The program is open to any Travel Leader or affiliate interested in completing the curriculum to become an expert in the Active & Adventure specialty. So far, forty-six Travel Leaders have signed up for the training program, which participants have up to two years to complete. In the months since the program was launched, three Travel Leaders have completed the training.

As part of this partnership, the ATTA has reserved space at its events to include Travel Leaders agents. Half of the travel advisors who attended the first annual AdventureELEVATE in Snowmass, Colorado, were representatives from Travel Leaders.

“The tour operators I met [at AdventureELEVATE] were very impressed that Travel Leaders and ATTA have teamed up to broaden the exposure and reach of their products,” says Kevin Geiser, a Travel Leaders agent from Michigan. 

Travel Leaders also had a presence at this year’s ATMEX in Chiapas and at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Puerto Varas, Chile, where Travel Leaders VP Perry Lungmus moderated a panel discussion on how adventure operators and destinations can partner with travel advisors to help grow their business. The ATTA plans to reserve spots for Travel Leaders at all its major events in 2016, including AdventureELEVATE in Quebec and the Adventure Travel World Summit in Alaska.