Nukubati Island Resort, Rivers Fiji, and Talanoa Treks were delighted to represent the Duavata Sustainable Tourism Collective and join Tourism Fiji at the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) in Puerto Natales, Chile in October.
Building on the successful AdventureNEXT Fiji event held in November 2024, hosted by Tourism Fiji, ATWS provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships and promote Fiji’s adventure travel experiences to hundreds of like-minded buyers and media at a key global event for the adventure tourism industry.
Nearly 67% of international travelers today are considered “Open to Adventure”, and with research showing it takes just 4 adventure travellers to generate US$10,000 for local economies, compared to 9 overnight package tourists or a massive 96 cruise passengers1 this is a high value market aligned to our national sustainable tourism goals.
In addition to the business-to-business market place, the summit also offered the opportunity to dive into sustainability, AI, succession planning, sales growth, and regional insights across three days of workshops, think tanks, and sessions.
Director of Nukubati Island Resort, Jenny Bourke said, “It makes such a difference talking to buyers who already get us and the type of experience that we offer. You’re already two steps ahead in the conversation”.
Nukubati is recognised as a Pacific and global leader on sustainability and regenerative practice, and as part of a panel discussion highlighting lessons from operators Jenny described their journey. Marita Manley, Director of Talanoa Treks, was also invited to participate in a panel and shared perspectives on the adventure market in Fiji highlighting the diverse experiences Fiji has to offer.
Marita said, “Yes, the big adventure travel companies are here and it is great to connect with them, but the adventure space is also full of exciting and values-aligned smaller companies whose CEOs and founders are here looking to connect with the right partners and find new itineraries, which makes this event hugely valuable for us as they can make decisions there and then. We’ve strengthened partnerships with the buyers we met at AdventureNext who have already started selling Fiji itineraries and are now adding more departures, and we have some very exciting new prospects from this event.”
Director of Rivers Fiji and the chair for Duavata, Kasi Taukeinikoro said, “This has been a special event and a reminder that we are part of a wider adventure travel community. We are thankful for the support provided by Tourism Fiji and the Adventure Travel Tourism Association that has enabled Duavata members to be here at the southern tip of the Andes to represent Fiji and showcase another side of our industry back home. The fact that we have members speaking at these events shows the confidence others have in Duavata’s values and potential for growing this segment of the industry”.
We acknowledge and thank our Chilean hosts and the indigenous people of the region in welcoming us with open hearts to their lands.
- ATTA report Adventure Travel Market Sizing and the New Adventure Traveler (2025) and World Bank report Strengthening Tourism Competitiveness in the OECS Countries: Market Analysis (2015) ↩︎
