Adventure travel
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Adventure travel is a type of tourism involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should "expect the unexpected". Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the U.S.-based Adventure Travel Trade Association, "adventure travel" may be any tourist activity including two of the following three components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction, and engagement with nature.
Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing culture shock, or through the performance of acts that require significant effort and involve some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger. This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, rafting, zip-lining and rock climbing. Some obscure forms of adventure travel include disaster and ghetto tourism[1]. Other rising forms of adventure travel include social and jungle tourism.
Access to inexpensive consumer technology with respect to navigation systems, flashpacking[2], social networking[3] and photography have increased the worldwide interest in adventure travel.
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[edit] Tour operators, travel agencies & retailers
Many organizations and companies worldwide cater to adventure clientèle. Some of these include Intrepid Travel, GAP Adventures, Mountain Equipment Co-op and Rainforest Expeditions. Some geographic regions are promoted by both private and public agencies as adventure travel destinations.
[edit] Adventure travel for the disabled
With the trend of increasing accessible tourism available to disabled persons around the world, some tourism areas are developing adventure tourism specifically for the disabled. Whistler, British Columbia and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada have been taking the lead with the 2010 Paralympics. Adventure travel for the disabled has become a $13 billion USD[4] a year industry in North America.
Notable disabled adventurers include Erik Weihenmeyer, the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest; Casey Pieretti, an amputee skater; and Caroline Walsh, founder of the Access to Marine Conservation for All International.
Some adventure travel destinations offer diverse programs and job opportunities developed specifically for the differently abled[5]. Esprit Rafting, located in Pontiac Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada designs rafting trips for people with spinal cord damage. Accessible Canadian Adventures in Ontario, Canada offers hunting, fishing and wildlife photography adventures for those requiring assistance.
[edit] Media
Some prominent adventure travel personalities, media sources and organizations include:
- Adventure Travel Magazine, a UK based adventure travel magazine published since 1995
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, a program on the Travel Channel that focuses on the adventure of authentic food and experiences in various locales.
- Nat Geo Adventure, a subscription TV channel part of National Geographic Channels International.
- National Geographic Adventure, a magazine affiliated with the National Geographic Society.
- Outpost, a Canadian adventure travel magazine.
There are many blogs and websites dedicated to this form of tourism including ComeBackAlive.com, the official website of Robert Young Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places, the official website of Adventure Travel Magazine
[edit] References
- ^ Citypaper online. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ "The Flashpacker: A New Breed of Traveler", Hotel Travel News, 2006-03-24. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ The Development of Social Network Analysis Vancouver: Empirical Press.
- ^ Stan Hagen - Tourism Minister of British Columbia
- ^ The Equity: "Esprit rafting to be featured in commercial", Wednesday, May 14th, 2008, print edition
[edit] Further reading
- "Adventure Tourism" by R. Buckley (2006) Published by CABI, Wallingford, UK.
[edit] See also
- Adventure recreation
- Mountain Biking
- Powered Parachutes
- Mountaineering
- Outdoor education
- Rafting
- River trekking
- Urban Exploration
- Jungle tourism
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