What Is Adventure Tourism? Adventure Travel Examples, Definition, Importance, Types and Characteristics [Tourist & Backpacking Trends]
This article considers a definition of adventure tourism that includes physical activity, the natural environment, and cultural immersion. Both hard and soft adventures can be important. The trends and numbers involved in this tourism area are discussed, including the growth in demand. Other types of often related niche tourism types are considered and defined, such as ecotourism, wildlife tourism, sustainable and responsible tourism.
Adventure tourism continues to grow in popularity
Tourism is one of the most rapidly growing economic sectors in the world, and adventure tourism are one of its fastest-growing categories. As travelers seek new and different experiences, adventure tourism continues to grow in popularity (Wicker 2017). Increasingly, countries in all stages of economic development are prioritizing adventure tourism for development and market growth, because they recognize its ecological, cultural, and economic value.
To date, no definition of adventure tourism exists in the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) literature, but the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) defines adventure tourism as a trip that includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity, natural environment, and cultural immersion. While the definition of adventure tourism only requires two of these components, trips incorporating all three would give tourists the fullest adventure tourism experience.
For example, the World Tourist Organisation (2014) in its Global Report on Adventure Tourism suggests that a trip to Peru involving trekking (physical activity) along the Machu Picchu trail (natural environment) and genuine interaction with local residents and/or indigenous peoples (cultural immersion) would be an excellent example. A similar example would be Nand Raj Jat in Uttarakhand (India) which incorporates all three elements, including a twenty-day trek along Himalayan trails, interaction with local residents, and an opportunity to watch and take part in local religious practices.
Between 2010 and 2014, the adventure tourism industry grew by 195% and the adventure segment of this is enjoying rapid growth, but globally it remains a relatively small player in the industry. The adventure tourism industry is also helping to raise awareness of sustainability, the need to support local communities, and promote social responsibility. These values help to secure the future of the sector. Adventure tourism practitioners and policymakers adhere to sustainable environmental practices because they know that without pristine natural environments and meaningful cultural experiences, their destination adventure tourism continues to grow in popularity (Wicker 2017). Increasingly, countries in all stages of economic development are prioritizing adventure tourism for development and market growth, because they recognize its ecological, cultural, and economic value.
To date, no definition of adventure tourism exists in the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) literature, but the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) defines adventure tourism as a trip that includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity, natural environment, and cultural immersion.
While the definition of adventure tourism only requires two of these components, trips incorporating all three would give tourists the fullest adventure tourism experience. For example, the World Tourist Organisation (2014) in its Global Report on Adventure Tourism suggests that a trip to Peru involving trekking (physical activity) along the Machu Picchu trail (natural environment) and genuine interaction with local residents and/or indigenous peoples (cultural immersion) would be an excellent example. A similar example would be Nand Raj Jat in Uttarakhand (India) which incorporates all three elements, including a twenty-day trek along Himalayan trails, an interaction with local residents, and an opportunity to watch and take part in local religious practices.
Between 2010 and 2014, the adventure tourism industry grew by 195% and the adventure segment of this is enjoying rapid growth, but globally it remains a relatively small player in the industry. The adventure tourism industry is also helping to raise awareness of sustainability, the need to support local communities, and promote social responsibility. These values help to secure the future of the sector. Adventure tourism practitioners and policymakers adhere to sustainable environmental practices because they know that without pristine natural environments and meaningful cultural experiences, their destination would lose its competitiveness and tourists would go somewhere else.
Global Figures for Tourism and the Adventure Sector
Tourism accounts for 30% of all services and one in eleven jobs in the global economy, and in 2010 the global value for the adventure market amounted to more than US$614 billion. By 2013, this figure had tripled to more than US$1843 billion. The growth in turnover comes from an increase in the number of adventure tourists, as 42% of all tourists participate in one or more adventure activities in the course of their holiday, and an overall increase in the amount of money spent per holiday. Currently, 69% of all adventure tourists come from Europe, North America, and South America, but this will change in the future. In 2014, 53% of all adventure travelers were women and 47% were men; they were generally well educated, with 37% of adventure travelers spending four years or more in tertiary education and more than 11% having a professional qualification. They were also financially well off, with an average income of approximately US$45,500.
Consumer Trends
When we split adventure travel into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ categories, a pattern emerges. Travelers in the soft category (for example, non-extreme activities, cruise tourism, cultural activities, community involvement, and guided tours) spent about US$825 per trip. In comparison, on a global level, non-adventure tourists spend about US$430 per person per holiday (excluding travel costs). This is about 40% less than the amount spent by adventure tourists, who also spend more money in local communities where the economic impact is more tangible. More extreme adventure travelers only spend about US$338 per trip (excluding travel costs), but spend significantly more money on gear and equipment that they require for their holiday. In mass tourism, approximately 80% of the revenue from a trip goes to airlines, hotels, and other international companies. In contrast, in adventure travel, 70–80% of the revenue goes to local communities; while 65.5% of total travel expenditure per adventure travel remains in the destinations or destination the traveler has visited.
Adventure Tourism
When applied in a tourism context the term adventure tourism embraces all types of commercial outdoor tourism where there is a significant excitement element involved, but it is a broad term.
Buckley (2006) lists at least forty activities involved in adventure tourism. It is a term that is not easily defined, as different people have different perceptions of what might be considered an adventure. It involves adventurous travel where there is an exploration and physical exertion, and the travel has a perceived or real risk involved; the adventure tourists often step outside their comfort zone and experience a rush or flow (Buckley 2012). However, it has to cater for differences in clientele, as there will be different expectations, different physical abilities, different likes, and dislikes, and different psychological make-ups involved. The experience is not about taking risks or pushing personal boundaries, and it is important for participants to know and respect their personal limits whilst they are in unfamiliar regions.
Adventure tourism is closely related to nature-based tourism (Buckley et al. 2003), and there is also an overlap with ecotourism. Adventure tourism is ‘nature tourism with a kick, nature tourism with a degree of risk-taking and physical endurance’ (Christ et al. 2003). It focuses on doing, whilst the other categories mentioned often focus on seeing. There is a wide range of outdoor recreation activities packaged as commercial adventure tour products, ranging from hiking trips to expensive and equipment-intensive tours involving expedition cruise ships and helicopters.
The activity can be part of independent travel, where the travelers provide an adventurous experience for themselves through the use of fixed-site facilities, such as ski resorts, where there is a retail and accommodation component as part of the package.
Buckley (2006) identifies four component types of adventure tourism:
- independent travel, which involves at least some commercial transport and accommodation but includes some activity that the traveler treats as adventurous;
- fully packaged, guided commercial adventure tours, departing on defined dates from specified gateways;
- fixed-site adventure activities available to both tourists and the local population, but where tourists make up a significant percentage of the clientele, as in ski resorts;
- and finally all the ancillary businesses and economic sectors linked to adventure tourism through recreational equipment, adventure branded clothing, and a significant proportion of the amenity-migrant property market (where people move to an area to live or purchase a second home, especially to take part in adventurous activities).
Buckley (2010) suggests that on a global scale the outdoor and adventure tourism subsectors of the tourism market make up around one-fifth of the global tourism market and travel sector, and one that as we have noted continues to expand. ATTA created a definition of adventure tourism and adventure tourist. Such a tourist is one who includes at least two of the three following elements in his or her leisure travel: physical activity, engagement with nature, and cultural interaction and learning. Through this definition, it is seen that most tourists can be considered adventurers.
The challenge for tourism will therefore always be to stimulate economic and social development in a way that factors in nature, culture, and the environment. Adventure travel addresses all these challenges in a way that provides opportunities for local communities to develop, and it takes account of the tourists’ diverse understanding of what a responsible and sustainable adventure-based holiday involves. Hence adventure travel is a form of travel where visitors interact with the environment and nature, take part in physical activities, and are part of a cultural exchange that combines at least two of these elements. There could also be an extra element of self-exploration and connecting with self.
It is possible therefore to define adventure tourism as having some of the following five elements:
- some real or perceived risk related to physical activity, remoteness, or unfamiliar location;
- occurring in a natural environment that is relatively unexplored and with minimal or no urban influences;
- a physical activity that tests both mental and physical endurance;
- cultural immersion;
- minimalism that supports eco-, responsible and sustainable tourism and discourages mindless consumerism, although some of the luxury cruises that occur do not support this element.
Adventure is not about how wild, high or extreme an activity is. It is primarily a mental attitude to travel that shapes the values that visitors bring with them on their holiday. In other words, adventure is a subjective concept that revolves around how individual travelers like to shape their own experiences.
The key for adventure travel is that the holiday should be based on experiences, and that added value comes from really getting to know a destination through physical activity, cultural encounters, and experiencing the natural environment. Activities like these allow individual travelers to extend their own boundaries culturally, physically, and geographically, and these boundaries vary from person to person.
Regardless of how tourism professionals organize or categorize adventure travel, the adventure will always be a subjective term for travelers, because it is related to individual experience. Adventure to one traveler may seem routine or mundane to another. Adventure tourists push their own cultural, physical, and geographic comfort limits, and those limits differ for each person. Rantala et al. (2018) suggest that the boundaries between adventurous activities and tourism are blurred, and they explore the diffuse use of concepts such as wilderness, nature guiding, and adventurous activities.
Nevertheless, adventure tourism has been widely studied, and the literature review of 2119 references in Rantala et al. (2018) indicates that the work was dispersed amongst many different subject disciplines and academic journals; their conclusion is that a reconceptualization of adventure tourism is required. Cheng et al. (2018) find a total of 114 publications on adventure tourism that revealed three broad areas of foci in adventure tourism research.
These are adventure tourism experience; destination planning and adventure tourism operators. Studies examining non-Western tourists in their own geographical contexts and non-Western tourists in Western geographical contexts are under-represented. We hope to show in this article that there are important environmental impacts caused by adventure tourism that need to be managed, and that the education of participants and company operators is necessary for the sustainable use of the environments in which adventure tourism takes place.
Table 1.1 Types of activity and categorization as hard or soft adventure
There are two main categories of adventure activities, hard and soft adventure, and vigorous debate often surrounds which activities belong in each category (see Table 1.1). The easiest way to identify an adventure trip as a hard or soft adventure is by its primary activity.
Both hard and soft adventures are highly lucrative segments of the adventure tourism sector. The cost of the permit to access the summit of Mount Everest, a hard adventure activity, was estimated to be US$11,000 per person in 2015. When all of the other factors are added in, such as training, gear, airfare, and tour guides, the average total cost is about US$48,000 per person. Commercial adventure travel tour operators offering soft adventure activities charged an average of US$308 per day in 2012.
With an average trip length of 8.8 days, the average total cost of a soft adventure trip was US$2710 per person, not including flights. In addition to hard or soft adventure activities, there are also different types of adventure tourists. For example, adventure enthusiasts, such as avid kayakers, cyclists, or birdwatchers, become progressively more skilled at a specific outdoor or athletic activity. These enthusiasts are described as passionate about a certain sport or activity, tending to pursue the same activity trip after trip, and seeking new and exciting destinations in the process.
Although enthusiasts’ spending is on a par with other types of adventure travelers, their more frequent international trips typically last an average of one extra day. They spend more money on equipment and gear because they value brands that fit their highly specialized needs, and they seek out locations that are difficult to access or are newly emerging but not yet popular. On the other hand, extreme adventurers, such as base jumpers, those who cross the Greenland Ice Cap, or runners of 100 km races, are not so many tourists as independent travelers and thrill-seekers. Extreme adventurers spend less money because they have their own equipment, may not seek commercial support to practice the activity, seek out locations that are difficult to access, and often camp or provide their own transport.
Extreme adventurers constitute a very small segment of the sector. Thus, although they can have public relations and marketing value for a destination or company, they do not typically require attention from tourism development policymakers and land managers.
Core characteristics of adventure
We do not believe there is a single characteristic that effectively sums up the nature of adventure; what follows is an attempt to draw out the key qualities of adventure. The focus is on the nature of adventure at this stage, rather than adventure tourism. We will discuss the ways on which tourism and adventure have been partnered together in the following section. However, occasionally we will pre-empt our discussion of adventure tourism by highlighting instances where other writers have relied on one of these core characteristics in their attempts to define adventure tourism.
The points below summarize the core characteristics or qualities of adventure that form the basis of the following analysis:
- Uncertain outcomes
- Danger and risk
- Challenge
- Anticipated rewards
- Novelty
- Stimulation and excitement
- Escapism and separation
- Exploration and discovery
- Absorption and focus
- Contrasting emotions.
Many of these qualities are interrelated and interdependent – for example, novelty contributes to both the sense of challenge and the degree of stimulation. Any of these qualities taken alone do not make an adventure. However, when they are all present, we believe an adventure is more or less guaranteed.
Growth in Demand
In 2012, global tourism arrivals passed the 1 billion mark. As one of the fastest-growing segments, adventure tourism arrivals naturally increased as well. In 2010, the first global adventure tourism market sizing study was conducted by ATTA, George Washington University, and Xola Consulting. It found that the global value of adventure tourism was US$89 billion. The study was repeated in 2013 and found that 42% of travelers departed on adventure trips, making the sector worth US$263 billion, an increase of 195% in two years. This remarkable growth was attributed to an increase in international departures, an increase in travelers going on adventure trips, and an increase in average spending.
Overall, 69% of international departures originated in Europe, North America, or South America; the same was true of adventure tourism. Between 2009 and 2010, South America’s hard adventure travel population grew from 1.4% of all departures to 8%. The same time period saw a 5% increase in the soft adventure population. In fact, the UNWTO Tourism Highlights of 2014 notes that ‘with rising levels of disposable income, many emerging economies have shown fast growth over recent years, especially in markets in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.’ Additionally, the report notes that Chinese travelers are the top spenders while on vacation, and that developed economies will benefit from the favorable exchange rate for Russian and Chinese travelers via inbound tourism. Widespread increases in projected arrivals from Russian, Chinese, and Latin American travelers will change the shape of tourism demographics in the years to come.
In the adventure tourism sector, the trend has been towards the removal of the middle man, tour operator, or travel agent, who has traditionally connected the consumer in the source market to the provider or ground handler in the destination market. As the traveler can access information and trusted consumer reviews online, he is now more likely to go straight to the provider. The AdventurePulse: USA Adventure Traveller Profiles, a study of the US adventure travel market, indicates that 71% of US adventure travelers are making arrangements solely on their own.
While emerging economies are slowly outpacing developed economies for departures and spending, the UNWTO predicts that by 2015, arrivals in emerging economies will have exceeded those in advanced economies; and by 2030, 57% of arrivals will be in emerging economies. To accommodate this surge in demand, supply is expected to increase. The makeup of the sector is predominantly small, owner-operated businesses. In fact, in 2013 the average size of ATTA’s member companies was forty-four employees.
Destinations around the world are focusing on an adventure as a key niche segment, because of its economic and sustainability benefits. They are working to provide professional education for adventure travel companies to support local people in participating in the tourism economy.
Increasingly, destinations are recognizing that travelers are seeking more authentic products. Around the world, destinations are gearing their advertising and branding to appeal to adventure travelers. For example, Norway capitalizes on its towering fjords and glaciers with the slogan ‘Powered by Nature’; Greenland emphasizes its ruggedness with ‘Greenland, Be a Pioneer’; New Zealand touts its culture, mountains, wildlife, and hiking with ‘100% Pure New Zealand’; Nepal’s Naturally Nepal logo includes a stylized high peak and a tagline “Once is not enough”; Kyrgyzstan, surrounded by glaciers, emphasizes its mountainous assets in its adventure tourism marketing with the tagline “Something New, Something Different”; and Slovenia beckons with hiking, mountains, and caves in its ‘I Feel Slovenia’ campaign.
The trend is far-reaching. In 2011, 79% of tourism boards reported that the adventure tourism private sector had begun to emerge and/or grow in their destination. In 2010, Greenland shifted its marketing to focus exclusively on the adventure sector. Its messaging and imagery were designed to capture the imaginations of tourists who sought off-the-beaten-track adventures and authentic cultural interactions. Greenland’s marketing focused equally on cultural, and especially culinary, activities through its ‘Taste of Greenland’ program, and emphasized adventure activities with the launch of a blog entitled ‘99% Backcountry’. This portrayed a modern Greenland, where girls in traditional costumes ride scooters, the message resonating with how locals saw themselves.
UNWTO predicts that there will be 1.8 billion arrivals globally by 2030 and that the growth of international tourism arrivals in emerging economies will grow at double the pace of developed nations. Developed nations will see arrivals from emerging economies fuelling their growth; but as knowledge of adventure tourism options in these destinations is currently limited, there is a need to invest in building their markets—and this is currently happening.
What is Ecotourism?
Much of ecotourism is commercial outdoor recreation, and this has been discussed in much detail by Buckley (2004, 2006, 2010).
Ecotourism is a form of tourism that involves visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low-impact and often small-scale alternative to standard commercial mass tourism. It is defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.
Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, so that future generations may experience destinations relatively untouched by human intervention.
Generally, ecotourism involves interaction with biotic components of the natural environment. It focuses on socially responsible travel, personal growth, and environmental sustainability, and typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. It intends to offer tourists an insight into the impact of human beings on the environment and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats. Responsible ecotourism programs include those that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people.
Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, an integral part of ecotourism is the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation, and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. For these reasons, ecotourism often appeals to advocates of environmental and social responsibility.
Ecotourism has three central principles:
- it is non-consumptive/non-extractive,
- it creates an ecological conscience and
- it holds ecocentric values and ethics in relation to nature.
Lane (2013) outlines the related types of niche tourism. He defines adventure tourism as physical outdoor activities such as snorkeling, diving, or skydiving, where operators may not necessarily be operating in a sustainable manner or providing education.
Cultural tourism relates to the discovery of the cultural heritage of the destination, such as learning from a local artist, and the focus is not on nature or wildlife.
Green tourism applies to any tourism activity or facility operating in an environmentally friendly way, incorporating renewable energy use or composting. Lodges may be owned by a large corporation or lack a focus on conservation and education.
Nature tourism is where wildlife is viewed in its natural habitats, such as from jungle lodges in the Amazon or cruise-only ships in Antarctica. These trips may not have an educational component and are not necessarily environmentally sustainable or responsible.
Responsible tourism is where the minimization of environmental degradation of the destination is a priority, but there may be no focus on the environment and no economic benefit to the host destination.
Finally, sustainable tourism does not deplete resources and allows for smaller numbers of tourists to experience nature so as not to disturb natural patterns. There may not be a focus on the preservation of the natural habitat or any economic benefit to the host destination.
However, the term ecotourism, like sustainable tourism, is considered by many to be an oxymoron. Like most forms of tourism, ecotourism generally depends on air transportation, and this long-distance travel has significant environmental impacts and contributes to global climate change (Simmons and Becken 2004). Additionally, the overall effect of sustainable tourism is probably negative, as ecotourism philanthropic aspirations can mask commercial and immediate self-interest. Here we can see considerable overlap and misconceptions relating to the terms adventure tourism, ecotourism, nature-based tourism, and sustainable tourism.
The differences between adventure tourism and mass tourism are clear, but the differences between adventure tourism and other types of tourism can be more nuanced. There follow definitions of other popular types of tourism that communities and other stakeholders on the value of protecting the integrity of nature and culture and investment (driving financial support for conservation from the travel sector and travelers).
Responsible tourism is tourism that creates better places in which people can live and visit. Responsible tourism can take place in any environment, and many cities have adopted responsible tourism policies. It can also be defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people (Christ et al. 2003).
Community-based tourism is defined by the Mountain Institute and Regional Community Forestry Training Center as a visitor–host interaction that has meaningful participation for both, and that generates economic and conservation benefits for local communities and environments.
Volunteer tourism is the practice of individuals going on a working holiday, volunteering their labor for worthy causes. It includes work that is not paid and is sometimes also called Voluntourism.
SAVE tourism encompasses scientific, academic, volunteer, and educational tourism, as defined by the SAVE Travel Alliance. SAVE tourism may include remunerated work.
Another definition of ecotourism, from the International Ecotourism Society, is purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of the environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that communities and other stakeholders on the value of protecting the integrity of nature and culture and investment (driving financial support for conservation from the travel sector and travelers).
Nature tourism is travel to unspoiled places to experience and enjoy nature (Christ et al. 2003).
Wildlife tourism is based on encounters with non-domesticated (non-human) animals in either the animals’ natural environment or in captivity. It includes activities historically classified as ‘non-consumptive’ as well as those that involve killing or capturing animals (Higginbottom 2004). Swarbrooke et al. (2003) provide a detailed chapter on this topic as one aspect of adventure tourism.
There are also some obscure forms of adventure tourism, including disaster and ghetto tourism, spiritual tourism, and even ethno-tourism, where indigenous peoples are observed. The latter is controversial because it can bring indigenous peoples into contact with diseases to which they have no immunity, and there is always the possible degradation or destruction of a unique culture or language.
It is important to note that none of these types of tourism, which can be included in a broad discussion of adventure tourism, is mutually exclusive, and definitions can be overlapping. These ‘brands’ all have a specific or even niche market value because they resonate with a particular segment of consumers.
Adventure tourism used to be a relatively fringe or small niche of the overall tourism sector, but today it has become more mainstream as a US$263 billion global market. In 2014, tour operators noted that the top four trends in adventure tourism were the softening of adventure travel, customization of trip experiences, multi-generational groups, and cultural experiences. In other words, the trends indicate the broadening of adventure as a choice of travel by the larger market.
This data came from more than 300 companies in sixty-nine countries. Governments acknowledge this trend as well. Before 2007, 52% of tourism boards surveyed (ninety-one in total) noted that they did not recognize adventure tourism as a stand-alone sector in their destination. That number sharply decreased to a mere 8% in 2011 out of the same group of tourism boards/ministries.
Adventure summary – a process and a state of mind
Adventure, then, is where participants are voluntarily putting themselves in a position where they believe they are taking a step into the unknown, where they will face challenges, and where they will discover or gain something valuable from the experience.
This state of affairs is based on the individual’s perception of the situation and of themselves, and therefore ‘adventure’ is subjective and unique to each person. It is quite apparent that what is an adventure for one person – say a solo sailing trip around the Mediterranean – may not be regarded as an adventure by another. Adventure is a personal construct, based more on individual mental and emotional perceptions than physical capacities. Like beauty, which is in the eye of the beholder, adventure is in the mind and heart of the participant.
It is clear from this examination that adventure is not determined by specific activities, but by the state of mind and approach of the participant. This analysis supports Hopkins and Putnam’s (1993) assertion that ‘Adventure can be of the mind and spirit as much as a physical challenge’. Spending time living in a different religious community or attending a self-development course can be just as much an adventure as trekking up Kilimanjaro.
Although specific activities don’t define adventure, it is apparent that adventure entails action. Adventure is not a passive experience; it’s engaging. This engagement can be on a physical, intellectual, emotional, or spiritual level. Cater (2000) comments that ‘adventure tourism is fundamentally about active recreation participation, and it demands new metaphors based more on “being, doing, touching and seeing” rather than just seeing’. We propose that ‘feeling’ could be added to this list as well. The adventure involves effort and commitment, and often mental and physical preparation or training is necessary.
Most of the characteristics of adventure that have been discussed so far are interdependent or overlap with one or more of the others. They work together to create that state of affairs that leads someone to describe an experience as an adventure. Some of these core qualities relate to the main stages in the adventure process (see Figure 1.2); others describe the perceptions and feelings of the participant. These basic ‘ingredients’ of adventure can be combined in different proportions, giving a different flavor to the adventure experience.
So, to draw some preliminary conclusions on how the concepts of adventure and tourism combine to give us adventure tourism, in our view adventure tourism involves travel and leisure activities that are bought into (not simply financially, but as we are talking about tourism an exchange of money is often involved somewhere along the line!) in the hope that they will produce a rewarding adventure experience. Crucially, an adventure tourism experience will:
- Be of a heightened nature – a stimulating context will induce a range of emotions (of which excitement will be key), and separate it from everyday life
- Entail intellectual, physical, or emotional risks and challenges – these will be absorbing
- Be intrinsically rewarding, providing opportunities for enjoyment, learning and self-development.
All of this discussion brings us to the question of how adventure manifests itself in a tourism context. If the core ingredients of adventure are applied to tourism activities, then a very broad range of activities that can take place in a wide range of settings results. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that any tourism experience that a participant thinks is an adventure, is an adventure! This, we suggest, is valid. However, it is also unwieldy. In addition, the tourist’s point of view is only one-half of the equation. The supply side of the tourism industry should also be considered, and for adventure tourism to be a saleable commodity it has to be parcelled into something that is ‘suppliable’. So it seems that this idea of adventure tourism needs grounding in the practicalities of real life, and we need to divide it into manageable entities. We can begin this task by asking ourselves, ‘How does adventure manifest itself in terms of what people do and where they do it?’
The main aim of this article is to discuss how a wide range of recreational adventure activities can have an impact on the environment and how the activities are associated with an important and growing branch of the tourist industry, adventure tourism.
This article is aimed at the university undergraduate, postgraduate and academic market across a wide range of disciplines, including tourism, ecology, outdoor education, natural resource management, and geography. It is hoped that members of ATTA, which is a trade group that serves to network, professionalize, and promote the adventure tourism industry.
References
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- Swarbrooke, J., Beard, C., Leckie, S., & Pomfret, G. (2003). Adventure tourism. The new frontier (354pp). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
- Wicker, J. (2017). What is adventure tourism? World Tourism Organization. (2014). AM reports volume nine-global report on adventure tourism (88pp). Madrid: UNWTO.
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