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Adventure Tourism has grown in the past
decades from a handful of providers to literally hundreds of small and specialized tour
operators and outfitters, offering active vacations all over the world. As an antidote to
mass tourism and resort development, the adventure travel industry is experiencing
unprecedented growth, where new destinations are as important as the quality of the
activities offered. Adventure Tourism does not singularly mean engaging in challenging
sports or activities. In fact, the "soft adventure" category of the industry is
growing the fastest. The term "Ecotourism" attempts to embrace the traveling
public’s desire for discovery, which can range from offering a country’s
geographic resources with hiking, backpacking, biking, to more challenging endeavors such
as rafting, diving, climbing. The emphasis today is on discovery and participation; the
discovering of new lands, different cultures, while participating in one or several
activities. In the past ten years, these activities have expanded beyond the physically
demanding ones and now include educational studies, archaeological digs, scientific
expeditions. Developing countries lend themselves
well to adventure tourism for the following reasons:
The unique cultural, historic and architectural heritage
that sets one country apart from another offers opportunities for discovery
The lifestyles, customs, costumes, language, religion,
rituals, music, festivals, markets, arts and crafts that are indigenous to a region or
country provide a new understanding and better awareness and tolerance of differences
Where the infrastructure and accommodations necessary to
promote mass tourism are lacking, the adventure traveler seeks to get more involved in the
community and is attracted to small hostels and inns. The absence of infrastructure is
exactly what make the destination appealing
Small, entrepreneurial enterprises and individuals provide
the resources for the adventure tourist ensuring that the tourist dollar feeds directly
into the local economy
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More than designing a
promotional plan, a proposal for the Development of Adventure Tourism in emerging
economies is more complex, requiring a staged approach:
- To conduct a Study of the country’s natural,
cultural and indigenous resources to determine the potential for development, to include
identification of financial and human resources available to accommodate initial tourist
activity and to research locations, entities and/or individuals for training opportunities
- To develop a Program Plan outlining specific areas,
places, villages that lend themselves well to development based on their resources. The
plan will propose development programs in conjunction with local and national agencies for
specific activities and financial assistance, and recommend foreign expertise to lead
training programs for such activities.
- To develop a preliminary Marketing and Promotional
Program, which will address all areas that require development or assistance to take
advantage of the area’s resources. Program suggestions may range from assisting local
property owners in providing bed-and-breakfast facilities, to fostering entrepreneurial
businesses that will rent bikes, boats, and camping equipment, to training individuals in
various guiding specialties.
- To Coordinate and Implement the Program Plan which
can be phased or staged, dependent on initial funding. The intent of the program is to
become self-funding within a reasonable period, as tourists start to visit the area. A
part of the initial funding needs to finance the Implementation of the Marketing and
Promotional Program since this is an integral part of the development program.
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