Travel & Adventure Show in Washington, D.C.

As the song goes, “There’s such a lot of world to see.”

If your destination of choice is “everywhere”, I can relate.

The annual Travel & Adventure Show can help you narrow that down and decide where to visit over the next year.  It’s a big exposition that gives you the opportunity to connect with representatives of places and providers around your region and across the globe to find what intrigues you most.

The Travel & Adventure Show takes place during January-March in or near nine cities:

• Atlanta
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Denver
• Los Angeles
• New York
• Phoenix
• San Francisco
• Washington, D.C.

I had a chance to visit the recent Show at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.  There were more than 350 representatives from destinations, cruise lines, tour companies, and more, with a mix from regional to international.

A small sampling of the destinations represented in Washington includes:

• Colonial Williamsburg
• Fort Lauderdale
• Israel
• Jamaica
• Martinique
• North Carolina
• Saint Lucia
• the White Mountains

You can visit display booths, chat with knowledgable representatives, and gather helpful information to plan your travels.  The friendly people from South Carolina‘s Pee Dee region gave out a guide to Revolution-related sites in the Palmetto State, as well as a couple of pecan-based recipes.

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There are also presentations with travel experts offerring tips.  Speaking at the “Destination Theater”, a kilt-clad David McGuffin advised travellers to carry comprehensive travel insurance, to reserve tickets to attractions in advance, and not to visit Paris this summer, as it will be mobbed due to the Olympics.

The “Global Beats Stage” featured cultural performances from around the world, like Irish dancing.

There is some small swag.  Probably the best freebie was the bourbon samples, courtesy of Louisville, Kentucky.  Maui offerred handy electronic-appliances cases.  A cheerful representative of Saint Kitts gave me a travel journal.  Vermont had super-yummy maple-sugar chocolates.  And the nice people from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma gave out the prettiest bags.

I do recommend arriving early.  Since I had a press pass, I was able to get in around 9:45 a.m on Saturday.  The exhibit hall was still reasonably peaceful when the Show officially opened to the public at 10.  But it was mobbed by 11.

I also recommend filling up with a protein breakfast before heading over — especially if you’re hoping to sample some Kentucky bourbon.