Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is adventure tourism?
Adventure Tourism is a term that is not easily defined. Ewart attempted to define the essence of adventure tourism as “the deliberate seeking of risk and uncertainty of outcomes”.
However, perceived risk can vary from individual to individual. For one thing, different people will have varying ideas of what is “adventure”.
- For one person, “adventure” may be something as simple as camping outside in a tent or walking through a wilderness area for an hour.
- For another, this would be considered passive tourism or exercise.
- Whereas for another person, adventure would mean participating in dangerous and physically (also maybe emotionally) challenging activities, such as climbing a sheer rock face or white-water rafting in dangerous rapids.
Traditionally, adventure tourism has been perceived to be a younger person’s activity. In recent years, however, older people are keen to enjoy new experiences once their children have left home. Therefore, the first principle of adventure tourism is catering for difference:
- different expectations
- different physical abilities
- different likes and dislikes
- different psychological make-ups
It is not a matter of making an adventure less adventurous, or more exciting. Nor is it a matter of participants’ ‘inferior’ or ‘superior’ physical or psychological resilience. It is simply a matter of personal difference.
What is Artificial Environment Tourism?
The scope of adventure tourism is only limited by imagination and money. New ideas are being developed continually, taking root in one part of the world, and then, if successful, being copied across the globe.
Although the first artificial rock wall was constructed in 1941, the market for Artificial Environments in Adventure Tourism wasn’t full realised until the 1980s. It initially referred to man-made structures for climbing such as walls and ropes which simulate a natural setting. However, this idea has changed and evolved over time. There is now a wide range of artificial environments which fit under the adventure tourism umbrella, such as theme parks, indoor water parks, white-water rafting simulators, indoor ski-slopes and rope courses. These activities as with natural adventure tourism activities vary with their degree of perceived risk. The widening of artificial environment adventure experiences and the changing view of adventure tourism has opened up a huge market for large-scale commercial use in tourism.
This growing industry is also growing due to the limitations associated with adventure tourism activities carried out in natural areas. Factors which make artificial environments more desirable are:
- Natural forces carry an element of danger
- Natural tourism activities can be difficult to control
- Natural tourism can be seasonal
- Adventure tourism in natural areas can impact negatively on the environment.
Many artificial environments are either re-creations or inspired ideas which have grown from real life “adventure” destinations. The advantage of an artificial river, reef or mountain as an adventure tourism destination is simple. It can be located close to already established tourism facilities (e.g. accommodation, transport, food service, entertainment), and in a place which is already visited by a large clientele. Another advantage is environmental protection. An activity that would otherwise affect environments that are fragile or protected can now be done in a man-made situation, avoiding the negative impact on the natural environment.
One distinct advantage of this type of destination is that groups, families or couples can be attracted more easily. Often one person will seek an adventure experience while their friends or family seek something different. It only stands to reason that the destination which offers more will be likely to attract more.
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