Recent Adventure Travel Business Trends

Recent business trends, which are shaping the indust

ry are discussed briefly below.Itineraries

Adventure tour operators continue to expand itineraries to cater to travelers seeking more unique destinations and

experiences. The average number of distinct itineraries offered increased 24.4% from 57.9 in 2011 to 72 in 2012

(ATTA, 2012). Areas a

s remote as the fabled Northwest Passage have begun to attract visitors, and travelers and

tour operators alike are searching for emerging countries and attractions that have yet to reach mass appeal.

Marketing

As the demand for adventure tourism increases

and spreads across a greater of number of destinations, internet

marketing is growing in importance. The largest increases in tour operators’ 2012 marketing budgets were in

search engine optimization and social media. On average, tourism operators repor

ted an increase of 17% to their

search engine optimization efforts, an indication of the need to reach targeted affinity groups at the research stage

of their purchasing cycle. Tour operators also reported an increase of 16% to their social media budget (

ATTA,

2012). With numerous social media outlets to share their opinions with growing audiences, consumers have never had more power to promote or disparage a destination or enterprise. Tourism marketers are recognizing the need to shape and guide the dis cussion to maximize the benefits of social media marketing.

        Distribution

Unlike other types of tourism products and services, adventure

tourism has been slow to take advantage of online channels for

distribution. As a classic “long tail” sector, adven

ture tourism’s vast

global inventory of activities and accommodations is fragmented and

highly changeable. Many of the world’s adventure tourism activity

and service providers do not maintain a website because of their

remote location, limited marketing e

xpertise or difficulty in simply

accessing the Internet. In addition travelers

–

in cases where they

have the option of booking adventure travel online

–

have been

reluctant to do so because of perceived risks associated with the trip

itself, or a lack of

comfort booking something as complex as a multi

-

stage adventure excursion over the internet. Given these realities,

the adventure travel sector has presented many difficulties for

technology companies entering the industry with an online distribution service.

This is changing, however. One company that provides a booking

engine service for adventure companies noted that the number of

travelers accessing tour operator websites to book trips increased

from 8% to 18% between 2010 and 2011. And a plethora

of new

companies as well as established online travel retailers have

entered this category with online distribution platforms, which

organize offerings and help promote them in new ways (Heyniger,2012)