This year marks the 20th year of instigating dream experiences for the Adventure Travel Expo and the exhibition promises to be a huge meeting of like-minded travellers at Sydney Town Hall on the weekend of November 8 and 9, 2014. Warning: attendance is guaranteed to inspire a debilitating bout of wanderlust. 

Globetrotters of all ages and destinations are invited to come along for free on Saturday Nov 8 and Sunday Nov 9, to pick the brains of a room full of adventure aficionados ready to send you to all corners of the globe. Whether you're planning on trekking the peaks of Mount Everest, or staying a little bit closer to home and sleeping under the stars by Australia's iconic Uluru in Alice Springs, all the information you need is in the one place at the Adventure Travel Expo.

A very special guest of the Expo will be this year's Adventure Travel Ambassador: Jeremy Scott. A heroic human being, Scott cycled 52,000kms around the world, despite being born with a huge hole in his aorta valve and undergoing open heart surgery at the tender age of 4 years old.

After realising the gravity of being given a second chance at life, Scott craved a challenge that would push him far beyond anything he had ever previously attempted. With practically no experience or training, Scott took off to begin his solo, self-funded bike ride through 29 countries that began in London in October, 2011 and ended in New Zealand over 2½ years later.

This inspirational voyager will be sharing his beautiful story of self-discovery and stunning photographs from the road in the Travel Talks Room at the Expo.

Other speakers will be representing STA Travel, G Adventures and Intrepid Travel, among others. Be sure to sit in on a few (or a lot!) of the inspiring 20-minute presentations. A highlight of many visitors' days spent at the Expo, the Travel Talks presenters are experts on their subjects and there is usually time for audience questions after the talks.

When it comes to the exhibitors, there'll be everything from Pete Dobré's Photography Tours, helping you get perfect travel snaps on the plains of the African savannah, to The Rock Tour sending you out to the centre of Australia to stand in the presence of the mighty Uluru.

Keen to earn some cash while you're off travelling the world? There are tons of working travel companies ready to fill you in with all you need to know about your next working travel adventure. Chalet Guardian will set all you snow bunnies up with chalet owners for a season in the French Alps. MADEC Australia is a free government funded service linking working holiday makers with horticulture industries around Australia on the Harvest Trail.

Visitors to this year's Expo will have the chance to win amazing travel prizes through the Selfie competition, with a stand out prize being the $1,000 travel voucher from STA Travel to help towards the winner's next adventure! To enter and to skip the entry queue all you need to do is scan the QR code here, register your details and post a Selfie enjoying yourself at the exhibition to the Adventure Travel Expo Facebook.

Don't miss a host of exclusive deals and prizes on offer including a trip to the Amalfi Coast for one lucky travel lover thanks to Italy on a Budget Tours.

A range of buy one get one free travel packages from Nullabor Travellers will also be on offer at the Expo including:

• 10 Day Adelaide to Perth Wildlife Adventure package valued at $1495
• 9 Day Perth to Adelaide Wildlife Encounter valued at $1395
• 6 Day Secrets of Esperance valued at $770
• 6 Day Eyre Peninsula Secrets valued at $870
• 2 Day Southern Ocean Wildlife Adventure valued at $855

Feeling ready to choose your next adventure? Take the journey that begins with a single step towards Sydney Town Hall for the Adventure Travel Expo!

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday 8th and 9th November, 2014

TIME: 12-5pm both days

WHERE: Sydney Town Hall, 483 George Street (Druitt Street entrance)

PRICE: Free entry

INFO: www.myadventureexpo.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AdventureTravelExpo

TWITTER: @TravelExpo

INSTAGRAM: @myadventureexpo

GENERAL PHONE Enquiries: +61 2 9999 2226

Exhibitor enquiries - for Sydney Expo November 8-9, 2014 and Melbourne Expo February 21-22, 2015

Tim Lewis, Event Director tim@myadventureexpo.com

MEDIA ENQUIRIES – interviews and images available

Katie Eastment katie@cardinalspin.com.au P: 02 8065 7363 M: 0435 918 466
Amber Forrest-Bisley amber@cardinalspin.com.au P: 02 8065 7363 M: 0405 363 817

EDITOR'S NOTES

- EXHIBITORS  -

Larry Brandy (Aboriginal Story Teller)
- Wiradjuri man from Condobolin, NSW
- sharing stories of his many travels around Australia and recommending the best places to go in the country to experience Aboriginal culture and artefacts

Australian National Maritime Museum
- on tour exhibition gives audiences the chance to view and learn more about the National Maritime collection and its many fascinating stories

Adventure Consultants
- world-renowned mountain guiding company with a legacy of climbing expeditions to the world's highest peaks
- offering discounts at the Expo to a mountaineering course in New Zealand

BBM Live
- British/Oz lifestyle, music, travel and entertainment magazine covering all the latest news, sport, gossip, and music from around the world, as well as informing people about the latest gigs, festivals and events around Australia and London

Busabout Europe/Haggis
- a freestyle form of travel and a unique hop-on, hop-off flexible coach network
- Haggis Adventures pioneered the budget backpacker experience with their award-winning trips through Scotland, Cornwall and Wales

Chalet Guardian
- Australian based start-up connecting people interested in working a season at a chalet with chalet owners
- Airbnb style set-up
- starting in the French Alps

Chimu Adventures
- the Latin American and Antarctica specialists
- an Australian owned company offering fully flexible, guaranteed itineraries to Latin America, plus cruises to Antarctica, catering to people of all ages

Contiki
- Contiki started as a van and a group of travellers with a spirit of adventure back in 1962
- now Contiki takes thousands of travellers on tours every year all around the world

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- exhibiting the Smart Traveller products
- offering practical advice for Australians going overseas

Fun in Fiji/Uprising Beach Resort
- Uprising brings all the best of Fiji to one location, with a focus on value

G Adventures
- the largest small group adventure travel company in the world
- offers social and environmentally sensitive travel
- an alternative to the resorts, cruises and motorcoach tours that travellers are accustomed to

Intrepid Tours
- established in 1989 from two university friends, a typewriter and a kitchen desk
- Intrepid now takes over 100,000 travellers every year on 800 different trips across every continent
- average group size of just ten travellers

Italy on a Budget Tours
- based in Florence, Italy and specialising in the youth travel market
- offer tours, short breaks and holidays in the major Italian destinations such as Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Rome, Amalfi Coast, and more

Korea National Tourism Organisation
- advice and information about travel in Korea

MADEC Australia
- offering information about the Harvest Trail Service: a free service that links working travellers with horticulture work around Australia
- can answer all your questions about various positions available, skills required, VISA requirements, etc.

Pete Dobré Photography/Workshop Tours
- photography tours designed to help people get to the right place at the right time in the right light for the perfect photo
- tours run from 6 to 30 days in Africa, with a maximum of 8-10 people on each tour
- Pete has 30 years' experience as a wildlife and landscape photographer

Safari Pete
- handing out the famous Safari Pete Australian guidebook at the Expo for free
- guidebook outlines best tour operators, hostels, and backpackers around all of Australia
- Safari Pete also wandering around the Expo doing MC work

Shhnooze
- Shhnooze is a towel that doubles up as a lower bunk privacy curtain
- completely new product
- also developing a privacy kit to be sold at hostel counters

SNA Tours
- tours for those aged 35+ to China and Indochina
- sign up on the day at the Expo to go into the draw to win a land-only tour to Beijing for two people
- also introducing an educational tour program to Australia next year
- exclusive deals on tours covering flights, luxury accommodation and cultural activities such as the Yangtze River cruise

South Pacific Tourism Organisation
- all the information and advice you need about travelling to the South Pacific

STA Travel Hub
- exclusive travel agent for the event so travel experts will be on hand to make bookings
- exclusive deals on offer, freebies, goodies
- chill-out area

The Rock Tour
- only Australian company ever to win 'Best Tour in the World' by hostelworld.com
- owner-operated and owners live in Alice Springs
- great tour to do all year round: it's always a great time to visit Uluru!

The Sealink Travel
- an established, geographically diversified tourism and transport company
- operates in SA, NSW, QLD and NT
- cruises, ferries and coach tours

Timor Leste Ministry of Tourism
- everything you need to know about travelling to Timor-Leste
- the world's newest independent state

Tourism Malaysia
- featuring information on their adventure promotions in Malaysia

Tucan Travel
- offers over 450 adventures to 72 countries in 4 travel styles
- offering budget expeditions for 18-35s, as well as tailor-made tours, honeymoons, expedition cruises, family holidays, wildlife holidays, and adventure holidays

Vodkatrain
- experience the Trans-Siberian Railway, Mongolia, India and the Silk Road at ground level
- exclusive Expo deal: if you book one Vodkatrain guaranteed departure, the 2nd traveller will receive $200 off for travel in 2015
- will be releasing FOUR new exciting journeys at the Expo, which will be top-secret until then!

Yomads
- young company offering tours to young people in cool locations such as Greece, Slovenia, Nepal, Georgia, China, Peru and more
- tours crafted exclusively for people in their 20s and 30s
- each tour strictly limited to 15 travellers
- lots of free time on the tour so you can enjoy a truly 'off the beaten path' experience