Adventure Tourism

LEARN TO MANAGE AND PLAN ADVENTURE TOURISM ACTIVITIES

The tourism sector is vast, and a very exciting industry to be part of. Adventure tourism takes that to another level. If you are:

• Looking for something a little different
• Not afraid to try something new
• Good with people 
• Well natured and patient
• A great communicator

then these are some of the skills that are involved within the adventure tourism market.

There are many different opportunities available within this area of the tourism industry including:

• Holiday resorts 
• Outdoor pursuit centres
• National parks
• Indoor activity centres
• Research e.g. developing tourism packages

This course gives you lots of detailed background knowledge about many different aspects of the sector and what to expect from a career in it. It can also support those wanting to set up their own business. So, if this sounds like you then this is the course for you!

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and nature of Adventure tourism
   • Introduction
   • Historical Themes
   • Adventure Tourism Experiences
   • Motivating Factors for Adventure Tourism
   • Adventure Activities
   • Limitations and Risks
   • Artificial Environments
   • Non-Physical Adventure Tourism
2. The Product - Sources & Types
   • Types of Adventure Tourism
   • Types of Adventure Locations
   • New Zealand
   • Iceland
   • India
   • Africa
   • Namibia
   • Brazil
   • Information Sources
3. Management
   • Issues
   • Adventure Tour Operators
   • Retail Travel Agents
   • Accommodation Establishments
   • Transport-to destination and within destination
   • Adventure Ground Handlers
   • Media-guide books, travel writers, magazines
   • Marketing
   • Seasonal Fluctuations
   • Marketing Tools
4. The Customer
   • Adventure Tour Customers
   • Market Sector
   • Tourist Motivation
   • Conservation Tourism
   • Adventure Tourism Behaviour
   • Risk Taking
   • Ecotourism
   • Customer Expectations
5. Locations & Facilities - Artificial environments
   • Artificial Environment Tourism
   • Artificial Adventure Environments
   • Advancements in Adventure Developments
   • Examples
   • Classification
6. Locations & Facilities - Natural
   • Natural Environments
   • Adventure Tourism in Natural Environments
   • Wildlife Tourism
   • Nature-based Tourism in Antarctica
   • Ecotourism
   • Benefits of Nature-based Tourism
   • Nature Based Ecotourism
   • Locations and Destinations
   • Drawbacks and Advantages of Developing Facilities in Wilderness Areas
7. Ethics, Sustainability and Environmental impacts
   • Introduction
   • Social and Cultural Impacts
   • Environmental Impacts
   • Economic Impacts
8. Risk management & Insurance
   • Some Categories of Risk
   • Risk Management Strategies & Plans
   • Assessing the Risk
   • Crisis Management
   • Insurance

Aims

• Define the nature and scope of adventure tourism.
• Identify types of adventure tours, and sources of information on them.
• Consider the requirements of managing an adventure tourism destination or service.
• Identify potential customers, customer needs and requirements in planning and conducting adventure tours.
• Identify various kinds of artificial environments for adventure tours, and the facilities typically provided at them.
• Discuss the requirements and problems associated with using natural locations for adventure tours.
• Identify ethical and environmental issues related to adventure tourism.
• Identify kinds of risk and strategies for reducing their negative impacts on customers and operators.

What You Will Do

• Define Adventure Tourism in your own words.
• List target groups for marketing adventure tourism.
• Determine what type of adventure tourism do you consider to have the greatest potential for financial success in your region.
• Summarize brochures on different adventure tourism attractions, services or tours.
• Compile a list of Adventure Tourism attractions
• Analyse the potential of adventure tourism in the region in which you live.
• Compare the attractions and disadvantages of three different locations or destinations in adventure tourism.
• Compare Adventure Tourism with other types of Tourism?
• Investigate media influence Adventure Tourism in your Country?
• Explain licensing requirements for three different types of adventure tourism activities in your country.
• Describe ways in which the adventure tourism market might be segmented.
• Research consumer trends changing in adventure tourism?
• Explain the difference between soft and hard adventurers.
• Research then discuss the relationship between adventure and risk.
• Discover what kinds of people are most likely to go on adventure tours?
• Differentiate between artificial and natural adventure tourism destinations.
• List as many types of different artificial tourism attractions as you can conceive of (they do not have to exist), and indicate beside each what you believe is its likely target market.
• Arrange a list above into soft & hard destinations.
• Report on the environment, facilities and services at the two different adventure
  • tourism destinations. in two columns: one column hard & one soft
• List different types of natural adventure tourism activities
• Consider areas of natural adventure tourism have experienced growth in recent years?
• Investigate issues should management consider when planning to use natural adventure tourism destinations?

What is Adventure Tourism?

The term ‘adventure tourism’ can represent many kinds of experience, and an almost infinite range of tourism situations. What they all share is participant’s sense of excitement and adventure, and of entering an experience or series of experiences that will take them out of urban areas into more natural and less obviously regulated environments.

The stimulation and intensity associated with adventure contributes to removing the experience from the routine of everyday life. Exotic surrounding, new activities, experiences beyond anything one has ever experienced contributes to a sense of escapism. Adventure is a chance to escape the everyday concerns of life. Imagine being on top of Mount Everest. Would you be thinking of anything else but just being there? Enjoying the rapture of having achieved such a feat, the wondrous view and the elation of breaking your boundaries? No wonder adventure is so popular.

Motivating factors for adventure tourism

People are motivated to undertake adventure tourism activities for different reasons. Some may enjoy the anticipation of an unknown or uncertain outcome. This could be undertaking something new and unfamiliar or the presence of a perceived danger in the activity. This element of risk involved in an activity might be relished by some and feared by others.

There needs to be a degree of challenge in an activity for it to be considered adventurous. A challenging event might have an element of danger, unknown outcomes and degree of difficulty. This will attract different participants to the activity based on their expectations and willingness to cope with challengers.

There also needs to be a perceived reward on completion of the activity. This is usually the sense of meeting a challenge and pushing themselves beyond their usual comfort zone. This is referred to as an intrinsic reward, as it comes from within. There may also be extrinsic awards such as a trophy. An example would be gaining a place in a white-water kayaking race.

A sense of escapism is also important for an activity to be considered adventurous. This is why most adventure tourism operations occur in natural areas. In this way people can feel that they are really escaping from their normal lives. A person might experience heightened senses, an adrenaline rush or a sense of calm following the experience. Again, it is important to remember that adventure can mean different things to different people. Sailing a boat around the Greek Islands may seem adventurous to some but not to others.

Adventure Activities

Activities associated with adventure can be categorised into the following:

•  Physical – e.g. hiking, mountain-biking and hang gliding
•  Nature-based – e.g. bush walking, bird watching
•  Cultural – e.g. pilgrimages
•  Travel/Exploration – e.g. long-distance sailing, Silk Road treks.

These activities form niche markets within the tourism industry based on the activity undertaken and their setting. They can vary in their “adventure” rating. Guided garden tours would be considered not to be very adventurous, whereas camping in the Andes would be considered extremely adventurous.

Nature-based tourism can fall into both categories of “ecotourism” and “adventure tourism”.

WHY STUDY WITH ACS?

There are lots of reasons why you should sign up to do this course with us, including:

• The information within the course is wide ranging which gives you an insight in to the variety of different opportunities available to you and doesn't restrict your career path
• Within each lesson you have the opportunity to apply your learning to activities in order to extend your knowledge and research specific areas of interest, enhancing your understanding
• Knowledge of such a wide range of areas will enable you to stand out from other applicants when it comes to applying for jobs, it will also give you great confidence
• Adventure tourism can take you all over the world, or just down the road, giving you flexibility now and in the future
• Our subject specialist tutors will be there to support you throughout your course, they are only too happy to share their industry knowledge and experience with you
• When studying with us you set your own deadlines, meaning you study at your own pace enabling it to fit around other commitments

TAKE THE NEXT STEP, AND ENROL NOW!

You can enrol on the course now, but if you have any questions about the content of the course or studying with ACS, then please get in touch with us today - use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE to get in touch with our expert tutors. They will be pleased to help you!