Pat Rochon, Adventure Center; Georgia Spittler and Mat Lewis, Peregrine & Geckos Adventures; Claire Truso, Country Walkers; and Sharmil Goswami, Exodus Travel
A small group gathered at Adventure Center’s Toronto headquarters recently for an informal board meeting about the quickly evolving world of adventure travel. Adventure Center’s Pat Rochon headed the discussion along with welcomed representatives from Country Walkers, Peregrine & Geckos Adventures and Exodus Travel.
Canada is a growing market for this sector of the industry and in order to appeal to the country's diverse audience, more specific targeted vacations are being introduced, such as itineraries dedicated to single parents, solo travellers, women only plus families or multi-generational trips. However, to some, the words, adventure travel, are still met with uncertainty and there are many misconceptions about what it truly entails. “People are afraid of the word, ‘adventure’. It's not so much adventure, as it is 'cultural discovery'” said Mat Lewis, Global Sales Manager of Peregrine & Geckos Adventures. “It's an experience you wouldn't normally get to have."
Some of the many myths that plague the idea of adventure travel include: "These countries are unsafe; you must be young and fit; adventure travel is all camping and adventure travel is expensive."
To help dispel some of these myths and to train agents in selling the specialized product, Adventure Center created CATS, the Certified Adventure Travel Specialist program. During January, Adventure Center toured across Canada with their CATS roadshow. "I was only expecting 5-8 agents to register from each city," said Pat. Calgary's roadshow welcomed 23 agents, Edmonton had 19, 16 showed for the Vancouver edition and 14 in Toronto. The turnout exceeded expectations. "In our world, travel agents are so important," said Pat.
According to Pat, adventure travel is highly addictive. And since it is the fastest growing segment in the travel industry, Adventure Center appears to be on a mission. They are informing people, educating and certifying agents, and dispelling the many myths one experience at a time.
