Ric Gazarian announces Bangkok, Thailand as the host city for the second Extraordinary Travel Festival (ETF), scheduled to take place from November 15 to 17, 2024. The Festival is an event he created to bring together the world’s most avid, accomplished, and adventurous, ‘mega’ travelers during three days of experience sharing and learning. Speakers and attendees will share insights on strategies to visit all 193 of the world’s sovereign countries – a feat accomplished by fewer than 300 known people living today. The festival will also welcome explorers who have other ambitions and motivations for seeing more of the world.
In Bangkok, the Extraordinary Travel Festival will host more than 20 speakers who will engage, inform, and inspire their fellow attendees through a combination of keynotes, breakout sessions, and panels. s. “Imagine the world’s modern-day Marco Polos gathered in a single location,” said Gazarian, whose website @GlobalGaz, features stories and images from his colorful travels to 170 countries. “The energy, enthusiasm and vast knowledge exchanged about travel and country-collecting at the first event was like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Some of the truly outstanding speakers taking the stage in Bangkok will be @Thor Pedersen who recently finished his nearly 10-year journey to every country in the world without flying, @Barry Hoffner who has built 17 schools in the fabled city of Timbuktu, and @Renee Bruns who has traveled to over 130 countries in a wheelchair.
The largest mega-travel clubs will be represented at the event as well, including @Every Passport Stamp (20,000 members), @NomadMania (50,000 registrations), and @Travel Massive (60,000 members).
“Our intention with creating this event was to strengthen this incredible community of mega-travelers by bringing us together in one place, while sharing strategies for advising and inspiring the travel fans who follow us. Many of us explore the world as solo travelers, but we are far from alone in wanting to spread the word about the eye-opening power of going further in our travels, farther, and more often,” added Gazarian.
The ETF is building on the tremendous success of the first event, where 100% of attendees responded that they will attend the next event and recommend that their friends join.
While 90% of guests or presenters originated from North America and Europe, the Extraordinary Travel Festival attracted attendees from six continents. Ages ranged from 20 to 80 years old with a 60/40 split between men and women. In addition to the robust schedule of speakers, attendees will be entertained
with lively parties and a gala dinner. Bangkok was named the “world’s street food capital” and will provide infinite dining options. Attendees will also have the option to explore greater Bangkok and the region beyond. In 2023, Thailand was named the “Best Tourist Country”.
“This travel festival offers the opportunity to connect and promote your destination or brand to the world’s most accomplished and expert travelers from around the globe,” Gazarian added. Tourism boards, consumer travel brands and tour providers wishing to make connections or facilitate bookings with this extraordinary group of travelers are also welcome to inquire about sponsorship opportunities.