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ADVENTURE TOURISM - BTR302

Duration (approx) 100 hours
Qualification
Statement of Attainment

Start Your Career in Adventure Tourism | Online Course

  • Study adventure tourism, types of opportunities, client needs, planning and managing adventure tourism services, outdoor adventure, management training, customer service, artificial environments, supply, geography, sustainability, environmental impacts etc.
  • Study format – online, printed notes or eLearning (USB). Pay by Instalments.
  • Work at your own pace. No course end date. Study as slowly or as quickly as you like.
  • 100 hours. 8 lessons. 8 assignments |Theory + practical learning – assignments + exercises + projects. 
  • No deadlines | Prompt marking from expert and experienced tutors | Support available from tutors via phone or online.
  • Work in a growth industry. Manage or set up an adventure tourism venture.
  

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COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Lessons: The course comprises 8  lessons as detailed, below.

Lesson 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.


Lesson 2. The Product - Sources & Types

  • Types of Adventure Tourism.
  • Types of Adventure Locations.
  • New Zealand.
  • Iceland.
  • India.
  • Africa.
  • Namibia.
  • Brazil.


Lesson 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.


Lesson 4. The Customer

  • Adventure Tour Customers.
  • Market Sector.
  • Tourist Motivation.
  • Conservation Tourism.
  • Adventure Tourism Behaviour.
  • Risk Taking.
  • Ecotourism.
  • Customer Expectations.


Lesson 5. Locations & Facilities - Artificial environments

  • Artificial Environment Tourism.
  • Artificial Adventure Environments.
  • Advancements in Adventure Developments.
  • Examples.
  • Classification.


Lesson 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.


Lesson 7. Ethics, Sustainability and Environmental impacts

  • Introduction.
  • Social and Cultural Impacts.
  • Environmental Impacts.
  • Economic Impacts.


Lesson 8. Risk management & Insurance

  • Some Categories of Risk.
  • Risk Management Strategies & Plans.
  • Assessing the Risk.
  • Crisis Management.
  • Insurance.



COURSE AIMS

  • Define the nature and scope of adventure tourism.
  • Identify types of adventure tours, and sources of information on them.
  • Explain 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 THE COURSE COVERS
Here are just some of the things you will be doing:

  • Define Adventure Tourism in your own words.
  • List target groups for marketing adventure tourism.
  • What type of adventure tourism do you consider to have the greatest potential for financial success in your region.
  • Summarise brochures on five different adventure tourism attractions, services or tours.
  • Submit 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.
  • How does Adventure Tourism differ to other types of Tourism?
  • How does the 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.
  • How are consumer trends changing in adventure tourism?
  • Explain the difference between soft and hard adventurers.
  • Based on your research, discuss the relationship between adventure and risk.
  • 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
  • What areas of natural adventure tourism have experienced growth in recent years?
  • What issues should management consider when planning to use natural adventure tourism destinations?


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.

How do remote locations present problems to adventure tourism professionals?


The remote location of many adventure tourist destinations can present problems:

  • Facilities are more costly to develop and maintain.
  • Staffing can be a problem, as staff often do not wish to live a long way from schools, shops, social opportunities, etc.
  • There may be limited transport services and access roads to the facility.
  • Supporting facilities such as medical services, shops etc are usually limited.
  • Land use restrictions are likely to be more stringent than those in developed areas, which mean visitor numbers, tourist activities, and building development will be subject to tight planning regulations.
  • Many wilderness areas are in environments that experience climatic extremes (e.g. monsoons or cyclones, heavy winter snows, extreme summer heat), which means that visitor numbers fluctuate dramatically throughout the year. In some areas, operations close during the ‘off’ season.

A new trend in adventure tourism is the development of artificial adventure environments. Artificial adventure environments are re-creations based on ‘real life’ adventures, for example, indoor climbing walls are simulated to look like cliff faces. Some advantages to providing artificial adventure environments are:

  • They can be located in towns and in popular tourist destinations so people do not have to travel far to get to them.
  • They are comparatively safe environments compared to the ‘real thing’.
  • Indoor facilities can stay open all year round, regardless of the weather.
  • They can also operate at night, so that many more participants are able to use the facilities.

Indoor climbing walls are the best known indoor adventure environments, but there are others. Reefs, beaches, snowfields, ice walls, caves, and slalom white-water rafting courses are just some of the artificial environments that have been developed for adventure tourists.


How do I enrol?

Enrolling is easy - just go to the top of this page and select your study method and payment option.   If you have any questions about studying with ACS, or want to know more about any of our courses, get in touch with our specialist tutors today. They will be happy to answer your questions and look at different study options to fit in with your goals.



Courses can be started anytime from anywhere in the world!

Meet some of our academics

Alison Pearce (general)P.G.Cert. Ed., M.Ecotourism, S.Sc. (Hons). Alison has held many positions including: University Lecturer, Writer, Quality Assurance Manager, Research Technician, Vet Nurse and stockwoman. Over 30 years industry experience, mostly in Australia and the UK.. Alison originally graduated with an honors degree in science from university and beyond that has completed post graduate qualifications in education and eco-tourism. She has managed veterinary operating theatre, responsible for animal anaesthesia, instrument preparation, and assistance with surgical techniques and procedures.
Dr. Gareth PearceGraduated from the University of Nottingham in 1982 with a B.Sc.(Hons) in Animal Science. Between 82 and 85 worked as Research Assistant and Demonstator in Animal Science at the University of Leeds. Over more than 30 years he has furthered his studies, obtaining eight significant university qualifications including degrees in Veterinary Science, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Behaviour. Gareth has significant teaching experience around the world as a faculty member at eight different universities including Associate Professor at Murdoch University and Director of Studies in Veterinary Science at Cambridge University. He has over 100 prestigious research papers published, and enjoys an outstanding international reputation in the fields of animal and veterinary science.
Marius Erasmus Subsequent to completing a BSc (Agric) degree in animal science, Marius completed an honours degree in wildlife management, and a masters degree in production animal physiology. Following the Masters degree, he has worked for 9 years in the UK, and South Africa in wildlife management, dairy, beef and poultry farming.


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