The development of pioneer national policy on adventure recreation in Brazil and Aotearoa/New Zealand’s first review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Adventure as a form of contemporary recreation is growing in popularity, and seen as a way to stimulate economic growth via tourism, and to promote personal and community development. However, the risk-taking appeal it provides has led to high-profile serious injuries and deaths. In Brazil and Aotearoa/New Zealand, the families of victims involved in fatal accidents demanded that their governments provide greater regulation. National public policy proposals followed. Our interpretive research used observation, interviews, and document analysis to investigate the development of pioneer policies (2002–2016) on adventure recreation regulation in these two countries. Bourdieu’s concept of field was used to understand adventure as a form of leisure, which crosses the boundaries between sport and tourism, and, as we show, is a site of contestation. This study shows that many of the challenges experienced in developing national public policies for adventure activities in Brazil, were also found in Aotearoa. The discussion highlights that adventure as recreation and leisure is a hybrid field, requiring inter-sector understanding in addressing risk management. The market-centred model evident in tourism in both countries reinforces profit, often to the detriment of access equity, environmental and intercultural sensibility.