names and even more business connections were made.
After a late Thursday night, we were grateful that Friday would be a slightly more relaxed day. There was the chance to listen to multiple seminars,
learning about and taking in everything and anything travel related, including a very good speech from our very own Paul Bondsfield. We may be slightly biased, but his tips and tricks on Content Marketing
were clear, engaging, and useful.
Being the sponsors of the Friday evening drinks, our video showreel was displayed in the auditorium, which really was the perfect way to end the conference. Well, that and some more wine in the evening.
A very well done to the organisers of the event. This was the perfect opportunity for networking and learning, in a relaxed, but productive environment.
We are already looking forward to The Adventure Travel Conference 2019!
