adventure tourism risks

The pros and cons of adventure tourism

Is it really worth it to take a risky vacation?

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The implosion of the Titan submersible as it plunged 12,500 feet under the sea to view the wreckage of the Titanic, leaving all five people onboard dead, left many asking one question: Is this type of adventure really worth it?

The risks of traveling on the Titan were well-documented. OceanGate, the company that built the submersible, reportedly made participants sign a waiver that mentioned death three times on the first page. OceanGate was also warned by industry experts that the vessel was unsafe. The five travelers still made the trip, and one of the victims, Shazada Dahwood, was "absolutely obsessed" with seeing the Titanic, his sister told NBC News .

Is this type of trip, often called adventure tourism , worth the risk to somebody's life? Do the negatives and risks of climbing a big mountain or trekking through a remote jungle outweigh the positives, or is there something significant to be gained from adventure expeditions?

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Pro: People can learn about the world

Adventure tourism — and travel in general — can give people "an opportunity to see the world from a different perspective, form meaningful relationships, and develop new skills," travel writer Emily Lush reported . This type of tourism also lets travelers have "deeper and more meaningful travel experiences," a phenomenon which "has never been more appealing."

Taking on exotic experiences allows people to "broaden their horizons, learn new skills, and appreciate diversity," per a LinkedIn report. For those who haven't traveled often , or at all, adventure tourism can "foster a sense of connection, purpose, and gratitude, as travelers can contribute to social and environmental causes."

Con: It's dangerous

Perhaps the most glaring negative: Adventure tourism can be hazardous, and the "risk for illness and injury with adventure travel is much greater," Christopher Van Tilburg wrote for the CDC's 2024 travel guide . The risk of "illness and injury is a function of two variables: probability and consequence," Van Tilburg added. He noted that adventure tourism destinations "can be remote and lack access to care," and "trips are often goal-oriented, which can cause travelers to exceed safety limits and take increased risks."

This type of tourism is growing among "thrill-seekers looking for an adrenaline rush, pushing the boundaries of conventional travel and, sometimes, of safe travel," Samantha Delouya reported for CNN .

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Pro: It can improve your health

Adventure travel, as with any physical activity, can have positive health effects. While some people may just go to the gym, "Wouldn't it be more fun to get your exercise while sailing and soaring through the Alpine Arctic and witnessing some of the planet's awe-inspiring landscapes?" Amanda Wells argued for Quark Expeditions .

There are also reported mental health benefits, as "travel is great for relieving stress and improving your general outlook on life," according to the World Travel and Tourism Council . Physical activities "like walking, hiking, and skiing in scenic areas can help you become more hopeful," the organization added.

Con: It's often expensive

Getting onboard the Titan submersible cost $250,000, and similar expeditions often exist "to provide exclusive, expensive, and dangerous travel itineraries to the world's wealthiest would-be explorers," Spencer Buell reported for The Boston Globe . Even with the clear dangers, "Previously unthinkable treks [have] become more accessible to anyone with deep enough pockets," Buell added.

Despite its high costs, the Titan incident "will not dampen demand for 'extreme' tourism where a rescue is unlikely or even impossible," Dr. Adele Doran, principal lecturer in adventure tourism and recreation at Sheffield Hallam University, told Insider .

Pro: It can boost local economies

Adventure travel can prop up smaller economies, helping "free developing countries from downward-spiraling cycles of human poverty and environmental degradation," Kim Joyce reported for USA Today . The promotion of adventure expeditions "improves the community's social and economic health , and elevates community morale —which can lead to more opportunities for investment."

Local economies can be improved "in many ways, from hosting travel groups, to support services such as food and transportation," Elizabeth Sobiski added for The Arizona Republic . This can be especially prevalent in economically depressed areas, where "jobs in transporting, housing, feeding, and entertaining visitors are created."

Con: It can negatively impact the environment

Adventure tourism — and tourism of all types — can result in "pollution and littering, as well as damage to natural habitats. It can also cause problems for locals, who may feel they are being taken advantage of or threatened," Iqbal Uddin Abbasi wrote for LinkedIn .

There are also " environmental hazards associated with adventure tourism activities such as kayaking, rappelling, and scuba diving," Abassi added. These hazards have increased as a result of a changing planet, and the "impacts of climate change mean we need to keep our eyes more open to respond to the changes, and keep reviewing our risk assessments," Christina Beckmann, a climate expert with the Adventure Travel Trade Association, told BBC News .

 Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other Hollywood news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.  

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Adventure Tourism and the Science of Risk Management

Safety Theories and Models for Managing Risk in Adventure Tourism Programs

Author: Jeff Baierlein

It was the second day of a four-day ice-climbing course based out of the town of Field, British Columbia, in Yoho National Park in the Canadian Rockies. 

Two guides and four guests were climbing at Massey’s, a popular icefall climbing route on Mount Stephen, walking distance from Field. The group had spent the morning engaged in a multi-pitch climb of the route. 

In the afternoon, a clinic on building ice-climbing anchors was held at the base of the frozen waterfall. Unknown to the climbers, about a kilometer above them, a layer of snow detached from the rest of the snowpack. It picked up mass as it descended the mountain. With little to no warning, the avalanche hit the group. Two participants were caught in the avalanche and swept more than 70 meters from the base of the climb.

One climber, who was only partially buried, was able to be extricated without serious physical injury. The other was uncovered from a depth of approximately 1.8 meters, about 30 minutes after the avalanche. Unresponsive and not breathing, she was flown by helicopter to an ambulance and transported to a medical facility, where she was pronounced dead.

This is the kind of incident that adventure tourism operators hope will never come to pass: unexpected; impossible to anticipate with certainty; and catastrophic in its impact. How could this have happened? Could this have somehow been prevented, or is an example of the inherent risk of outdoor adventure?

The trip organizer was an experienced and well-respected mountain guide—certified as a full Mountain Guide with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides since 2008, guiding ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies every winter since 2005, an ACMG instructor and examiner, and with an extensive resume of ice climbs around the world. 

The guide on site at Massey’s the day of the incident likewise was impressively qualified—an IFMGA Mountain Guide since 2016, with decades of ice climbing experience; a graduate of the Canadian Avalanche Association’s Avalanche Operations Level 2 course, and well-experienced with guiding at Massey’s.

Massey’s was a well-known ice climbing site. Guides had evaluated snow conditions, the weather forecast, and Parks Canada’s daily avalanche ratings. Participants were briefed, and each brought their avalanche probe, shovel, and beacon. 

And yet, on March 11, 2019, an avalanche cascaded down on unsuspecting climbers, carrying one—a devoted lover of outdoor adventures, accomplished medical professional, beloved friend and wife—to her tragic and untimely death. 

We know that safety incidents will occur in outdoor adventures. What we can’t predict with certainty, however, is what kind of incident will occur, or when, or where, or who will be involved. 

It’s this unpredictability that poses a challenge to leaders of adventure tourism and related wilderness, experiential, travel and outdoor programs. How do we anticipate the unexpected? How do we guard against unforeseen breakdowns in our safety system—full of policies, procedures, and documentation designed to prevent mishaps from occurring? 

Adventure tourism operators aren’t the only organizations to struggle with preventing safety incidents. Airlines strive to avoid plane crashes. Nuclear power plant operators work to prevent meltdowns. Hospitals seek to eliminate wrong-limb surgical amputations. 

Aviation, power generation, healthcare and other large industries have invested heavily in researching why incidents occur—and by extension, how they can be prevented. They have funded research scientists to conduct investigations, develop theories of incident causation, and establish models that represent those incident causation theories. There are academic journals, conferences, and an ever-growing literature in the field of risk management.

Outdoor adventure programs can learn from the work that springs from these investments in advancing safety science. Just as the highest-quality backcountry travel programs pay attention to the best thinking in skills training, equipment management, and guiding practices, adventure tourism programs can benefit greatly from keeping abreast of the best thinking in safety science across industries, and applying cutting-edge risk management theories and models to help outdoor recreation and outdoor education participants have extraordinary outdoor adventures with good safety outcomes.

Let’s take a look at safety thinking, and the risk management theories and models that have evolved over time. We’ll explore how safety science has advanced over the last 100 years. And we’ll examine how the most current thinking in risk management—revolving around the idea of complex sociotechnical systems—can be applied to improve safety outcomes at outdoor adventure programs.

The field of risk management includes career specialists in safety science, a wide variety of theories and models, numerous academic journals, and PhD programs in risk management. From this, best practices have evolved that can be applied across industries—from aviation to alpine mountaineering.

A variety of academic journals on safety and risk management exist.

The Evolution of Safety Thinking: Four Ages

Let’s begin by briefly considering the trajectory of safety science from the Industrial Revolution to the present day.

The evolution of safety thinking can be broken down into several eras, each representing a distinct approach to understanding why incidents occur, and how they might be prevented. The model below illustrates four separate eras of safety thinking: 

The Age of Technology,

The Age of Human Factors,

The Age of Safety Management, and 

The Age of Systems Thinking.

The Age of Technology

In this model, adapted from Waterson et al. , we see the 1800’s version of safety thinking as a mechanistic model. The predominant understanding of incident causation was a linear one—the “domino model”—where incidents were seen as resulting from a chain of events. 

This linear chain-of-causation thinking is exemplified in the following 13th century nursery rhyme:

For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost. For want of a horseshoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

Root Cause Analysis was a core element of safety thinking at this time: if one could only identify the originating cause of the problem (want of a nail, in the example above), then the incident (loss of a kingdom) could be prevented.

The Age of Human Factors

If we fast-forward to a time 50 years ago, we see that human behavior—and specifically, human error—is seen as a major cause of incidents. If we can control people’s actions, why, then we can prevent incidents from occurring!

This “Age of Human Factors” brings detailed policy registers, procedures handbooks, operating manuals, and rulebooks of every sort. Control human behavior—the most significant, yet most unpredictable, element of any safety system—and you control risk. This marks the advent of rules-based safety.

It’s important to note that each step in the history of safety thinking represents a cumulative advance of wisdom regarding how to prevent incidents. The older theories and models are not to be discarded; they are to be built upon. As safety thinking advanced from a mechanistic search for incident causes through Root Cause Analysis, it’s important to recall that Root Cause Analysis can still be useful—but, crucially, more sophisticated and effective tools have been added to the safety manager’s toolkit. 

The Age of Safety Management

It didn’t take long, however, for management to recognize the fact that—surprise!—people don’t always follow the rules. And, rules cannot be invented to address every conceivable situation, every possible permutation of circumstances where risk factors appear.

We then see, in more or less the 1980’s, the evolution of a recognition that the use of procedures and inflexible rules has to be balanced with allowing people to use their good judgement, and to adapt dynamically to a constantly changing risk environment.

This is the birth of “Integrated Safety Culture”—combining rules-based safety, which provides useful guidance to support wise decision-making in times of stress—with the flexibility for individuals to make their own decisions, even if that means not following the documented procedures or the pre-existing plan.

The Age of Systems Thinking

Nuclear power plants are big, complicated things. They have lots of mechanical components, and are operated and maintained by large teams of personnel. Although much attention is put towards their safe operation, dangerous meltdowns continue to occur—the Three Mile Island reactor partial meltdown in 1979, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011.

Damage to No. 3 reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, March 2011

It became clear that despite detailed engineering systems, extensive personnel training and oversight, and many other safety measures, managers seemed simply unable to understand and control the enormous complexity of a nuclear generating station. The system was too complex. The safety models that were in place to prevent meltdowns simply weren’t 100 percent effective. A new, more sophisticated model of incident causation, that could account for the complex mix of people and technology, was needed.

This led to the development of complex sociotechnical systems theory.

Complex sociotechnical systems theory combines a recognition of the profound complexity of “systems”—whether they be a nuclear power plant or a heli-skiing outfit. It attempts to understand how people and their behavior influence safety, and how technology—from pressure release valves in a reactor, to high-altitude medical protocols on an alpine trek—influence safety outcomes. And it seeks to understand the interaction of people—the “socio-”—with the technologies and items they interact with—the “technical”—within a system that also has outside influences and is constantly in flux.

Systems thinking—the application of complex sociotechnical systems theory—represents the most current and most advanced approach to risk management. It is, however, more abstract and challenging to understand than simpler, albeit less effective models. It’s therefore important to invest in understanding what complex STS theory means, and how it can be applied to the adventure tourism setting.

One of the principal ideas of systems thinking is the recognition that we cannot have full awareness of, let alone control of, the complex system of an airplane, a hospital operating room, or a backcountry ski touring expedition. We therefore need to build in extra safeguards and capacities so that when an inevitable breakdown in our safety system occurs, the system is resilient enough to withstand that breakdown without catastrophic failure.

This has been termed “resilience engineering,” and is a fundamental approach to applying systems thinking to safety in the travel and experiential education contexts. We’ll further examine the resilience engineering concept, as it applies to adventure tourism safety, shortly.

The Evolution of Safety Thinking: Incident Causation

Let’s continue exploring how ideas of risk management have evolved over the decades. But this time we’ll look at the ways in which thinking around how incidents occur has become more sophisticated, and an increasingly accurate representation of the factors that lead towards a mishap’s occurrence.

The Single-Cause Incident Concept: A Simple Linear Model

The idea of what causes an incident—on an outdoor adventure, or anywhere—was in the past considered to be due to a single causal element. The boots fit poorly, and thus caused the blister. The blister popped, which caused the infection. The infection got worse, so the trekker ended up in the hospital. The root cause: ill-fitting boots. The sequence: a linear one, from root cause leading to an unanticipated mishap, leading to an injury or other loss.

In the image below, from the Safety Institute of Australia , building off the work of Hollnagel , we see this illustrated as the “single cause” principle of causation, which is part of a simple linear model of how incidents occur. The chain of causation is a simple linear sequence. 

Adapted from: Safety Institute of Australia

This idea gained popularity in 1931, when Herbert Heinrich published the first edition of his influential book, Industrial Accident Prevention . 

Heinrich used a sequence of falling dominos in his text to show how an accident came about:

Credit: Industrial Accident Prevention

Simply eliminate one step in the chain, and voila! No accident:

Another simplistic, linear-style model is the Fault Tree Analysis. The Fishbone Diagram is one example.

Here we see all the factors that came together to lead to an adventure tourist slipping and falling on a trail. The hiking guide was naïve and inattentive; the culture on the trip was “shut up and keep hiking;” the trail was slick and ill-maintained, and the client’s sneakers provided insufficient traction.

The Multiple-Causes Incident Concept: A Complex Linear Model

Later, it became increasingly clear that multiple factors were involved in causing an incident. An event occurred—a person went on a hike wearing too-small boots. But that doesn’t necessarily lead to an infected blister. Perhaps the guide asks hikers to check for hot spots. Or the company instructs participants to break in their boots before commencing their trip, during which time the poor fit could be discovered and rectified.

But if the guides are not well-trained and proactive about safety, and if the adventure travel operator does not provide a detailed gear list with instructions well in advance of the outdoor experience, these “latent conditions” can combine with the event—the inadequate footwear—to cause an incident.

This is the “epidemiological” model. It features one or more events, plus one or more latent conditions. The “epidemiological” term references disease transmission modeling, where, for example, a person ventures into the forest in search of wild game (the event), and encounters an animal such as a bat or civet cat that harbors a pathogen (the disease reservoir). The person then comes back into a populated area, leading to an outbreak or epidemic of disease.

This incident model is still a relatively simplistic, linear model, but it also was one of the first to represent incidents as happening within a system of elements. 

The epidemiological model gained prominence in 1990, after James Reason published a paper on the topic in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

Reason described risk management systems as a series of barriers and defenses. If a hazard were able to get past each of the barriers and defenses by finding a way through the holes in those obstacles, then an incident would occur. Only when all the conditions lined up right would the hazard successfully pass the obstacles and cause an incident.

Reason’s conception, with the easy-to-remember name “Swiss cheese model”

This model, while being superseded by complex systems models that more accurately represent incident causation, uses evocative symbolism and is still in the public consciousness, being cited in the New York Times in August 2021 on COVID-19 safety.

Incident Causation as Taking Place within a Complex System

Finally, risk management theoreticians arrived at what represents the current best thinking in incident causation: the complex systems model. 

Here, a complex and ever-changing array of social and technological factors interact in impossible-to-predict ways, leading to an incident. This is the idea of complex sociotechnical systems, as applied to risk management.

Examples of complex systems include the global climate crisis; issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and adventure tourism programs.

Examples of complex socio-technical systems

Complex systems are characterized by: 

Difficulty in achieving widely shared recognition that a problem even exists, and agreeing on a shared definition of the problem

Difficulty identifying all the specific factors that influence the problem

Limited or no influence or control over some causal elements of the problem

Uncertainty about the impacts of specific interventions

Incomplete information about the causes of the problem and the effectiveness of potential solutions

A constantly shifting landscape where the nature of the problem itself and potential solutions are always changing

This model is the most accurate we have to date. However, it’s also the most difficult to conceptualize and work with.

A variety of terms have been used by safety specialists to describe complex STS theory applied to risk management: Safety Differently, Safety-II, Resilience Engineering, Guided Adaptability, and High Reliability Organizations, among others.

Books exploring risk management through complex STS theory

A panoply of terms has been employed in efforts to impose order and structure on the idea of complex systems:

Perhaps the best-known model, however, is the “AcciMap” approach, developed by the Danish professor Jens Rasmussen, whose pioneering work in nuclear safety has been adapted for experiential/adventure travel and other contexts.

Rasmussen saw different levels at which safety could be influenced:

Government, which can pass and enforce safety laws;

Regulators and industry associations, such as the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and Canadian Avalanche Association, which can establish detailed standards;

Organizations, like individual adventure tourism operators, which can establish sound operating policies to manage risk;

Managers, such as adventure tourism company directors, who can develop work plans that incorporate good safety planning;

Line staff, for example wilderness guides, who perform day-to-day activities with prudence and due care, and 

Work tasks, such as running a rock climbing site, which have been designed to have minimal inherent risks.

AcciMap adapted from: Risk Management In a Dynamic Society: A Modelling Problem. Jens Rasmussen, Safety Science 27/2-3 (1997)

Rasmussen gave the example of a motor vehicle accident in which a tanker truck rolled, spilling its contents and polluting a water supply. The analysis identified causal factors at all levels–government, regulators/associations, the transportation company, personnel, and work tasks–that contributed to the incident.

Rasmussen’s AcciMap of a motor vehicle accident leading to water pollution.

But AcciMap, and the AcciMap variants that have evolved over the years, are far from the only models which seek to represent complex sociotechnical systems theory applied to risk management. 

For instance, the Functional Resonance Analysis Method models complex socio-technical systems in an intricate web of interconnecting influences. Primarily used in large industrial applications, it’s less likely to be useful for safety management in the wilderness travel or outdoor adventure context.

FRAM: Too abstruse for the adventure tourism context

The Risk Domains Model

A model exists, however, that adapts the complex sociotechnical systems elements of AcciMap and similar frameworks, and applies them to the contexts of adventure tourism and related experiential,  wilderness, outdoor and travel programs.

This is the Risk Domains model, pictured below.

Here we can see eight “direct risk domains:”

Safety culture

Activities & program areas

Participants

Subcontractors (vendors/providers)

Transportation

Business administration

Each of these areas holds certain risks.  For example, a mountain site in winter may have avalanche risk. The participant domain brings risks of clients who, for instance, who are poorly trained in safety practices, fail to follow safety directions, or who are medically unsuitable for an activity. Subcontractors may cut safety corners. 

In addition, there are four “underlying risk domains:”

Outdoor Industry

Here, we see that sound government regulation can support good safety outcomes; a society that values safety and human life encourages good safety practices; industry associations like the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India and the Adventure Travel Trade Association can provide important support for good risk management, and large corporations that feel a civic responsibility will not impede the government’s capacity to enforce sensible safety regulation.

Risks in any of these domains can combine to directly or indirectly lead to an incident, as we see illustrated in the web of interconnections between each risk domain and an ultimate incident.

Managing risks within the context of the Risk Domains model has two components.

First, in each risk domain, risks are identified that may apply to an organization.

For example, an adventure tourism company may recognize that it must intentionally develop a positive safety culture each season with its new-to-the-organization guides, so that staff do not get carried away with their enthusiasm for adventure and put themselves or their clients unnecessarily at risk.

And adventure travel operators may need to invest in business administration-related protections to secure medical form confidentiality, protect against embezzlement or other theft, and guard against ransomware and other IT risks.

Policies, procedures, values and systems should be instituted to bring the risks that have been identified in each risk domain as potentially present, down to a socially acceptable level.

Policies might include, for example, a rule that safety briefings are held before each activity, or that incident reports are generated after all non-trivial incidents.

Procedures might include how and when to scout rapids on a whitewater paddling expedition, or belaying practices while climbing with clients.

Values might include, for instance, the value that safety is important, and should be taken seriously.

And systems might include medical screening, guide training, or a system for assessing suitability of subcontractors (providers).

The idea is not to bring risks to zero—that would paralyze any outdoor adventure experience—but to bring them to a level where, if an incident occurs, then stakeholders (such as next of kin, incident survivors, news media, and regulators) understand that reasonable precautions were taken against reasonably foreseeable harms, even though an incident did occur, as is inevitably the case from time to time.

Risk Management Instruments

In addition to instituting specific policies, procedures, values and systems to maintain identified risks in all relevant risk domains at a socially acceptable level, there are broad-based tools, or instruments, that can be applied to manage risks across multiple or all risk domains at the same time.

This is the second component in the Risk Domains model for managing risks.

These risk management instruments are:

Risk Transfer

Incident Management

Incident Reporting

Incident Reviews

Risk Management Committee 

Medical Screening

Risk Management Reviews

Media Relations

Documentation

Accreditation 

Seeing Systems

Risk Management Instruments, which can manage risks across multiple risk domains

Risk Transfer refers to the presence of insurance policies, subcontractors who assume risk, and risk transfer documents like liability waivers.

Incident Management refers to having a documented and practiced plan for responding to emergencies.

Incident Reporting means documenting safety incidents and their potential causes, analyzing incidents individually and in the aggregate, and then developing and disseminating responses (in the form of revised training materials, safety reports, new policies, etc.) to respond to the incidents, and the trends and patterns they illuminate.

Incident Reviews means having a process for the formal review of major incidents , by internal or external review teams.

Risk Management Committee indicates a group of individuals, including those from outside the organization, who have relevant subject matter expertise, and who can provide resources and unbiased guidance.

Medical Screening refers to structures to ensure that participants and staff are medically well-matched to their circumstances.

Risk Management Reviews are formal, periodic analyses of the organization’s safety practices.

Media Relations refers to staff who have the training and materials to work effectively with newsmedia in the case of a newsworthy safety incident.

Documentation refers to written or other guidance that records what should be done (e.g. in the form of field staff handbooks or employee manuals), and what has been done (e.g. incident reports, SOAP notes, check-offs, and training sign-in sheets).

Accreditation refers to recognition by an authoritative body, such as the Association for Experiential Education, that widely accepted industry standards have been met. 

Seeing Systems refers to employing complex sociotechnical systems theory in the design and implementation of adventure tourism safety practices.

Together, the application of policies, procedures, values and systems to manage identified risks, along with the use of broadly effective risk management instruments to address risks across many risk domains, can help an outdoor adventure program maintain risks not to exceed a socially acceptable level.

Sidebar: Limitations of Risk Assessments

At this point, we’ve explored some of the history about safety thinking, and a progression of models that attempt to represent why incidents occur, and by extension, how they might be prevented.

We’ve focused on the Risk Domains model, which is a relatively easy-to-use framework designed explicitly for outdoor adventure and related organizations.

We talked about how one aspect of the Risk Domains model is, within each risk domain, identifying specific risks that an organization may face, and instituting policies, procedures, values and systems to manage those risks such that they do not to exceed a socially acceptable level.

This involves performing a risk assessment: identifying risks, classifying them by probability and severity, and then establishing appropriate risk mitigation measures.

This is known as a Probabilistic Risk Assessment, or PRA. 

With PRAs, a spreadsheet lists risks, and the probability and severity of each:

The risks least likely to be encountered, and with the mildest consequences (in green, below), are likely to be accepted.

The risks most likely to be experienced, and which may have significant negative impacts (in red), are likely to be eliminated, or significantly reduced.

We see this model in the international standard for risk management, ISO 31000. Here, risks are identified, classified, and treated. 

Let’s take a moment to look more closely at this PRA process. 

While risk assessments are very common across many industries—and, on some level, people perform risk assessments constantly, in their daily life—they do have limitations.

The core limitation is that risk assessments are a relatively simplistic approach to understanding and mitigating potential risks. This means that they are relatively ineffective, unless coupled with more advanced approaches for managing risk—specifically, those approaches informed by complex sociotechnical systems theory.

PRAs typically assess only direct, immediate risks from specific activities, locations or populations, such as weather, traffic hazards, and equipment failure.

They typically fail to account for underlying risk factors such as poor safety culture, financial pressures, deficits in training and documentation, or lack of regulatory oversight.

They also typically fail to account for human factors in error causation: cognitive biases and cognitive shortcuts (heuristics).

Finally, they typically fail to consider systems effects: how multiple risks interact in complex and unpredictable ways that lead to incidents.

Simply put, reliance on PRAs as a principal risk management tool does not correlate with what research in complex socio-technical systems and human factors in error causation tell us about how incidents occur. They are therefore ineffective as a comprehensive risk management tool or a stand-alone indicator of good risk management.

Outdoor safety researchers Clare Dallat et al. note that the research suggests “…current risk assessment practice is not consistent with contemporary models of accident causation.”

This is not a problem for organizations that couple risk assessments with other components of an overall safety system. But for organizations that have a culture which places risk assessments as the leading tool for managing risk, there is a failure to use the best and most current thinking around incident prevention.

Applying Contemporary Safety Science to Adventure Tourism Operations

There are three specific areas we’ll look at as we consider how to take what we’ve discussed so far about safety science, and apply it to the world of adventure tourism organizations and related travel,  wilderness, outdoor education/recreation and experiential programs.

Risk Assessments,

Safety Culture, and 

Systems Thinking.

Safety Science Applied to Adventure Tourism: Risk Assessments

We now recognize that risk assessments have an important role to play in identifying and mitigating relatively obvious and front-line risks, as long as PRAs are not seen as the predominant method for managing risk.

An adventure tourism operator that appreciates the value of examining straightforward and relatively predictable risks, but which also recognizes that additional steps must be taken to guard against incidents that spring from unanticipated combinations of risk factors, balances appropriate use of risk assessments with systems-informed safety practice.

Safety Science Applied to Adventure Tourism: Safety Culture

Culture, as you recall, is one of the areas in which risks reside, according to the Risk Domains model described above. But what do we mean by culture? And how does culture relate to safety?

We can define culture as an integrated pattern of individual and organizational behavior, based on shared beliefs and values.

Behavior, then, springs from beliefs and values. Actions are visible; yet, the beliefs and values from which they come are not.

The visible and invisible parts of culture

What, then, do we mean by safety culture?

We can define safety culture as the influence of organizational culture on safety.

More specifically, we can understand safety culture as the values, beliefs, and behaviors that affect the extent to which safety is emphasized over competing goals.

An organization has many legitimate goals—safety among them—which must share, or compete for, resources.

This raises the questions: is our safety culture okay? How do we evaluate our safety culture?

We can assess the safety culture of an organization through seven dimensions: 

Leadership from the top

Culture of Questioning

Collaboration

Effective Communication

Just Culture

Survey instruments exist to help individuals evaluate the quality of their organization’s safety culture. Participants in the 40-hour online training, Risk Management for Outdoor Programs , for example, complete a detailed organizational self-assessment that helps them rate the culture of safety in their workplace. 

An evaluation might identify opportunities for improvement in safety culture. How does an organization—of any size or shape—go about shifting something as abstract as its safety culture, the values and beliefs of its employees, volunteers, customers, and other stakeholders (such as company owners or clients)?

Shifting culture is a change management process. It’s the same general change management process for making any kind of change within any group or team, regardless of the topic or trajectory. 

Changing an institutional culture is not easy. It may be helpful, however, to follow an established change management process, as below:

Here, top leadership repeatedly states the importance of safety. What that looks like is made clear, both in day-to-day actions as well as in the use of systems thinking. 

Time, money, and political capital are needed to build momentum for change.  Appropriate actions should be encouraged, and undesirable ones disincentivized. Finally, a management system to continually evaluate and improve change efforts should be implemented.

One way that outdoor adventure programs can exhibit a positive safety culture can be found in how management responds when an incident occurs.

It can be tempting to, by default, blame the person closest to the incident for causing the problem. 

The guide driving to the trailhead drove around the corner too fast, and skidded off the road, damaging the vehicle. You were told to drive carefully, so this is your fault!

However, this doesn’t account for the fact that management packed the guide’s schedule so tightly that people were in a rush. And the company owner repeatedly drove too fast, including when guides were present. So, who is really to blame?

When in incident occurs, it’s useful to look at the underlying factors that led to the mishap. To avoid unfairly blaming people, and to most effectively identify and address the elements that actually fostered the incident, it’s important to address the causal elements throughout the entire system.

When we focus on what went wrong, rather than who “caused” the problem, we’re practicing Just Culture .

Just Culture empowers people to report incidents, since they won’t fear getting into trouble, and it helps the organization address the actual underlying safety issues that helped bring about the incident.

Safety Science Applied to Adventure Tourism: Systems Thinking

The final area we’ll focus on where contemporary risk management theory and modelling can be applied to outdoor adventure programs is in specific applications of systems thinking. 

There are five principal approaches we’ll consider:

Resilience engineering

Considering all risk domains

Considering all risk management instruments

Considering strategic risks

Employing systems-informed strategic planning

We’ll address each, one by one.

Five ways adventure tourism operators can employ systems thinking in safety management.

#1: Resilience Engineering

Therefore, we need to build into the system a capacity to withstand unanticipated breakdowns, from wherever and whenever they occur, without the system falling apart.

This is the crux of resilience engineering.

There are four principal approaches that adventure tourism companies can take to apply principles of resilience engineering to their programs:

Build In Extra Capacity

Build In Redundancy

Employ an Integrated Safety Culture

Foster Psychological Resilience

Extra Capacity

Extra capacity means having reserves of staff, equipment, transportation options, and so on, so that operations can continue on more or less normally during times of significantly increased demand or reduced supply.

For an outdoor adventure program, this may mean having a staffing structure with standby employees who are ready to step in if one or more persons are unable to perform their duties, for example due to possible COVID-19 exposure.

It may also mean having backup equipment available, in case items are lost, stolen, fall into the crevasse, or the like.

And it means having staff trained to be able to perform at a level higher than what would normally be anticipated. For instance, guides leading a rafting trip in class III water should be comfortable paddling in class IV water. This way, if there is an emergency, personnel are able to effect a rescue without exceeding the level of their own abilities.

Whitewater boating guides should be capable of performing in water one class higher than what they’re running.

Commercial airplanes have multiple flight computers and multiple pilots, so if one stops functioning normally, another is available. This illustrates the principle of redundancy.

Outdoor adventure programs, too, are wise to judiciously use redundancy to build a resilient safety system.

For example, an organization may have multiple ways to identify emerging safety issues: incident report forms, a written report from guides at expedition’s end, feedback systematically gathered from clients, periodic safety audits by a third party, and so on.

Wilderness expeditions should have multiple guides per group, so if one leader is incapacitated, the other can perform first aid, rescue, evacuation or other functions. Both should be trained in first aid—and for remote expeditions, clients should be trained in basic first and CPR as well, if guides are simultaneously injured.

Multiple telecom devices should be available to communicate in an emergency. If the radios aren’t working, a cell or satellite phone will come in handy.

And, as a final example, multiple evacuation options should be available from a wilderness destination, so if one trail is too close to the rapidly expanding wildfire, an alternate route is pre-identified.

Integrated Safety Culture

Integrated safety culture, as we discussed above, means balancing rules-based safety with allowing personnel to use their judgment.

Integrated safety culture employs policy and procedures, but also the flexibility to adapt to unpredictable changes.

Psychological Resilience

When a crisis occurs, individuals may rise to the occasion, drawing on previously unknown wells of inner strength, grit, and perseverance.

In other cases, during an emergency, individuals may freeze, flee, or quit.

Outdoor adventure companies that find ways to recruit, hire, train and retain staff who have a positive attitude towards challenge can position themselves so that when a major stress occurs to the organization’s safety system, staff dig in and work hard to resolve the problem, even in the face of great challenge and uncertainty.

Resilient staff can make all the difference in a crisis.

#2: Consider all Risk Domains

When a program is considering opening up a new activity (for example, a climbing-focused company expanding into river rafting trips), a new location (say, the first trips to Costa Rica or Sri Lanka), or a new population (e.g. older persons on luxury international excursions), it’s apt to ensure whether all parts of the organization are fully prepared.

Does the marketing team have accurate promotional materials? Are liability waivers updated to allow for informed consent to new risks? Are staff training checkoffs updated for the new location? Do logistics staff have all the equipment ready to go?

In addition, all domains should be considered when conducting incident reviews and risk management reviews (safety audits). And when incident reports are evaluated, and recommendations made for safety improvements based on evaluation results, all domains should be considered when creating those recommendations.

#3: Consider All Risk Management Instruments 

#4: Consider Strategic Risks

Demographic, market and social shifts may slowly reduce program attendance and financial sustainability over time. A trend away from outdoor recreation towards electronic entertainment, for instance, may over time degrade viability of adventure tourism organizations.

Likewise, political and geopolitical concerns can influence the viability of an outdoor adventure program. Politically-driven pandemic mismanagement can restrict tourist travel; authoritarianism and civil unrest can make international travel destinations unattractive.

Finally, the global climate crisis is an exemplar of a strategic risk affecting adventure tourism. Outdoor adventure programs have been harmed by the climate emergency in myriad ways: from wildfires and smoke closing recreation spaces, to increased risk from flooding, and much more. This is widely anticipated to get worse for decades.

Strategic risks—from electronic entertainment replacing outdoor adventures, to geopolitical tension and climate change—can threaten the sustainability of adventure tourism operations.

Although smaller programs likely don’t have much capacity to engage in a detailed review of these strategic risks, all outdoor adventure organizations are wise to pay attention to long-term threats to their viability, as resources permit.

#5: Systems-Informed Strategic Planning

We often tend to hear what we want to hear (confirmation bias). And we sometimes unconsciously avoid asking ourselves about difficult issues with no easy resolution, such as contemplating shutting down a beloved program due to increasing safety risks.

There are a variety of ways in which organizations can approach an issue—such as safety—in ways that help teams think lucidly and creatively about the issue, unhindered by bias or inaccurate assumptions (heuristics).

One of these that has been used successfully in the outdoor adventure program context is the process of visualizing a hypothetical catastrophe that has occurred at the program. Individuals then brainstorm ideas about why this critical incident occurred. Recommendations are generated, and can be put into place—before any catastrophe actually occurs.

This method of visualizing a fictional catastrophe and identifying preventive measures is known as a “ pre-mortem .”

Steps in the process of visualizing catastrophe, or “pre-mortem”

With one outdoor adventure organization, following the death by lightning of a trip leader, the CEO gathered staff together and asked, “Who is the next person who is going to die? How will they be killed?”

The staff group, which had representatives from all levels of the organization, from entry-level to executive, was able to bring up a number of potential safety issues that had never been raised before, as there had never been a suitable forum in which to discuss them. 

Conclusion and Further Resources

What happened following the tragic death of a climber in the avalanche incident in the Canadian Rockies?

In additional to the devastating impact on the person who died, and her family and loved ones, the incident deeply affected survivors and the Canadian mountain guiding industry—and continues to do so.

So many things were done right in the days and moments leading up to the avalanche. No clear and widely accepted conclusions have been established as to how the incident could definitively have been prevented. Further investigation or thought, however, may lead to additional clarity.

A report on the incident published by the ACMG recommended making additional time for companion rescue training prior to climbing in avalanche terrain. 

The report also identified the value in increased information-sharing about hazards specific to particular ice climbs, and an effort involving Avalanche Canada to that end is underway.  

A variety of technical and non-technical concerns were also raised by a survivor of the avalanche.

The complexity of dealing with the psychological needs of survivors became clear post-incident, as did the need for additional resources for small adventure tourism operators to be better able to address this complex set of needs. While this cannot prevent a future avalanche incident, the ACMG has invested in developing and disseminating long-term accident response resources, which can reduce the immense psychological toll often experienced by survivors and those involved in a critical incident. Other changes at the ACMG are ongoing. A support network, Mountain Muskox , was also established to provide skilled psychological support for those involved in critical incidents in the mountains. 

Many outdoor adventure programs have an enviable safety record, stretching back for years. But a positive history is not a guarantee of future success. 

As the field of safety science matures, advances in risk management theories and modelling are made. These new resources can and should be employed by adventure tourism operators, to the extent possible. 

We’ve seen how safety science has evolved over the last 100 years from simplistic linear models of incident causation, to seeing incidents as springing unpredictably out of a complex system involving people and technology—complex sociotechnical systems.

We’ve looked at a variety of models that attempt to illuminate this theory, AcciMap being a leading framework. The Risk Domains model provides a systems-based representation of how incidents occur, customized for adventure tourism organizations and similar outdoor and experiential programs.

And we’ve identified several ways that adventure tourism organizations can apply the best current thinking in risk management to practical ways for improving safety. 

These include:

Using risk assessments in their proper role, without over-relying on them

Building and sustaining a positive culture of safety

Incorporating systems thinking into adventure tourism program safety by:

Applying resilience engineering ideas, such as extra capacity, redundancy, integrated safety culture and psychological resilience, to outdoor adventure programming;

Considering all risk domains when managing risks;

Considering the use of all applicable risk management instruments;

Considering strategic risks, such as demographic shifts, political concerns and climate change, and 

Using systems-informed strategic planning to generate creative safety solutions.

For More Information

Other opportunities exist for continued learning about how adventure tourism enterprises can protect their participants, their staff, their organization and the community at large.

More information about the systems thinking ideas here can be found in the textbook Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure .

A 40-hour online course, delivered over one month, provides an opportunity to explore these topics in greater depth, and to develop a systems-informed safety improvement plan customized for one’s own program. This class, Risk Management for Outdoor Programs , delivers a thorough and detailed training in best practices in risk management for adventure tourism organizations and related travel, experiential and outdoor programs. 

A textbook and Risk Management for Outdoor Programs training provide additional resources

Adventure tourism operators can offer thrilling and fulfilling experiences that provide the memories of a lifetime. The value these experiences bring to satisfied and delighted clients are clear. And so too is our responsibility to keep abreast of advances in risk management that can help adventure tourism programs provide exciting and successful outdoor experiences with excellence in quality and risk management. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Baierlein is the director of Viristar , a consultancy providing risk management and other services to outdoor and experiential programs.

The best seller used by outdoor programs across the country as a resource and textbook. 

Available in paperback, E-book, and now as an Audiobook at Amazon.com

Travel Industry Today

Pushing boundaries, facing risks: the surge of adventure tourism.

The catastrophic implosion of the submersible Titan in June during an expedition to view the Titanic wreckage 4,000 metres below the ocean’s surface not only led to the deaths of all five people aboard but also called attention to the rise in adventure tourism.

Before the pandemic, people were more content with traditional tourist activities. Walking along the Seine in Paris, going to art galleries, lying on the beach, historically were the go-to types of vacation activities. But now activities that were not on most tourists’ radar are increasingly competing with traditional tourism pursuits.

The main difference between traditional tourism and extreme or adventure tourism lies in the level of risk involved. Traditional tourism typically includes visiting popular tourist destinations, staying in comfortable accommodations, and participating in leisure activities like sightseeing, shopping, and dining.

In contrast, adventure tourism usually involves higher-risk activities that are more physically challenging and mentally stimulating. Examples include hiking or trekking, wildlife watching, snorkeling, safaris, and cycling. Extreme tourism examples include bungee jumping, whitewater rafting and mountain climbing. The emerging frontier of adventure travel also includes space tourism where groups like Virgin Galactic are already sold out for when they start flying later in the year and some marine life tourism and sustainable tourism.

All of these examples feature greater interactivity. For many tourists, it’s no longer enough to simply see things; rather they want all their senses stimulated in an immersive and engaging experience. In response, many tourism providers offer interactive experiences, such as guided tours, cultural workshops and adventure activities that allow travelers to participate actively in their surroundings.

Adventure tourism has been growing steadily in popularity and, following a pandemic pause in travel, it has exploded over the last couple of years. For example, African safaris have seen the fastest growth (among Global Rescue members), jumping over 70% from last year. Hiking and camping trips are up nearly 50% and demand for on- and off-road motorcycle tours is spiking. In the spring of 2023, the Nepalese government issued a record number of climbing and trekking permits for Mount Everest.

Exact growth figures are difficult to identify but it’s estimated that the industry has grown by up to 15% annually. With an increase in riskier traveller activities, there are also questions about safety. Statistics on accidents and fatalities in traditional tourism and extreme adventure tourism can vary depending on the specific activities and locations involved, but there’s no question that the risks that travellers take are more significant than they were in the past.

In general, extreme adventure tourism activities have a higher risk of accidents and fatalities compared to traditional tourism activities. According to a study published in the Journal of Travel Research, extreme adventure tourism activities have a fatality rate of approximately 0.14 deaths per 100,000 participants, while traditional tourism activities have a fatality rate of approximately 0.03 deaths per 100,000 participants.

Global Rescue is projecting a record number of rescues in Nepal this year, including on Mount Everest, partly due to the high volume of mountaineers in the area, but more significantly due to many climbers and trekkers embarking on journeys that are beyond their physical capabilities. Rescues of climbers from Mount Everest have been necessary for years, but they have become more common as access to the tallest mountain in the world improves.

Rescue operations can be very expensive. Traditional travel insurance policies may not cover extreme adventure tourism activities since they are usually considered high-risk activities that are beyond the scope of standard insurance coverage. Most traditional travel insurance policies have exclusions for activities like scuba diving, paragliding, and mountaineering. Individuals facing a medical emergency who do not have rescue and medical evacuation protection can incur costs of up to $300,000 or more. With medevac protection services, the cost to the individual is zero.

(Dan Richards is CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, a leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services. He currently serves on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce, is an Ambassador for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, and a Global Member of the WTTC).

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Why Does Anyone Risk Their Lives for Adventure Travel?

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Despite all the risks, humans keep trying to get to the deepest reaches of the ocean and the peaks of the highest mountains, while treading on others and Mother Nature. 

On June 18, five adventurers set out on a dangerous mission: to dive down to the wreckage of the Titanic Wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

They traveled in a submersible named Titan , operated by OceanGate, an American expeditions company, and helmed by its CEO, Stockton Rush. Unfortunately, the Oceangate Titan  never reached its destination and lost contact with the mother ship an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, launching a days-long, expensive search and rescue effort that captivated the world. When the news of the submersible’s implosion surfaced–which killed all onboard–it brought on critical commentary about the vessel’s design.

Social media was abuzz with comparisons between the way the media covered this disaster and the refugee boat that capsized off the coast of Greece . Both sets of groups knowingly embarked on an extremely risky endeavor: one, a resource-rich group wishing to be among the elite few to set eyes on the Titanic wreckage; the other, a group fleeing wartime strife and political instability in their regions.

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When necessity or fear is removed from the equation, it begs many questions as to why anyone would willingly engage in such dangerous activities. Is it Western culture’s emphasis on individualism and success? The innate human need for new and exciting things? A perpetuation of the colonial narrative of “exploration” and “discovery”? Sheer privilege?

It is a combination of all of the above.

Adventure tourism not only puts an individual at risk but often endangers others in communities and can pose threats to the environment. It can also be a force for good when done with respect for people and the planet. But to do better means having an understanding of the human psyche, societal expectations, and the colonialistic influences that continue to fuel the booming adventure tourism industry. It’s also important to endorse and implement adventuring in a way that is better for ourselves, others, and the world.

Behind the Human Desire for Adventure

Adventure tourism is loosely defined as physically demanding and adrenaline-pumping activities such as mountaineering, skydiving, spelunking, and freediving. Some softer adventure activities like kayaking, hiking, skiing, or other immersions in nature are also often included. Adventure tourism often encompasses cultural immersion, a way of traveling to places to learn about lifestyles and customs–not our own.

While many adventure tourism activities are considered safe, some activities pose inherent threats. Many have perished attempting to climb Mt. Everest, including around 17 this year , the deadliest in history. Even seemingly safe expeditions like cruising to Antarctica can be perilous. Four U.S. citizens died during last year’s sailings to the icy continent. But that’s not stopping scores of ambitious mountaineers lining up to ascend the tallest mountain or dreamers hoping to cross the seventh continent off their bucket lists.

Humans have engaged in some form of adventure since time immemorial. Hunters and gatherers embarked on arduous voyages to find habitable places. This desire to explore new territories and conquer challenges is rooted in our nature and various psychological factors, says Dr. LeMeita Smith , Ph.D., LPC, NCC, Director of Clinical Services at United Health Services and Psychological Advisor at Tarotoo.

First, it’s the idea of novelty-seeking, as we as a species continually look for new and exciting experiences. “Adventure tourism offers the opportunity to break away from routine and seek out thrilling, unfamiliar environments,” says Dr. Smith. “The sense of adrenaline and the unknown can be highly appealing to individuals seeking a sense of excitement and personal growth.”

Secondly, the desire to “be the first” and achieve great feats is linked to a sense of achievement and status, according to Dr. Smith. “In certain privileged groups, such as cisgender, white, wealthy males, societal expectations and cultural norms may place an emphasis on competition and individual success.” Pushing the limits to reach certain destinations and complete hard-to-achieve quests provides a sense of validation and accomplishment.

It’s important to note that not all individuals who engage in adventure tourism have the same motivations. They may be seeking personal growth, a connection with nature, or to simply liberate themselves from the mundane, shares Dr. Smith.

Colonial Influences

One major influence outside of the human psyche that shaped adventure tourism is colonialism. During the European Age of Exploration, from the late 15th to the 18th century, explorers set out in pursuit of “new” lands to claim and make their own. Dr. Smith believes it’s the same mindset that can be seen in some individuals who approach adventure tourism today. “The desire to conquer and exert dominance over nature or unfamiliar landscapes may reflect a subconscious continuation of colonialist ideologies.”

Adventure tourism, according to Cameron Temple, Director of The Luxury Chalet Company , an online luxury ski travel agency based in London, is a continuation of a “deeply entrenched and unequal balance of power and wealth between Western nations and the rest of the world.” Our history books hail the explorers of the past as heroes, men of stamina who were willing to push the boundaries, he continues. “Yet the reality of this age of discovery lays bare Europe’s bloody colonial past.”

With almost every corner of the planet “discovered,” extreme and risky adventure sports became the new frontier for those in privileged groups, specifically affluent white men , who have the time and money to pay for it . The rare opportunity and bragging rights to be able to see the Titanic wreckage is one such risky endeavor that appealed to an extremely wealthy and adventurous sector. The passengers of the Titan were called “mission specialists,” and they included British Businessman Hamish Harding, father and son duo of Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood, and a French deep-sea explorer known as Mr. Titanic, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, along with the CEO Stockton Rush. The voyage cost passengers a whopping $250,000 each.

“[Adventure sports] offer the wealthy the opportunity to achieve notoriety and prestige in their circles,” states Temple. (It’s worth noting that while adventure tourism isn’t necessarily a billionaire-exclusive endeavor, participants in these activities are, for the most part, starting from a place where, at the very least, their physiological basic needs have been met.)

One of the earlier examples of colonialism’s influence on adventure tourism is summiting Mt. Everest in the Himalayas. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and his Nepali guide, who carried his belongings, Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to stand on the summit of the tallest peak on earth. The use of porters to help carry heavy gear and equipment up the mountain continues to this day.

The idea of “conquering” the mountain, Marinel M. de Jesus, Esq., Founder of Brown Gal Trekker / Equity Global Treks and The Porter Voice Collective says, emanated from back in the day when a warring country sent soldiers to take over resources. “It became a glorified story in travel. It’s like winning a war.” This narrative, unfortunately, still prevails today, not just in mountaineering but in other aspects of travel.

“The brown bodies do the cheap labor. The explorers who came to Nepal to climb have to use bodies to carry stuff. They are utilizing the resources in the country. That’s colonialism,” says ​de Jesus.

Norgay, the original guide and porter, belonged to the community called Sherpa . “It’s an ethnic group. It’s not the name of a working person. They even colonized that idea by just labeling and minimizing it to a person who is working in a mountain,” adds de Jesus.

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Negative Impacts

In the pursuit of adventure, travelers often overlook the impact their activities have on the environment and Native peoples. In the case of the Everest climbers, de Jesus worries about the erasure of local voices and presence, along with a misunderstanding of what these places mean to them. “Everest is a spiritual place, a religious place. It’s a god, a goddess. It was never meant to be climbed.”

The unequal balance of power between the “explorers” and the Sherpa knowledge holders, who rely on income from guiding, forces them to risk their lives. According to Ravi Parikh, Founder of RoverPass , certain adventures force the oppressed majority—a group of people who make up the largest number of the population yet who remain excluded from political, social, and economic power–to do such acts on behalf of the risk-takers. “The lack of proper resources and the systematic exclusion from decision-making results in the majority of the population submitting to the whims and demands of a privileged few. They do not have any options because they need money badly to sustain themselves and are ready to go to any extent to earn it.”

Parikh states adventure tourist activities can also negatively impact the environment. For example, deep sea diving can damage virgin ocean fauna and flora, adversely affect the lives of hundreds of aquatic species, and disturb coral reefs. Even something as simple as rock climbing can disturb animal and bird life.

In the case of heliskiing, where the participant ventures out on a helicopter to find the freshest snow in remote areas, the impact could be even greater, as it contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions and added pressure on the ecosystem. While this footprint is smaller in the grand scheme of things, it nonetheless adds to the climate change problem  when there are alternatives that could cause less damage.

“After heavy snow, almost all of the ski runs throughout a resort become ‘off-piste’ with fresh powder laying on them. It’s untouched snow but without the avalanche warnings and avgas [aviation gasoline] fumes of a helicopter,” says Temple. Additionally, if something were to go wrong on a heliski outing, such as an avalanche, there’s the added cost of search and rescue that’s passed on to the taxpayer.

Leaving Certain Places Alone

The colonial aspect of adventure tourism is even more troublesome as it relates to Indigenous lands and culture. Building tourism infrastructure on the traditional grounds of the first inhabitants destroys the lands and animals that sustain their populations, while the commodification of sacred places and spaces dismisses their values and traditions.

In Wyoming, the sacred site of Devils Tower is the subject of a decades-long conflict between the members of the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Shoshone, and Lakota communities , and technical rock climbers, and the former group requesting climbers stay off the butte that holds spiritual significance during the month of June (when many native members from the Northern Plains Tribes hold ceremonies) and the latter uncooperative.

“We have taken sacred lands like the Black Hills of South Dakota and carved them up into the faces of presidents when there are plenty of non-sacred places we can recreate,” comments Mark Jordahl , a writer, and guide for Natural Habitat Adventures , a responsible tour operator based in Colorado offering conservation focused trips in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund. “Indigenous communities should be able to place some of their most revered sites off limits and have them be only accessible for ceremony, or they could choose to welcome visitors in a way that feels appropriate to them.”

Jordahl believes there should be a component of sacrifice and adventurers willing to give some things up. “I would love to see all tour companies feel a responsibility to coordinate with Indigenous communities that these lands really belong to. That would be the right relationship.”

Thankfully, some things are changing. In October 2019, the sandstone monolith Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock and a popular climbing destination in Australia’s Northern Territory) was officially closed for climbing to respect the land rights of the Anangu people, the area’s traditional owners. The monolith is believed to be more than 600 million years old and holds spiritual significance to the Anangu people. In lieu of climbing, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park now offers a range of cultural experiences and activities for visitors to appreciate the region’s stunning geological formations along with its flora and fauna.

Related: In Australia, ‘Safety’ Is Inhibiting Ecological Processes and Aboriginal Cultural Practices

Benefits of Adventure Tourism Done Right

The Age of Exploration and subsequent expeditions across the globe, despite the unjust exploitation of people and natural resources, gave us a better understanding of the world. Naturalist Charles Darwin went aboard the HMS Beagle as it surveyed the coast of South America, an endeavor that resulted in the Theory of Evolution. “It’s criminal that the main purpose of so many early voyages was to conquer, but a byproduct was learning about species and having accurate maps of the world,” says Jordahl.

Adventure tourism, when done responsibly and intentionally with respect to the people and the planet, is beneficial for all parties. On an individual level, Dr. Smith says it can foster a sense of resilience, provide a platform for self-discovery, and expand one’s horizons. On a community level, it offers economic benefits to the people in the destinations visited.

“The positive outcome of the relationship between adventure tourism and colonialism is that it provides employment and sources of income for the majority [inhabitants] while enabling the minority adventure tourists to get the satisfaction of achieving tasks that are termed challenging otherwise,” says Parikh. Today, despite its dangers, the Sherpa community has gained global recognition and is able to garner significant income by helping trekkers and mountaineers climb Mt. Everest.

For many, seeing the endangered African mountain gorillas is at the top of their bucket lists. Gorilla trekking is indeed expensive (costing as much as $1,500 per person). It’s an activity that attracts privileged groups, but a percentage of the annual income generated from gorilla treks goes directly to the development of the surrounding areas and into the conservation of these magnificent beings.

The mountain gorilla is the only one of the great apes experiencing an increase in population in recent years. “ Tourism is the only reason mountain gorillas still exist ,” says Jordahl, who has led several Natural Habitat Adventures trips to see this endangered species. “If you closed off gorilla tourism entirely, there would be no incentive for Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect them or their forests. I’m proud to be part of a company that focuses on putting money into local economies to ensure they are benefiting from gorilla tourism as well.”

“One of the problems with the early age of exploration and colonization is coming in with a perspective of, ‘what can I get here,’ not a perspective of ‘what can I learn here?’” remarks Jordahl, who hopes a shift to learning can change the approach of adventure travel .

To further decolonize adventure tourism, de Jesus believes there needs to be space created for the local people to be heard. Mainly, she wants travelers to question the narrative. “We need to ask if this is the right way to climb. Is there a better way? And if you want to ask for a better way, start by being curious about how local people see this mountain or this trail or this place.”

When we visit pristine locations, have genuine conversations with people in the places we visit, or come face to face with endangered animals, we become more connected and invested in their survival and success. Hopefully, this engagement influences our everyday lives and actions for the betterment of everyone and a sustainable planet.

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The booming trend of adventure tourism and its environmental impact on popular destinations, by associated press, september 18, 2023.

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In 2022, the adventure tourism market raked in $366.7 billion worldwide. By 2032, experts say it will scale Everest level heights – gaining more than 28% a year to hit $4.6 trillion.

For some people, the idea of vacationing to sit on a beach for two weeks is unappealing. Their bucket lists involve activities that explore the natural world to its fullest, whether hiking in the wilderness, mountain climbing, white water rafting, or cave kayaking.

While this type of tourism is rising, especially among younger generations, over-tourism can create negative environmental impacts. Many are implementing measures to ensure the growing adventure-based tourism industry does not leave a noticeable human footprint behind.

The Threat Of Adventure Tourism On The Environment

"The shift towards sustainable and ecological tourism is a notable change within the industry," says Balaram Thapa, Director of Nepal Hiking Team . "Travelers are progressively aware of their carbon footprint."

The threat of over-tourism has been a growing concern in places like Venice, Italy , where the city put measures in place to limit the number of tourists within the city. The impacts of tourism here have seen a change in the overall culture of the area, pollution levels, and the environment. While this might be seen as progressive, the fundamental reasons people enjoy Venice in the first place are slowly eroding away. In the same way, the growth of adventure tourism can pose similar threats to the natural environments that attract people to them in the first place.

(​MORE: Venice To Add Day-Tripper Tourist Fee In 2024 )

"Adventure tourism poses human threats to the environment, such as disturbed animal habitats, poaching, and death of plants and animals," says Zoe Wallace, Head Travel Author of Culture.org . "It is possible to transfer local plant and animal pathogens and diseases to previously uninfected areas because people carried them through their clothes, bags, and bodies."

Creating awareness about the tourism industry's impact is helping people choose more sustainable travel practices. Wallace says many people on adventure tours will opt for "environmental activities such as forest and shore cleanups."

Demographics Of Adventure Tourism

Many people want to leave their comfort zones and challenge themselves to something more profound than exploring a city's historic sites or lounging by a hotel pool. These people drive the growing adventure tourism industry and come from various backgrounds. Balaram Tharpa of Nepal Hiking Team says there's an emergent over 50s population, "who are becoming more adventurous seeking challenging and rewarding experiences."

Still, travel industry experts notice that younger generations tend to make up most travelers driven toward these more active adventures . This is beneficial because Gen-Z tends to be much more aware of their environmental impact than other generations.

Supporting Local Communities

Finding places that are good for your budget can be very appealing. Still, it's good to remember that many destinations geared towards tourists rely heavily on tourism to keep their economy flourishing. "On one hand, adventure tourism can create jobs, support local businesses and incentivize people to protect natural wonders and resources," says Kristin Kastelic, Marketing Director of the Nantahala Outdoor Center . "On the other hand, it could lead to pollution, littering, and damage to natural habitats. The key to ensuring the impact is more positive than negative is creating awareness of our environmental impact and putting nature at the forefront with a 'Leave No Trace' approach."

(​MORE: Maui Beckons Tourists, And Their Dollars, To Stave Off Economic Disaster After Wildfires )

Popular Adventure Tourism Locations

The world is vast, and the number of destinations to explore and add to your bucket list couldn't be achieved in a lifetime. However, travel industry experts suggest the following places are among the most popular with clients. The last few in the list are less well-known, making them more appealing as destinations not subjected to over-tourism. When adding any of these to your bucket list, it's wise to check out the information around current environmental concerns and see what you can do to help create less impact on your travels.

Queenstown, New Zealand

If you're looking for a place with all the adventure tourism activities rolled into one, this is the place to go. If you're a fan of the Lord of the Rings franchise, you'll already know the staggering scenery, including snow-capped mountains and intricate winding rivers. Queenstown offers various adrenaline-pumping activities, including bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing, jet boating, and whitewater rafting — to name a few.

Nepal has been a favorite of adventure-seekers even before active vacations were a thing. Trekking with a sherpa through the Himalayas has been a goal of many travelers, some with disastrous results — so it's always essential to go with someone who knows what they're doing. Nepal's diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage make it a unique destination for those seeking a thrilling vacation.

Because half the monkey population has depleted because of tourism, travelers must be careful when considering their adventure choices here. With various terrains, this Central American destination offers adventure tourists zip-lining through lush rainforests, whitewater rafting, exploring volcanoes, and surfing. Choose your tour company wisely.

Interlaken, Switzerland

Even the thought of the Swiss Alps is enough to get your adrenaline pumping. Interlaken is a paradise for adventure enthusiasts where you can indulge in activities like paragliding, canyoning, skydiving, and skiing in the winter months.

Banff National Park, Canada

Banff National Park is one of the most famous regions in the world for outdoor enthusiasts in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. With breathtaking scenery, you can engage in hiking, skiing, snowboarding, canoeing, and wildlife spotting.

Iceland has gained much popularity as a vacation destination in the past decade — especially as many of its features gained a worldwide audience in Game of Thrones. Adventure activities include ice cave exploration, glacier hiking, snorkeling between tectonic plates, and exploring volcanic landscapes. The country offers adventurers a unique and thrilling experience with its geothermal wonders and rugged terrain.

Cairns, Australia

Cairns is home to thrilling aquatic and rainforest adventures on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Scuba diving, snorkeling , skydiving, and exploring the lush rainforest on all-terrain-vehicle tours are some of this region's exhilarating activities. The delicate ecosystems here need to be respected, so find groups and guides that encompass this philosophy in their tours.

Cape Town, South Africa

While Cape Town offers the impressive Table Mountain as a backdrop and activities like paragliding, shark cage diving, hiking, and surfing thrive, it's important to remember the impact over-tourism can have here. Explore the scenic coast, conquer mountains, encounter wildlife, and immerse yourself responsibly in the vibrant culture for an unforgettable adventure in this captivating city.

Huacachina, Peru

Located in the desert, Huacachina is a small oasis town surrounded by massive sand dunes. It's an ideal destination for sandboarding and dune buggy rides. While visiting, support local businesses — especially those that prioritize sustainable practices. You can also check out the ancient mystic Nazca lines here — a collection of geoglyphs etched into the soil of the Nazca Desert. Ancient inhabitants crafted these intricate designs between 500 BC and 500 AD.

Faroe Islands

Between Iceland and Norway, you'll find the Faroe Islands. Travelers can hike through scenic villages, go bird watching, or explore the rugged coastline. This location isn't as well known as some other places mentioned — which is good for responsible tourism because instead of having to reduce our footprint, we can take care to leave it as we found it.

This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks .

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Why is extreme ‘frontier travel’ booming despite the risks?

Associate Professor, Tourism and Society, University of Tasmania

Professor, University of Tasmania

Senior lecturer, University of Tasmania

Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Heritage | Co Chair - World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Sustainable Tourism, Western Sydney University

Disclosure statement

Anne Hardy receives funding from the Australian Research Council to (LP 190101116) and the Dutch Research Council (NWA 1435.20.001) and Hurtigruten Australia who provide in-kind support for fieldwork.

Can Seng Ooi presently receives funding from the Australian Research Council to (LP 190101116).

Hanne E.F. Nielsen receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding from partner organisation Intrepid Travel, and DP220103005; the Dutch Research Council (NWA.1435.20.001); and the Australian Antarctic Division. Hurtigruten Australia provide in-kind support for fieldwork.

Joseph M. Cheer presently receives funding from the Australian Research Council (LP190100367) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (22K12588). He is also empanelled to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) for the Pacific Islands from which he receives funding. Joseph is Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council for the Future of Sustainable Tourism and board member of PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association).

University of Tasmania and Western Sydney University provide funding as members of The Conversation AU.

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The world has watched in shock as rescue crews feverishly search for the Titan submersible vehicle, which disappeared while attempting to take tourists to view the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic.

The horror of the incident raises questions as to why people engage in risky tourism activities in remote locations and whether there should be more restrictions to what adrenaline-seeking tourists can do.

What is frontier tourism?

This type of travel, known as “ frontier tourism ”, is becoming big business.

The wider adventure tourism industry is already worth billions of dollars – and is growing quickly. Frontier tourism is an exclusive and extreme form of adventure travel. The trips are very expensive, aim to overstimulate the senses and go to the outer limits of our planet – the deep oceans, high mountains, polar areas – and even space.

Frontier tourism is not new; humans have explored remote locations for millennia. Pasifika people used the stars to navigate the oceans for migration and trade. Europeans sailed to the edges of what they believed to be a flat Earth.

In recent years, however, frontier tourism has attracted widespread attention thanks to the common occurrence of long queues on Mount Everest , the trending TikTok phenomenon of crossing the #DrakePassage in Antarctica and the rapid development of space tourism for the wealthy.

The rise of travel content sharing on social media and revenge travel following COVID-19 have contributed to the surge in its popularity.

Read more: More than 100,000 tourists will head to Antarctica this summer. Should we worry about damage to the ice and its ecosystems?

Why are we so obsessed with extreme forms of tourism?

Risky activities release chemicals in the brain that can be addictive. Research suggests engaging in risky tourism activities, such as scaling a high mountain, can bring about feelings of accomplishment and euphoria. Travellers report feeling alive and experiencing a sense of transformation.

Some are also attracted to the pristine, untouched and remote aspects of the locations that they visit. Furthermore, the element of fantasy associated with imagining certain places or stories, like the movie Titanic, can be alluring.

Besides physical frontiers, there is also the thrill people get at pushing the human body to its limits and facing one’s fears. Base-jumping, skydiving, bungee jumping and polar plunges are common examples of this.

In a slightly more mundane way, even tasting “ scary food ” pushes tourists outside of their comfort zone and helps them feel alive .

Still others make extreme tourist journeys to follow in the footsteps of their heroes , such as those who travel to Antarctica to pay homage to explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Extreme and risky activities not only make participants feel euphoric, but they also convey status. When bucket lists are ticked off and experiences shared on social media, this brings bragging rights. Research suggests many travellers seek recognition for undertaking the first, longest or most extreme experiences possible.

But frontier tourism is clearly not for all. It is usually only accessible to a privileged few, as the tragic circumstances of the Titan highlight. Passengers onboard the vessel reportedly paid US$250,000 for the voyage.

Read more: 70 years after the first ascent of Everest, the impact of mass mountaineering must be confronted

What are the impacts of frontier tourism?

Beyond the unspeakable angst that friends and family must endure when things go wrong, there are many other impacts of this form of tourism.

This type of travel can create environmental harm and negatively impact local communities . For example, after decades of mass mountaineering, the environmental impact on Mount Everest must be addressed.

And when mishaps do occur, the cost of search and rescue efforts can be massive and put rescue teams at great risk. The plight of frontier tourists are usually the focus of media reports, while emergency responders are often overlooked.

Recent efforts by sherpas such as Nimsdai Purja are trying to overcome this issue. Through the Netflix documentary, 14 Peaks, he publicises the behind-the-scene preparations and heavy lifting work done by sherpas who guide and rescue tourists up Everest and other mountains.

Frontier tourism is not going away

Despite tragedies like the Titan disappearance, tourists remain attracted to the quest for the most unique experiences in the most remote, uncharted places.

Tourists also increasingly feel able to embark on trips once perceived as too dangerous because technology and other innovations have ostensibly made them safer and more accessible.

In many instances that danger remains, but the commercial transaction strips away the perceived risks involved. Marketing materials aim to sell “safe” adventures, with the risks are often listed in the fineprint. A polar plunge in Antarctica, for instance, is often marketed as safe because participants are attached to a tether and the swim time is limited to prevent hypothermia.

Two decades ago, in forecasting the growth of space tourism, anthropologist Valene Smith said what tourists want, the industry will provide. This has become a truism, as the Titan voyages demonstrate.

The massive growth of frontier tourism could lead to even greater problems if the industry doesn’t respond in the right way. If travellers are going to expose themselves to extreme risks, whose responsibility is it, then, to ensure their safety and recovery should accidents occur?

Many tourism businesses and travel insurance companies make risks known to their guests. But regulations on disclosing risks differ between countries. These means travellers may have to evaluate the risks themselves, and this is fraught with danger if company standards are low.

One solution is frontier tourism might be best experienced in controlled and safe environments through digital storytelling or augmented and mixed reality . However, this may not be enough to satisfy the adrenaline junkies out there.

As the Titan incident illustrates, the unpredictable nature and unintended consequences of frontier tourism are very real things. While money can allow us to travel almost anywhere, it’s worth considering whether some places should just remain untouched, sacred and off limits completely.

• Space travel
• Adventure tourism
• Antarctic tourism
• Titan submersible

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Global Report on Adventure Tourism

The Global Report on Adventure Travel  offers a thorough, insightful analysis of the current and future adventure travel sector.  It providing  global trends, the current sector structure on a significant growing market, potential benefits, risks and sector challenges.   Additionally, it provides a closer look at the links between the proper management of adventure travel for a sustainable, ethical tourism which contributes effectively to local communities and the environment.

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The pros and cons of adventure tourism

The implosion of the Titan submersible as it plunged 12,500 feet under the sea to view the wreckage of the Titanic, leaving all five people onboard dead, left many asking one question: Is this type of adventure really worth it?

The risks of traveling on the Titan were well-documented. OceanGate, the company that built the submersible, reportedly made participants sign a waiver that mentioned death three times on the first page. OceanGate was also warned by industry experts that the vessel was unsafe. The five travelers still made the trip, and one of the victims, Shazada Dahwood, was "absolutely obsessed" with seeing the Titanic, his sister told NBC News .

Is this type of trip, often called adventure tourism , worth the risk to somebody's life? Do the negatives and risks of climbing a big mountain or trekking through a remote jungle outweigh the positives, or is there something significant to be gained from adventure expeditions?

Pro: People can learn about the world

Adventure tourism — and travel in general — can give people "an opportunity to see the world from a different perspective, form meaningful relationships, and develop new skills," travel writer Emily Lush reported . This type of tourism also lets travelers have "deeper and more meaningful travel experiences," a phenomenon which "has never been more appealing."

Taking on exotic experiences allows people to "broaden their horizons, learn new skills, and appreciate diversity," per a LinkedIn report. For those who haven't traveled often , or at all, adventure tourism can "foster a sense of connection, purpose, and gratitude, as travelers can contribute to social and environmental causes."

Con: It's dangerous

Perhaps the most glaring negative: Adventure tourism can be hazardous, and the "risk for illness and injury with adventure travel is much greater," Christopher Van Tilburg wrote for the CDC's 2024  travel guide . The risk of "illness and injury is a function of two variables: probability and consequence," Van Tilburg added. He noted that adventure tourism destinations "can be remote and lack access to care," and "trips are often goal-oriented, which can cause travelers to exceed safety limits and take increased risks."

This type of tourism is growing among "thrill-seekers looking for an adrenaline rush, pushing the boundaries of conventional travel and, sometimes, of safe travel," Samantha Delouya reported for CNN .

Pro: It can improve your health

Adventure travel, as with any physical activity, can have positive health effects. While some people may just go to the gym, "Wouldn't it be more fun to get your exercise while sailing and soaring through the Alpine Arctic and witnessing some of the planet's awe-inspiring landscapes?" Amanda Wells argued for Quark Expeditions .

There are also reported mental health benefits, as "travel is great for relieving stress and improving your general outlook on life," according to the World Travel and Tourism Council . Physical activities "like walking, hiking, and skiing in scenic areas can help you become more hopeful," the organization added.

Con: It's often expensive

Getting onboard the Titan submersible cost $250,000, and similar expeditions often exist "to provide exclusive, expensive, and dangerous travel itineraries to the world's wealthiest would-be explorers," Spencer Buell reported for The Boston Globe . Even with the clear dangers, "Previously unthinkable treks [have] become more accessible to anyone with deep enough pockets," Buell added.

Despite its high costs, the Titan incident "will not dampen demand for 'extreme' tourism where a rescue is unlikely or even impossible," Dr. Adele Doran, principal lecturer in adventure tourism and recreation at Sheffield Hallam University, told Insider .

Pro: It can boost local economies

Adventure travel can prop up smaller economies, helping "free developing countries from downward-spiraling cycles of human poverty and environmental degradation," Kim Joyce reported for USA Today . The promotion of adventure expeditions "improves the community's social and economic health , and elevates community morale —which can lead to more opportunities for investment."

Local economies can be improved "in many ways, from hosting travel groups, to support services such as food and transportation," Elizabeth Sobiski added for The Arizona Republic . This can be especially prevalent in economically depressed areas, where "jobs in transporting, housing, feeding, and entertaining visitors are created."

Con: It can negatively impact the environment

Adventure tourism — and tourism of all types — can result in "pollution and littering, as well as damage to natural habitats. It can also cause problems for locals, who may feel they are being taken advantage of or threatened," Iqbal Uddin Abbasi wrote for LinkedIn .

There are also " environmental hazards associated with adventure tourism activities such as kayaking, rappelling, and scuba diving," Abassi added. These hazards have increased as a result of a changing planet, and the "impacts of climate change mean we need to keep our eyes more open to respond to the changes, and keep reviewing our risk assessments," Christina Beckmann, a climate expert with the Adventure Travel Trade Association, told BBC News .

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What is adventure tourism and why is it so big?

Adventure tourism is big, it’s exciting, it’s fun…. but what actually is it? In this article I will teach you all about this exciting type of tourism, what the history behind adventure tourism is, what the different types of adventure tourism are and what amazing examples of this type of tourism there are around the world. Ready to learn more? Read on…

What is adventure tourism?

History of adventure tourism, hard adventure tourism, soft adventure tourism, hard adventure tourism activities , soft adventure tourism activities , adventure tourism in india, adventure tourism in iceland, adventure tourism in costa rica, adventure tourism in new zealand, benefits of adventure tourism, disadvantages of adventure tourism, adventure tourism: additional reading.

Adventure tourism is tourism that involves any kind of activity or adventure. It especially relates to those that involve risk, or requires extensive planning. The Adventure Travel Trade Association defines it as a tourist activity that includes physical activity, cultural exchange, or activities in nature .  Meanwhile, Sung et al describe it as: the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interactions of adventure touristic activities with the natural environment away from the participant’s usual place of residence area and containing elements of risk in which the outcome is influenced by the participation, setting, and the organizer of the tourist’s experience . HH Sung is an academic who has researched this branch of tourism in great detail.

Ultimately, adventure tourism is all about ADVENTURE! It is a pretty broad term really and many would argue that it is subjective (what I deem to be adventure, you may not). Nonetheless, this is a big part of the tourism industry and whilst it is an example of niche tourism , the sector is growing fast! There are lots of types of activities and types of travel that come under the umbrella term of adventure tourism and I will outline these for you shortly.

Of course, people have been travelling for centuries- the history of tourism is a long and fruitful one! Over the years travel evolved into tourism (travel for travel’s sake) and now we can see many different branches of tourism.

We can trace the roots of adventure tourism specifically back to perhaps as early as 569 AD when Alboin, king of the Lombards, climbed Matajur in the Alps . Adventure tourism is all about doing something with a bit of risk, and putting planning into it. We don’t know how much preparation Alboin put into this expedition or whether it was some sort of off the cuff climb – but it can still be seen as an early example of adventure tourism. Climbing mountains at this time was generally a practical or symbolic activity. It was usually done for economic, political, or religious reasons.

However, in the 1800s, adventurers pushed the limits more and more. It became a formal sport, and people did it for fun. Other adventurous activities such as caving, river-rafting, abseiling and gorge walking emerged as a fun way to pass the time. As people got more into them, these activities formed part of adventure tourism. Organisations such as Nat Geo and also The Explorers Club, as well as Boy Scouts and Girl Guides  to an extent, were established. These have always promoted and supported adventure tourism.

In recent years consumer desires have evolved and many people have/are moving away from the traditional sun, sea and sand package holiday model and instead seeking alternative experience. There are a wide range of types of tourism that people are embracing more and more nowadays, and one example is adventure tourism. There are more adventure tourism companies including travel agents and tour operators who specialise in this field than there have ever been before.

Types of adventure tourism

Adventure tourism can be split into two ‘types’. These are hard and soft. I will explore the differences below…

As the name suggests, hard adventure tourism refers to activities which are typically more high-risk. They require intense training, changes in diet, lots of practice, a guide and so on.

Soft adventure activities are the opposite – much less risky, and don’t require the long-term commitment that hard adventure tourism activities often would. They often are led by a guide, but you can do this sort of thing without. Generally these are much more popular, as they are easier activities and (as mentioned) have a much lower risk.

Adventure tourism activities

There are so many activities which come under the umbrella of adventure tourism. Whether you travel simply for the purpose of undertaking this adventure or decide to incorporate it into your trip, if you have done any of these then you are officially an adventure traveller! I’ll split them into hard and soft as above. Activities like skydiving are something you can do in most places, as long as the weather allows – skiing, however, requires specific conditions and plenty of hills.

• Mountaineering/mountain climbing
• Ice Climbing
• Rock climbing
• Trekking/intense hiking
• Free diving
• Extreme biking
• Birdwatching
• SCUBA diving
• Horse riding
• Kayaking/rafting
• Orienteering
• Hiking (gentle)
• Snorkelling
• Snowboarding
• Eco-tourism

Adventure tourism destinations

You can enjoy adventure tourism activities in pretty much any destination. There are some more than others, however, which are better set up for this branch of tourism.

Adventure tourism is a big deal in India . This diverse and spectacular country has so much to offer – and one of the big draws here is hiking and trekking. There are plenty of incredible places to hike in India. Gentle hikes/treks are a form of soft adventure tourism, while some more intense treks and hikes can fall into the hard category. Uttarakhand is one of the best places to hike in India; the ‘Roopkund trek’ is a famous trek around Roopkund Lake, which is surrounded by hundreds of human skeletons! 

Other examples of adventure tourism in India include surfing in Kovalam, skiing in Auli and white water rafting in Rishikesh.

Beautiful Iceland is one of the most popular places for visiting the Northern Lights. This in itself is a bit of an adventure, but there are all sorts of other things you can do which come under this branch of tourism. You can snorkel or scuba dive in Silfra Fissure, for example, or go inside a dormant volcano at Thrihnukagigur.

It is impossible to be bored in a place like Costa Rica. The country has so much to offer, and is an example of somewhere that to most of us (no matter where you come from) is pretty exotic. Head deep into the jungle on your adventure to see some colourful wildlife; visit the Costa Rica volcanoes and cloud forests ; go rafting and hiking and ziplining and so much more. You can book 10-day trips that encompass all of these things, or you could stay somewhere peaceful and relax for the majority of your holiday, opting to book a one-day tour for some adventure.

Said by some to be the home of adventure tourism, New Zealand is a must for anyone considering this type of trip. With so much space and such a sparse population , is it any wonder that this lovely little country is home to so much adventure? Admire the views from up high by skydiving in many different locations, or raft on the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world in Rotorua! From caving to off-road driving to heli-skiing, there is so much choice in New Zealand.

There are many benefits when it comes to adventure tourism. One huge benefit is simply that it is so much fun. Trying something new, or doing something you already enjoy, is a brilliant way to spend your time while travelling. Gaining a new skill or honing the one you’ve been learning for ages – it’s such a sense of achievement. This is particularly true for activities that require physical hard work such as skiing, or training like mountain climbing.

Adventure tourism is growing fast, and with that comes job creation. This is a definite benefit of any type of tourism. Jobs are created for guides and instructors, for people who work in the booking department of tourism companies, for people working in hotels or restaurants in areas that people may not visit otherwise. All of this means the economy is growing and the industry is thriving, resulting in positive economic impacts of tourism . Local communities are supported by all forms of tourism. This is no exception!

Due to the rise in the popularity of ecotourism and the ongoing conversations around sustainability, adventure tourism companies are often dedicated to protecting the environment. Though it may seem like these activities could be harmful, they are often not. This is because companies ensure the activities they offer are respectful of the planet too. It also allows more people to fall in love with the outdoors.

There are some disadvantages to adventure tourism too. Nothing is black and white, of course, and points on both sides are incredibly nuanced. While these activities are a fun chance to try something new, they can be dangerous. Hard adventure tourism activities are considered high-risk. Many will require you to sign a disclaimer (like skydiving) and for some you need months if not years of training. Most insurance companies won’t cover you either. To climb Mount Everest, for example, you need a permit – with the fees on top, this will set you back around $20,000 before you even buy equipment. There are strict criteria you need to meet to be granted one, too.

And even though many adventure tourism companies are looking out for the planet, individuals often are not. There is no guarantee that visitors will always be respectful of the local environment. From standing on things they shouldn’t to the classing dropping litter, there are many negatives that we can see from an increased footfall.

There may also be cultural and social impacts. With more visitors, locals may see some sort of loss of their cultural heritage over time. This can be devastating. With more tourists in place, especially during peak season, peoples’ roles in society naturally change. The status quo is affected.

Now that you are well-informed about thew adventure tourism industry, you may want to learn more about these tourism industries too-

• Rural tourism explained: What, where and why
• What is glamping and how does it work?
• What is ‘begpacking’ and why is it so bad?
• What is sustainable tourism and why does it matter?
• Volunteer tourism: Everything you need to know

Adventure Tourism – Definitions, History, Types, Characteristics & Features, or Importance

Adventure tourism is defined as the movement of the people from one to another place outside their comfort zone for exploration or travel to remote areas, exotic and possibly hostile areas. Adventure tourism is a type of tourism in which tourist do some adventures activities like as skydiving, hill climbing, scuba diving.

Adventure tourism is very popular among young age tourists. Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing the tourists to step outside their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing cultural shock or through the performance of acts, that required some degree of risk (real or perceived) and physical danger.

Adventure travel is a leisure activity that takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness destination . It tends to be associated with high levels of activity by the participant, most of it outdoors.  Adventure travelers expect to experience various level of risk, excitement, and tranquility and be personally tested. In particular, they are explorers of unspoiled, exotic parts of the planet and also seek personal challenges.

The main factor distinguishing adventure tourism from all other forms of tourism is the planning and preparation involved.

Definitions  of Adventure Tourism

Adventure tourism is a new concept in the tourism industry. Tourism industry adopted adventure tourism, but there is not any specific definition of adventure tourism . Most commentators concur that adventure tourism is a niche sector of the tourism industry, but there are many other niche sectors in tourism which have same characteristics that overlap with adventure tourism such as ecotourism, activity tourism or adventure travel.

One of them can confuse. Adventure tourism is a complicated and ambiguous topic. Some important definitions of adventure tourism are following as:

According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association , “adventure tourism is a tourist activity that includes physical activity, cultural exchange, or activities in nature.

According to Muller and Cleaver , “Adventure tourism is characterized by its ability to provide the tourist with relatively high levels of sensory stimulation, usually achieved by including physically challenging experiential components with the tourist experience.”

Canadian Tourism Commission in 1995 defines adventure tourism as , “an outdoor leisure activity that takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness destination, involves some form of unconventional means of transportation, and tends to be associated with low or high levels of activity.”

According to Sung et al ,  “adventure tourism is the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interactions of adventure touristic activities with the natural environment away from the participant’s usual place of residence area and containing elements of risk in which the outcome is influenced by the participation, setting, and the organizer of the tourist’s experience.”

According to UNWTO , ” adventure tourism can be domestic or international, and like all travel, it must include an overnight stay, but not last longer than one year.”

History of Adventure Tourism

Humans are traveling from ancient time for the searching for foods, and for many survival reasons. Humans have been engaging in adventurous travel for hundreds of year via exploration . People traveled in ancient time for exploration of sea roots, new destination, or even a new country.

However, commercial adventure travel is a new phenomenon, in which travelers hire a professional guide to provide a range of technical support and equipment, as well as cultural and nature interpretation.

In the mid-1800s, adventurers began to push the limits of mountain climbing and river rafting, with the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 and decent of the Colorado River in 1869 . Shortly thereafter, two key institutions were formed. The National Geographic Society and Explorers Club . These institutions are supporting adventures tourism continuously.

In the mid- 1950s, many first ascents and descents attracted global attention and inspired many people to attempt their own expeditions. Maurice Herzog’s ascent of Annapurna in 1950 , Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay’s ascent of Mount Everest , and other successes were hailed in the media around the world. This was the takeoff of modern adventure tourism.

Today, adventure tourism is a vibrant, dynamic, and fast-changing sector with new variants routinely added into the possible experience.

Types of Adventure Tourism

Adventure tourism has grown exponentially all over the world in recent years with tourist visiting destinations previously undiscovered. This allows for a new destination to market themselves as truly unique, appealing to those traveler looking for rare, incomparable experience.

Adventure tourism includes various activities like caving, hiking, sailing, trekking etc.  Adventure tourism categorized into two categories . These are following as:

Hard Adventure

Soft adventure.

Hard adventure refers to activities with high levels of risk, requiring intense commitment and advanced skills. Hard tourism includes the activities like climbing mountains/rock/ice, trekking, caving etc.

Hard adventure activities are highly risked in nature. Professional guide, advance level skills are required to perform these activities. Many tourists died during climbing mountains, caving every day. There is an interesting fact that is for K2, world 2nd highest mountain, for every two people who submit one dies .

Soft adventure refers to activities with a perceived risk but low levels of risk, requiring minimal commitment and beginning skills ; most of these activities are led by experienced guides. Soft tourism includes the activities like backpacking, camping, hiking, kayaking etc.

Soft adventure activities are low risk in nature. These activities are led by professional guides. Soft adventure is a popular category in adventure tourism. On average, 25% trips taken from North America and Europe are soft adventure trips.

Adventure Tourism Activities

Adventure travelers are early adopters by nature, meaning they are generally more willing to try new destinations, activities, and travel products. Popular activities change rapidly, and it seems there is a new twist on an existing sport evert years.

Some activities have low risk and some have high. Adventure tourism activities are classified into two types :

Hard Adventure Activities

Soft adventure activities.

Hard adventure activities are highly risky and dangerous in nature. These activities are following as:

• Mountain Climbing
• Rock Climbing
• Ice Climbing

These activities are less dangerous and risk as compared to hard adventure activities. These activities are always lead by professional guides. These activities are following as:

• Backpacking
• Birdwatching
• Eco-tourism
• Horseback riding
• Kayaking/sea/whitewater
• Orienteering
• Scuba Diving
• Snowboarding

Adventure tourism activities sit well with the environment because the natural world provides us with the resources for many of the activities that provide risk, challenge, sensory stimulus, novelty, discovery and so on.

Characteristics and Features of Adventure Tourism

The threefold combination of activity, nature, and culture marks adventure travel as an all-round challenge. Some unique characteristics and features of adventure tourism are following as:

• Physical activity, i.e. activities involving physical exertion or psychomotor skills.
• Contact with nature, i.e. activities bringing contact with the natural world in general, or with specific wildlife.
• Contact with different cultures, i.e. people, faith, lifestyles
• Journeys, i.e. vehicle-, animal-, or human-power.
• Uncertain outcomes
• Danger and risk
• Anticipated rewards
• Stimulation and excitement
• Exploration and discovery
• Contrasting emotions

Adventure Tourism Supplier

A tourism supply chain is the system of people, products, activities, and materials that get a product or service from its raw state through production and distribution to the consumer .

As with any sector, volume discounts drive the mass price point, so major retailers primarily market select trips that sell in high volume. The supply chain for these mass tourism products is often very simple, comprising only transportation and accommodation elements.

The adventure tourism supply chain is more complex. Niche products often require specializes in knowledge and operations. Adventure tourism’s supply chain linkages go very deep, and this is one of the key reasons that adventure tourism delivers greater benefits at the local level.

Supply chains vary from destination to destination. The makeup of the most involved adventure supply chain is typical as follows:

Without a proper supply chain, the tourism sector can not survive. Tourism suppliers are the backbone of the tourism industry . Adventure tourism suppliers work at a different, different level like as domestic as well international level.

Adventure Tourism Importance and Benefits

Adventure tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism sector, attracting high-value customers, supporting local economies, and encouraging sustainable practices.

The continued growth of this sector creates net positive impacts not only for tourism, but also for destination economies, their people, and their environment.

Some importance and benefits of adventure tourism are following as:

Employment Generation

Adventure tourism generates the jobs. Adventure tourism generates directs jobs to accommodation , transportation sector and for travel agencies or tour operators . Adventure tourism also provides the indirect job to tourism suppliers.

Adventure tourism plays an important role in the generation of employment in the economy.

Foreign Exchange

Adventure tourism attracts the foreign tourists at a large scale, as a result, it helps in foreign exchange generation.

When tourist travel to another country, they spend a large amount of money on accommodation, transportation, and shopping. Adventure tourism generates foreign exchange and supports the economy of the host country.

Economy Development

Adventure tourism helps in the development of the host country’s economy. Adventure tourism activities directly support the economy in various forms. The more tourists, more economic growth.

Support Local Communities

Adventure tourism helps in the development of infrastructure and support local communities. Adventure tourism activities directly contributed to the local economy of the communities and increase the living standards of local people.

Conservation of Natural Resources

Adventure tourism activities are nature-based activities. Leaders in the adventure tourism industry are dedicated to making this tourism segment as sustainable as possible. They help in conservation of natural resources as well as cultural.

Creating Business Opportunities

Adventure tourism activities create new business opportunities. There are companies that specialize in helping emerging adventure tourism operators market their product.  Each new adventure tourism activity creates a new business opportunity.

Local and Foreign Investment

Adventure tourism creates business opportunities, as a result, it attracts the local as well as international investors.  Investors invest their money in the accommodation, transportation, and into travel trade organization.

Adventure tourism plays an important role in the economy of the host country .

Safety Management in the Adventure Tourism Industry

• First Online: 30 November 2021

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• Damian Morgan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2811-2720 5  

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The growth of commercial adventure tourism products globally over the last half-century has coincided with increasing levels of professionalism. By nature, engagement in an adventure encompasses challenges to be overcome; some of which may carry a real risk of harm to participants and employees. The chapter describes the nature of adventure experiences within the commercial operating environment. With a focus on activity safety, selected national and international standards available to the adventure tourism operators are described along with a national safety auditing scheme. The industry’s future is discussed, with the outlook bright in provisioning quality tourist experiences.

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Morgan, D. (2021). Safety Management in the Adventure Tourism Industry. In: Wilks, J., Pendergast, D., Leggat, P.A., Morgan, D. (eds) Tourist Health, Safety and Wellbeing in the New Normal. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5415-2_15

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