ADVENTURE TOURISM

THE CONTENT

WHAT IS THE ADVENTURE TOURISM?

This kind of tourism means risks, but always a calculated risk. The main motivation that promotes people to do this kind of activities is the

boredom, the routine.

It includes the practice of some sports and the adventure trips.

With active sport tourism, they want to set up of a bigger concept, the active tourism.

INTRODUCTION

Adventure Tourism is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with perceived (and possibly actual) risk, and potentially requiring specialized skills and physical exertion.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

- It uses natural environment : But participants persecute feeling sensations not nature’s contemplation, though the two activities aren’t incompatibles.

- The main motivation (the risk, the adventure) can be combined with others (fun, nature, landscape).

- Fashion, cultural affinity and accessibility have a big influence on adventure trips. Cultural affinity and accessibility cause opposite effects that they would cause normally so less accessibility and cultural affinity contribute to have more sensation of adventure. It can pass the same with the price.

- Destination has to be good communicated in international field.

- There are zones of little urban planning and usually little traditional.

- The adventure sports’ tourists can use almost all the types of touristic accommodation: camping, hostels, rural houses, hotels, apartments...

- The adventurous tourist is usually young. Even though more and more the adventure sports are being adapted for all ages. The most common is groups of friends around thirties. Even so, lately new trends have been detected like the case of couples that make their honeymoon a journey of adventure.

- It is a tourism that in general presents little seasonality. Depending on the destination and the climatology of this there will be a modality or another .

- It can be practiced in a lot of places. Even in artificial reproductions.

- This type of tourists almost do not require complementary services.

ADVENTURE TRIPS

It is difficult to describe what is a journey of adventure, but all have four characteristics in common :

1. There are itineraries that bring certain difficulties: descents from rivers, long appealed across the desert, crossings for seas...

2. The ways of transport used can be not conventional. Canoes, sailing boat in the crossings by sea, jeeps...

3. The journey has to suppose a certain discomfort. Exoticism does not have to be confused with adventure.

4. The luggage has to be the possible minimum.

ADVENTURE SPORTS

The difference between practicing a conventional sport and one of adventure is the risk.

There are a lot of adventure sports and many possibilities to combine them.

Usually we separate adventure sports in three categories:

Terrestrial

Aquatics

Aerial

Types of adventure travel

Accessible tourismThere is a trend for developing tourism specifically for the disabled. Adventure travel for the disabled has become a $13 billion USD a year industry in North America.Some adventure travel destinations offer diverse programs and job opportunities developed specifically for the disabled.

Cultural tourismCultural tourism is the act of travelling to a place to see that location's culture, including the lifestyle of the people in that area, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religions, and other factors that shaped their way of life.

Disaster tourismDisaster tourism is the act of traveling to a disaster area as a matter of curiosity.The behavior can be a nuisance if it hinders rescue, relief, and recovery operations. If not done because of pure curiosity, it can be cataloged as disaster learning.

EcotourismEcotourism is now defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education" (TIES, 2015). Education is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests.

Extreme tourism

Extreme tourism involves travel to dangerous (extreme) locations or participation in dangerous events or activities. This form of tourism can overlap with extreme sport.

Ghetto tourism

Ghetto tourism includes all forms of entertainment — "gangsta rap," video games, movies, TV, and other forms that allow consumers to traffic in the inner city without leaving home.

Ethno tourismEthno tourism refers to visiting a foreign location for the sake of observing the indigenous members of its society for the sake of non-scientific gain. Some extreme forms of this include attempting to make first contact with tribes that are protected from outside visitors.

Two controversial issues associated with ethno tourism include bringing natives into contact with diseases they do not have immunities for, and the possible degradation or destruction of a unique culture and/or language.

Jungle tourism

Jungle tourism is a rising subcategory of adventure travel defined by active multifaceted physical means of travel in the jungle regions of the earth. Although similar in many respects to adventure travel, jungle tourism pertains specifically to the context of region, culture and activity. According to the Glossary of Tourism Terms, jungle tours have become a major component of green tourism in tropical destinations and are a relatively recent phenomenon of Western international tourism.

Some interesting adventure sports :

Paragliding : is a modality of free fly. The sportman/woman throw

himself from a very steep mountain’s slope. He or she hang himself from a

ultralight glide. That it have to be less heavy than the pilot. The landig

is done on foot.

Canyoning : it consists to decending a precipice following river’s courses. It combine climb

technics’ with swimming.

Rock Climbing : climb up mountains. We can play it in

artificial facilities, the artificial training walls.

Rafting : is a descent for fierce waters’ rivers in a pneumatic boat with capacity for several people

(places from 6 to 8).

Helisky : the sportman/woman is raised by an helicopter. And he/she jumps and slides by the mountainside.

River sky : it the same than rafting but using a special skis and a row with double blade.

Hydrobob : is descending for fierce water’s rivers in a elongated vehicle with capacity for 4 people.

Hydrospeed : or Hidrosled because it consits in descends fierce water’s

rivers with a special sled. This vehicle hold the sport man in the water but

the legs are submerged.

Canoening : flowing in canoe for the fierce or clam waters of

a river.

Bungee jumping : it consists in throwing of a bridge or similar (like a crane), clamped by a rope, which it lends the jumper suspended on the air.

Trekking and hiking : the difference between them is that the first carries out

much longer routes. People walk for zones with high level of difficulties. It stay in

shelters or in improvised campings.

Challenges faced by india

Lack of basic infrastructure facilities for trekking, mountaineering & winter sports. Lack of tented accommodation facilities for adventure camp sites.Lack of entrepreneurship and skill among the indigenous population. Absence of marketing infrastructure. Lack of inflow of investible funds from outside the state. Lack of institutional and governmental support. Lack of institutional and governmental support. There is no standardization and certification of safety norms for certain adventure sports such as bungee jumping. No financial assistance for procuring equipment for aero space, Para gliding & hang gliding.

How to promote adventure tourism in India ?

To promote adventure tourism through winter sports more winter sports projects should be initiated.

Camping sites may be developed and trekker’s huts may be put up at high altitudes specially in the hilly regions.

Mountain hiking should be promoted in the remote valleys of Ladakh, Kullu, Sikkim & Kumaon Himalayas.

Cruise boats, launches etc should be provided at wildlife centers with water frontage to view wildlife from close quarters.

There should be more co-ordination b/w public and private sector for procuring the equipment for adventure sports.

Institutional help is also needed to promote recreational factor among youth.

More of travel packages are required to be generated at low cost by the travel agents and tour operators to promote adventure tourism.

Credit : CIDROY PAES