When about 800 adventure travel leaders met in Québec City from 14-17 September for the Adventure Travel World Summit® 2026, Indigenous knowledge was part of the program from the start. The Summit's TRACE theme asked the industry to look back at the cultures and landscapes that shaped it, including the "Indigenous knowledge systems that have read the land for centuries."
On Indigenous Peoples' Day, we are looking back at where Indigenous voices and partnerships appeared across the Summit, from the main stage to the breakout rooms. Guides from Nunavik, the Innu-led protection of the Magpie River and community-owned tourism in Namibia, Australia and Brazil all came up in the sessions, along with practical advice for operators who want to work with Indigenous communities well.
On the Main Stage
Nunavik and Ungava partnered with ATTA to host lunch one day, bringing Inuit culture into the Summit program. Delegates watched a performance of Inuit throat singing, or katajjaq, a vocal tradition usually performed by two women facing each other, who trade rhythmic sounds until one of them laughs or runs out of breath.
The event closed with the keynote "First Hosts, First Voices: Indigenous Leadership and the Future of Adventure." It placed Indigenous leadership at the center of how adventure travel is designed and delivered, from land and storytelling to visitor education and how tourism income is shared. The business case for Indigenous partnership also ran through the wider program.
In the Sessions
Inuit guiding in Nunavik
The two sessions on the Adventure Travel Guide Standard drew delegates from Nunavik, the Inuit region of northern Québec. A representative of the Nunavik Tourism Association described organizing training for Inuit who run tourism businesses, and staff from Tursujuq, Québec's largest national park, described leading trips alongside Inuit guides. The park team said their safety training is already strong, so they plan to put next year's training budget into natural history, culture, and interpretation.
The facilitators explained that the standard was expanded in 2021 to add quality and meaning to safety and sustainability. As one put it, that means "telling our stories, especially Indigenous communities. But all of our communities, we all have a story to tell." They also noted that training should fit the people receiving it. In Guyana, where many guides are Amerindian and speak another language at home, role play and activities worked better than a 47-page manual.
A river with legal rights
In the Protected Areas session, Québec outfitter Matthieu Bourdon told the story of the Magpie River on the Côte-Nord, which the Innu paddled for thousands of years to reach their winter hunting territories. When the river faced a hydroelectric dam, a local alliance formed with the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the regional county municipality of Minganie. In 2021, the two bodies recognized the Magpie as a legal person, and the Innu council now leads the work. The project has brought visibility to the First Nation and funded community projects, including a cultural house.
A lodge that will belong to the community
Rob Moffett of Ongava described a 25-year joint venture with the Hai||om, the San community whose ancestral land includes Namibia's Etosha National Park. The new concession is centered on Ngabao, a waterhole that Hai||om oral history holds sacred because it never failed in drought. A lodge and a community rhino reserve are under construction, and in 2049 the community will take over full ownership of the business. "I've seen communities inheriting sustainable tourism businesses upon their ancestral land," he said. His first piece of advice to operators was to "figure out who the Indigenous folks are, the First Nation, and try and find ways to help them align with sustainability and long-term benefits upon their ancestral land."
Indigenous-led and Indigenous-owned
In the Scaling Responsibly session, Phil Wyndham, who oversees four adventure brands in Australia and New Zealand, said: "What is uniquely Australian is our Aboriginal culture. No one else can do that." Every itinerary his team reviews now needs an Indigenous-led, Indigenous-owned experience. He was also open about a lesson learned. When they launched a new hike in Queensland without giving guides in-depth cultural training on the First Nations of the area, client feedback showed the gap quickly. Guides now complete that training and work directly with the Aboriginal communities there.
From Brazil, Leonardo de Moura Persi of Embratur described a new national coordination for Indigenous tourism and a partnership with FUNAI, the federal Indigenous affairs agency. Five Indigenous communities have already set their own requirements for fishing experiences. The aim, he said, is for communities to share their own experiences on their own terms, with growing attention to the role of women in community decisions. The moderator closed the session with advice to work with Indigenous communities "not to exploit but to help economically and have them be part of the decision making."
Indigenous-led development was part of the research conversation too. The session previewing the 2026 Adventure Tourism Development Index (ATDI) included Seleni Matus, executive director of the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies, who has led initiatives supporting Indigenous-led tourism development across the Americas.
Who tells the story
The travel media panel in Media Pitch Perfect returned to the same point from a storytelling angle. One journalist advised operators working in Indigenous areas to put forward "the people who are making the changes in that area instead of the tour operator becoming the hero of that story."
Funding and Destination Examples
The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) explained its own role in the Amplifying Impact session. Businesses across the adventure travel and outdoor gear supply chain become members, and the fund turns their membership dues into grants for Indigenous communities around the world doing conservation work. It has been making these grants for 10 years.
Destinations showed how Indigenous tourism can shape a brand. In Winning in a Competitive Market, Julie Averay Cuesta, whose agency MMGY Global has worked for many years with the Northern Territory of Australia, described how the territory built its position around Indigenous tourism experiences. Over 10 to 15 years those experiences developed into a defining part of the destination's adventure offer. In Creating a Compelling Brand Story, Jessica Harcombe Fleming with Pursuit described its Rockies Rangers program, which teaches children visiting its Canadian Rockies attractions about the environment and the connection to Indigenous knowledge.
What Delegates Took Home
Across very different places, the speakers gave consistent advice. Start by learning whose land you operate on. Make sure Indigenous communities take part in decisions and share in the income. Train guides in the culture of the places they lead, and let community members tell their own stories. From the Magpie River to Etosha, the projects discussed in Québec show what becomes possible when Indigenous communities lead and the industry follows through as a long-term partner.
ATTA thanks the Indigenous leaders, guides and partners who shared their knowledge in Québec City, on the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat Nation.
For more conversations like this, register for ATWS 2027 - Andalucia - early access pricing ends 31 December 2026.