Adventure Travel Research Articles

Last chance for wildlife: making tourism count for conservation

Nature-based tourism offers the opportunity for tourists to see first-hand both wildlife and the conservation efforts of organisations and individuals to protect habitats and species. Whilst recent studies hint that tourism can prompt visitors to provide philanthropic support for conservation, studies to-date have focused on behavioural intentions within specific case studies rather than actual behaviour, thereby limiting generalisability and explanatory scope. Consequently, little is known if and why individuals donate more after nature-based tourism. An online questionnaire, which included both quantitative and qualitive measures, explored key predictors of what triggers tourists to engage in philanthropic behaviour. Through a collaboration with two leading UK adventure travel companies, 924 participants’ travel patterns and donation histories were examined to assess the role tourism plays in prompting new donations. Findings confirm, first, that travel to last chance destinations prompts higher instances of new philanthropy compared to other international and domestic trips; second, that other key factors, including the importance of stronger identity with nature and/or first-time visitation, influence new philanthropic support. Alongside the scholarly contributions, this study provides actionable guidance on how to encourage philanthropic behaviour working with both tour-operators and non-profit organisations.

How can we adventure sustainably? A systematized review of sustainability guidance for adventure tourism operators

Adventure tourism operators have historically drawn upon a range of broad, multi-purpose sustainability frameworks to provide experiences that are more ecologically and socially just. However, these efforts have been hindered by the need to interpret and translate large volumes of diverse sustainability guidance, which is often unclear or prohibitively complex in terms of how it can be applied to specific adventure operations. This paper aims to address this issue by (1) identifying the primary types of sustainability guidance available for adventure operators; (2) critiquing the benefits and limitations of each form of guidance; and (3) making recommendations for research and practice. The inquiry employed a systematized review methodology, informed by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, to interrogate the various forms of sustainability guidance available to adventure tour operators. The analysis revealed three broad categories of guidance: Paid Memberships and Certifications, Guidelines and Frameworks, and Pledges and Declarations. The findings demonstrate how each of these categories brings distinct benefits and limitations to operators, depending on their size and scope of provision. Implications for practice are offered, in terms of how existing frameworks might be adopted and/or alternative approaches to integrating and monitoring sustainability initiatives developed. Suggestions for further research include examining adventure travellers' and operators' perceptions of the three different categories of guidance found in the current study, and the ways in which operators engage with this guidance.

The lived experience of long-term overland travel

This study analyses the lived experience of “overlanding”, defined as a form of self-reliant long-term adventure travel by vehicle in which the journey is perceived to be more important than the destination. The study builds on recent research into “lifestyle travel”, “voluntary simplicity” and “transformative tourism”, and travelling cohorts from backpackers to campervan users to ocean-going adventurers. Given the under-researched nature of long-term overlanding as a lifestyle, the methodology used is interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), enabling the capture of rich idiographic data from a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Four overall themes emerge: the simple life, freedom, development of self, and positive relationships. The five participant couples are in mid-life, also allowing for focus on matters of life-choice and purpose.

In Byron’s Footsteps, through Byron’s Eyes: Literary Tourism and ‘Imagined Geographies’ of Southern Albania

ABSTRACT In his famous poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Lord Byron represents Albania as an exotic and Oriental place, and as a suitable ‘stage’ for the ‘performance’ of adventurous travel. In this paper, I explore the various ways in which literary tourists following ‘in the footsteps of Lord Byron’ in Albania reproduce and/or challenge and change ‘imagined geographies’ of that country. This is carried out through discourse analysis of their written accounts of their travels. The texts analysed include published travelogues, newspaper travel articles and travel blogs written by those who have travelled through southern Albania ‘in the footsteps of Byron’. I argue that these tourists do not, in general, simply reproduce Byron influenced ‘imagined geographies’ of Albania in their travel writings but rather represent Albania as they find it, often highlighting the big differences between the Albania of Byron’s day and the Albania of today. And I also argue that, while some tourists find that the encroachment of modernity into the lands described by Byron disrupts their ability to perform ‘Byronic travel’, others find it quite possible to maintain a ‘Byronic’ spirit of travel in the Albania of today.

Exploring the world together: The colonial continuity of family adventure travel

The article examines notions of family holidays in the marketing of family adventure travel, a small but growing segment of the alternative tourism sector in Sweden. In family adventure travel, the family vacation is oriented toward exotic destinations in the Global South. The analysis is conducted through a multimodal discourse analysis of web-based marketing material from seven Swedish travel agencies. It shows that the travel style of family adventure travel is constructed through a novel discourse, filled with overlapping meanings of family life, authenticity, and adventure. The article offers a unique approach to family tourism research by theorizing family adventure travel from a post-colonial perspective. It demonstrates how family adventure travel entails a colonial continuity, where notions of exploring and discovering the world become reproduced and re-negotiated in the context of family tourism. In the marketing of family adventure travel, the family vacation is reimagined as a journey of discovery.

The future past of travel: adventure tourism supporting humans living on the edge of existence

PurposeBy drawing on current reports, this paper positions that Homo sapiens could in the near future be faced with an increasingly uninhabitable planet. It emphasises the importance of adventure tourism and its associated activities as a means of supporting individuals to develop more outdoor survival skills.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a scenario narrative approach in exploring and presenting potential future ideas. The significance of narratives lies at the essential examination of current trends and drivers that could be shaping future scenarios. This paper, through the exploration of past and current trends supports the researcher in presenting future views. The scenario narratives in this research are established via desk-based research and inspection of academic journals, industry reports, ideas and knowledge.FindingsIf society is pushed to the brink of extinction due to a catastrophic event(s), people will require survival skills, similar to those shared by our hunter-gather nomad ancestor. Thus, this paper highlights the value and importance of the industry in encouraging soft and hard outdoor adventure in the coming years. It recognises how different adventure travel activities can support people in rekindling with our more basic instincts and ultimately, surviving in different natural environments.Originality/valueThis paper offers original theoretical knowledge within the adventure tourism literature. Offering original consideration to the value of exploring the past as a method of understanding the future, the paper presents an original spectrum of soft and hard skills-based adventure tourism activities.

Medical Advice for Travelers.

In 2019, 1.5 billion international tourist trips were counted worldwide. Germany, with 70.8 million vacations lasting ≥ 5 days, was one of the populations most willing to travel. These days, even elderly and multimorbid persons regularly travel long-distance, which can be associated with significant health risks. By advising travelers and implementing preventive measures, the risk of illness can be reduced significantly. A selective survey of PubMed was performed to identify publications on medical advice for travelers between 2000 and 2020. We included guidelines, studies, and recommendations that mainly deal with the preventive aspects of travel medicine and have a high level of practical relevance and the highest possible level of evidence. Previously published guidelines (based on the GRADE criteria) were adopted, and recommendations not based on the results of scientific studies were characterized as Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Many medical recommendations for travelers still rely on individualized, experience-based, or consensus-based assessments. Apart from a review of medical history and vaccination status, a risk analysis is performed, travel fitness is evaluated individually, and a prevention plan is designed. Particular attention is devoted to malaria prophylaxis, vector protection, and traveler's diarrhea. Medical advice before travel is especially important for the elderly, children, pregnant women, the chronically ill, long-term and adventure travelers as well as migrants from malaria-endemic areas who are returning home. The health risks associated with travel can be minimized by specialist medical advice. Many recommendations are empirical in nature and require further research.

Indonesian traveler study: analyze the role of the big five personalities on hard adventure traveler type

Purpose: This study aims to determine the role of big five personalities simultaneously and partially towards the tendency of hard adventure travelers. Research methodology: This study will also look at the five traits found in the big five personalities which tend to play a role in the hard adventure traveler. This research is a replication study of Kristin Scott and John C. Mowen with a quantitative approach involving 1,558 subjects with a purposive sampling technique. Big five personality was measured using the big five infentory scale, while the hard adventure type would be measured using a scale from Scott & Mowen. Data analysis of this study using multiple regression techniques. Results: The results showed that there is a role of big five personalities that is simultaneous towards traveler's hard adventure type of 7,6%, whereas partially openness, extraversion, and neuroticism trait had a role towards the type of hard adventure, where openness trait had the biggest role towards hard adventure type. Limitations: Based on the magnitude of the role generated in this study, there are still other factors that can influence traveler's decision making to choose the traveling type, so that these other factors are expected to explore more. Contribution: This research can be a reference in the development of tourist attraction marketing by taking into account visitors' personality types.

Leptospirosis: Malaysia Leptospirosis Research network experience

Background: Leptospirosis is a rat-borne bacterial infection caused by pathogenic Leptospira species has a global distribution affecting humans and a wide range of mammalian species. The disease is endemic in most tropical and subtropical regions, with risk influenced by flood, adventure travel, lack of sanitation and explosive population of rodent reservoirs. The first human case of severe leptospirosis was recognized in 1927 in Malaysia. Today at least 33,000 cases with 450 deaths have been recorded since its gazettement as a notifiable disease in 2010. Malaysia Leptospirosis research network (MyLepto) was formed in 2015 to understand the issues or challenges related to leptospirosis in Malaysia. One of the main objective of the MyLepto was to identify the rodent carrying and human infecting species and also to assess the gold standard techniques such as PCR and MAT in early diagnosis of the illness. Methods & Materials: For identifying the human infecting species, we performed lipL32 PCR and partial 16S rDNA (rrs) in patients clinically suspected for leptospirosis, while for rodents carrying strains, kidneys for small mammals trapped in hot spot and outbreak areas were cultured and confirmed by PCR. Results: For human, from a total of 165 patients, 92 (56%) were confirmed positive for leptospirosis through MAT (n = 43; 47%), PCR (n = 63; 69%) or both MAT and PCR (n = 14; 15%). The infecting Leptospira species determined by partial 16S rDNA (rrs) gene sequencing revealed two pathogenic Leptospira species namely L. interrogans (n = 44, 70%) and L. kirschneri (n = 17, 27%) and one intermediate species L. wolffii (n = 2, 3%). While for small mammals, an overall prevalence of 14.2% was detected comprising four species which include L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, L. borgpetersenii and L. weilii. Conclusion: The detection of similar species from rodents and human emphasizes the need for public health awareness on exposure to rodents.

Camel Genetic Resources Conservation through Tourism: A Key Sociocultural Approach of Camelback Leisure Riding.

Simple SummaryConsumers’ environmental awareness have appeared on the scene and are bringing nature-based tourism demands to the rise. Related practices have led to camels being used as an income generator for tour companies and locals in exotic appealing destinations. The long-term viability of the respective breeds markedly depends on the fact that the principal income sources for camel breeders in some regions are tourist activities. The present research was intended to outline what are the social and cultural factors that can act as tourism attractions and satisfaction conditioning elements within this particular tourism enterprise. Staff performance, sociospatial motivating factors, diverse and humane close interaction, camel behavior and performance, sociotemporal context, and positive previous experience, are the principal dimensions affecting experiential consumption in camelback riding tours. The understanding of such experiential consumption enables tour operators to customize its camel saddlery offers based on the diverse patterns influencing the buying behavior and general satisfaction of the customers. In its broadest sense, responsible and sustainable camel-based tourism will create positive impacts for destination economies and provide long-term conservation opportunities both at a natural and cultural level.Camels are exotic elements, which can be comprised within adventure travel companies promoting ecotourism activities. Such recreations contribute to sustainable livelihoods for local communities and educational empowerment towards nature and its conservation. At present, some local camel breeds’ survival reduces to this animal-based leisure industry and its reliability to perform and promote customized services accurately. By conducting an on-site questionnaire to customers participating in camelback riding tours, we assessed the motivational factors affecting participation, satisfaction, and loyalty in this tourism segment that may have made it socially differentiated. The sixfold combination of staff performance, culture geography, diverse and humane close interaction, camel behavior and performance, sociotemporal context, and positive previous experience involves the elemental dimensions that explain customer satisfaction and return intention probability within this entertainment business. Customer knowledge is essential for stakeholders to build personalized riding experiences and align profits with environmental sustainability and biodiversity mainstream concerns into their everyday operations. In turn, domestic camel tourist rides could be managed as a viable path to nature conservation by helping endangered local breeds to avoid their functional devaluation and potential extinction.

Sunscreen for adventure travel: use sun protection factor 50 or higher.

For adventure travel to high altitude and low latitude locations as well as to areas with depleted ozone or snow cover, travelers should use clothing that blocks UV radiation and should liberally apply a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 50 or 50+ to exposed skin.

Emotional and Cognitive Drivers of Customer Satisfaction in Adventure Travel

Customer satisfaction has become the critical outcome variable in tourism where traveler experiences become electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for future visitors, yet the drivers of customer satisfaction in adventure travel are not well established in academic literature. This study relies on both qualitative and quantitative measures to examine visitor perceptions at a wild animal reserve to determine drivers of customer satisfaction in adventure travel. The theoretical framework extends Oliver's expectation disconfirmation theory to this new and growing sector that differs in that consumers are seeking out unexpected experiences in their travel adventures. This research addresses the role of expectations in a context where customers are seeking the unexpected. This work also incorporates Russell's circumplex theory of affect to illustrate the importance of achieving a positive, high activation state on the path to customer satisfaction. Findings indicate that perceptions of novelty, value, conservation focus, authentic cultural experience, and freedom of exploration are drivers of customer satisfaction, but perceptions of tranquility and the presence of animals are not. Results imply that the desire to seek animals or tranquil settings motivate the desire to book an adventure travel experience, but satisfaction with the experience itself will require the delivery of experiences that are undiscovered, unexpected, and go beyond consumers' preconceived notions. These novel experiences produce the high activation and positive disconfirmation that drive customer satisfaction in this unique travel context.

Je viens d’Alep, itinéraire d’un réfugié ordinaire

Je viens d’Alep, itinéraire d’un réfugié ordinaire

Targeting sustainable outcomes with adventure tourism: A political ecology approach

Sustainability is a dominant paradigm in tourism research yet a lack of research on alternative tourism sectors to deliver sustainable outcomes hinders sustainable tourism research, planning, implementation, policy and management. This research uses a political ecology lens, to dissect how destinations can harness adventure tourism to achieve relevant sustainability objectives. Adventure tourism is not in itself sustainable but by targeting adventure travel that attracts passionate, high-paying tourists to participate in activities specifically suited to local landscapes, communities have the potential to create bespoke tourism products that fit the socio-ecological system and produce clear conservation and sustainable development outcomes.

Strengthening Tourists’ Engagement in Guided Hiking and Trekking

Many providers in adventure travel promote organised hiking and trekking tours. Such guided tours shall be engaging for the tourists and evoke positive attitudes towards enjoying nature. We present the Trekking Engagement Profile as a tool to evaluate engagement factors of such guided tours, based on engagement research performed in a different domain, namely evaluating engagement in museums and science centres. This tool shall strengthen the guides’ soft skills and enable them to increase engagement during an ongoing arrangement. For instance, the Trekking Engagement Profile can be applied when tourists indicate that the quality of a guided tour is not entirely to their liking. We show the viability of using the Trekking Engagement Profile in a small study with guides and participants of trekking tours offered by the Norwegian Trekking Association. Further, we offer guidance and charts to promote its practical use.

Professional Identity Representation in a Successful Intercultural Communication: A Socio-Cognitive Perspective

The aims of this research were to analyze the representation of professional identity through the language use in email correspondence, the way it was achieved, and its implication toward a successful intercultural communication. The model of analyzing the language usage in this research was based on Van Djik’s socio-cognitive perspective (2018) and the work of Patel, et. al (2011) in which they argue that the language usage is a results of mental processing. The mental processes in this research was specified into conclusion withdrawal about other culture which then used for an effective intercultural communication and intended to be a successful one. This research was qualitative in nature in which it was described descriptively. The source of the data in this research was the email correspondence conducted by the employees of Adventure Lombok tour and travel. The data were collected through observation and transcript analysis. The results of this research indicated that the employees of Adventure Lombok company were indeed represented their professional identity, this professional Identity was reflected and accomplished through a variety of ways which were consideration toward their customers preferences, a prompt and accommodating reply, providing honest suggestion, and service oriented which then lead to a successful intercultural communication that can be seen from the sells that the employees made. All of these were believed to be the result of previous ‘intercultural contact’ which were stored within the cognitive of the employees and retrieved for later use. This result is in line with Li and Patel (2011:22) in which they argued that “intercultural communication is influenced by the quality of the intercultural contact that we have in our personal and professional environments”.

New Trends in Adventure Tourism: A Lesson from 6th International Adventure Conference, 30 January- 2 February 2018, Segovia, Spain

This article tries to assess new trends in adventure tourism with the review of 6th international adventure conference- 2018 organized by Adventure Tourism Research Association (ATRA). For the review, the ‘book of abstracts’ which includes 41 abstracts of papers is studied and analyzed to come up with the findings and gaps in the studies. The study found some new trends and ideas in adventure tourism related to adventure activities, adventure challenges and adventure travelers’ motivation. Further, the article identifies gaps in the conference papers and suggest applicable research areas for extending and developing the subject area in such future events.

Health risks associated with recreational water activities

Recreational water activities are becoming increasingly popular among travelers, especially for adventurous people who like to try something new in their life. The aquatic environment can provide enjoyment as well as health hazards to someone who involve in it. In particular, adventure travel and water sports are considered high-risk activities. Most of water activities are tightly regulated to ensure safety, but accidents and other risk do occur. Health risks during activities in fresh water or ocean water vary from infectious disease and drowning to marine envenomation, decompression sickness, and hypothermia. Most of the risks are highly preventable with proper planning and preparation. Travel medicine physicians need to understand the scope of the problem and provide individualized travel advice during a pre-travel consultation visit.

Illnesses Associated with Freshwater Recreation During International Travel.

International travel, adventure travel, and eco-tourism are increasing over the past few decades. This review aims to summarize the spectrum of infections associated with recreational freshwater activities and international travel. Recreational water activities can be associated with a wide range of infections. Acute febrile illnesses due to leptospirosis and schistosomiasis are not uncommon in travelers following extensive freshwater exposure. Aeromonas and other water-associated pathogens are important to consider in a traveler presenting with a skin and soft tissue infection. Recreational water activities are often associated with diarrheal illnesses, especially in children, and the range of enteric pathogens includes bacterial pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella species and the protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia duodenalis. Infections due to free-living amebas though rare can lead to fulminant central nervous system infections. A diverse range of infections may be associated with freshwater exposure, and it is important that these entities are considered in a returning traveler presenting with an acute illness.

The Effects Of Simulated Hypoxia Bouts On Resting Blood Glucose Levels And Hemodynamics Of A Type 1 Diabetic

Individuals diagnosed with diabetes may choose adventure travel vacations at higher altitudes, thereby perturbing formerly controlled sea level (SL) blood sugar (BG) levels. PURPOSE: We sought to describe change in resting BG concentration, heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) during repeat acute exposure to simulated altitude bouts in a type 1 diabetic (T1D) vs a non-diabetic (ND). We hypothesized T1D would encounter less stable readings on all variables. METHODS: Two male participants (n=2), a T1D and ND, 22 and 23 years old, respectively, completed this case study. Participants, simultaneously, visited a lab on six different days [i.e., three days in a row one week (M, T, W) and the same three days the following week (M, T, W)]. They ingested the same meals the night before and day of (1.5-hrs before chamber use). At each visit, BG (Contour Next Link; Parsippany, NJ), HR (Polar, Lake Success, NY), and MAP (Briggs Healthcare, Waukegan, IL) were assessed at rest at SL and during 2-hr/bouts at 10-min intervals using a hypoxic chamber (Hypoxico Inc., New York, NY) set randomly to varying altitudes: SL; 915 m; 1,829 m; 2,743m; 3,658m; and 4,572m. RESULTS: For each variable, magnitude of change (Δ) was averaged over the 6 lab visits and compared at SL and across altitude levels. SL ΔBG (mg/dL), ΔHR (bpm), and ΔMAP (mmHg) for T1D and ND, respectively, were: 19, 16, 18; and 34, 18, 12. T1D maintained a more stable BG at SL over 6 days. When averaging the five altitude levels over 6 days, ΔBG (mg/dL), ΔHR (bpm), and ΔMAP (mmHg) for T1D and ND, respectively, were: 58, 9, 10; and 47, 9, 10. Notably, T1D had a less stable BG during hypoxic exposure. CONCLUSION: Simulated hypoxia perturbed BG to a greater extent in T1D. This could have practical application for when a T1D travels to higher, natural elevations, at which point they should more closely monitor their BG levels with normal food and fluid intake.