Destinations such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Angola, the adoption of AI by small operators and new ways of measuring tourism’s impact were the standout themes of the 2026 Adventure Travel Networking (ATN) conference, according to Stephanie Boyle of the Safer Tourism Foundation.
Boyle says small travel operators are already building confidence with AI so they do not fall behind as more travellers plan trips using large language models.
“Today I feel like I’ve learned about places that honestly were never on my list,” Boyle, who is also a communications consultant, told Emerging Travel. “I’ve learned about Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. I’ve learned about Angola. And I was completely bowled over by how easy it is to actually get to these places and how accessible they are.”
“There was a lot of conversation today around AI and its impact on travel,” she said. “As a legacy industry, we tend to be slow in adopting these things. But it was great and encouraging to hear that so many travel operators, especially small travel operators, are already doing that.”
Boyle also highlighted measuring the return on carbon emissions. “We’re never going to stop people from flying or from using transport, but we are going to see a very different approach when it comes to giving back to the communities in which we’re bringing tourism,” she said.
Emerging Travel covered the conference live in Adventure Travel Networking Conference (ATN) 2026, and recently reported that Turkmenistan is courting operators as access slowly opens.
The Safer Tourism Foundation is a UK charity working to improve the safety of travellers.
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