What is Adventure Tourism?
Adventure Tourism is a specialized and transformative sector of the tourism industry that merges exploration, physical activity, cultural immersion, and a deep connection with nature. It encompasses a wide variety of outdoor activities and experiences that challenge individuals physically, mentally, and emotionally, while promoting personal growth, environmental stewardship, and cultural appreciation.
​
From thrilling pursuits such as 4x4 expeditions, rock climbing, white-water rafting, and zip-lining to immersive educational experiences like wilderness survival, team-building camps, and guided hikes, Adventure Tourism is characterized by its focus on active engagement and meaningful interactions with the natural world and local communities. This sector is diverse, catering to adventure seekers, school and corporate groups, families, and individuals looking to step outside of their comfort zones.
​
At its heart, Adventure Tourism is built on principles of sustainability, safety, and respect for the environment and local cultures. It actively promotes responsible tourism practices, emphasizing the conservation of natural landscapes and the empowerment of local communities. Adventure guides and facilitators play a critical role in this industry, offering professional expertise and ensuring safe, ethical, and enriching experiences for participants.
As a cornerstone of economic growth and environmental advocacy, Adventure Tourism not only drives local and international travel but also fosters opportunities for entrepreneurship, job creation, and skills development. It represents a commitment to adventure, education, and creating lasting memories through a deep respect for nature, people, and culture.
Adventure Guide
An Adventure Tourist Guide in South Africa is a highly skilled and legally registered professional who is responsible for leading and facilitating safe, educational, and enriching adventure experiences for local and international tourists. This role involves a combination of technical expertise, specialized training, and an in-depth understanding of both the natural and cultural landscapes of the region.
Adventure Tourist Guides operate within the framework of South Africa’s Tourism Act, which legally requires all guides to be qualified and registered with their respective provincial tourism registrars. Adventure Tourist Guides, in particular, fall under the "adventure guiding" category, one of the three recognized types of tourist guiding in South Africa, alongside nature and culture guiding. These guides must prove their competence in both theoretical tourist guiding and their specific adventure scope or activity. Their guiding credentials are reflected on their official guiding card, which clearly indicates their specialization and any activity limitations.
These professionals are trained to ensure the safety and enjoyment of their clients while navigating various high-risk outdoor environments such as mountains, rivers, forests, deserts, and coastal areas. Their activities may include hiking, abseiling, rock climbing, 4x4 expeditions, white-water rafting, shark-cage diving, kayaking, target shooting, or quad biking, among many others. The training required for an Adventure Tourist Guide is extensive and includes both general guiding qualifications (such as the Further Education and Training Certificate in Tourist Guiding, SAQA ID 71549) and activity-specific skills training, which must be completed through accredited training providers. Additionally, wilderness first aid certification is often mandatory, emphasizing a focus on safety in remote areas.
The role of an Adventure Tourist Guide goes beyond technical proficiency. These professionals are responsible for delivering exceptional visitor experiences by sharing their knowledge of South Africa's natural and cultural heritage while promoting sustainable and responsible tourism practices. They play a critical role in preserving the integrity of the adventure tourism industry by adhering to high ethical and safety standards, abiding by SA AIA's Code of Conduct, and fostering a deep respect for the environment and local communities.
In South Africa, Adventure Tourist Guides face unique challenges, such as accessibility to training, affordability, and gaining recognition within a competitive industry. This is where industry bodies like the South African Adventure Industry Association (SA AIA) step in to provide advocacy, professional development opportunities, and support for guides through mentorship, access to training, and representation to regulatory bodies.
Adventure Tourist Guides are not only ambassadors of South Africa’s diverse landscapes but also stewards of safety, professionalism, and sustainability within the adventure tourism industry. Their work is vital to maintaining the credibility, growth, and reputation of adventure tourism in South Africa, ensuring that visitors leave with unforgettable memories while contributing positively to the country’s tourism sector.
Hard Adventure
Hard adventure refers to activities with high levels of risk, requiring intense commitment and advanced skills. Hard tourism includes the activities like climbing mountains/rock/ice, trekking, caving etc.
​
Hard adventure activities are highly risked in nature. Professional guides with advanced-level skills are required to perform these activities.
-
Caving
-
Mountain Climbing
-
Rock Climbing
-
Ice Climbing
-
Trekking
-
Sky Diving
-
Scuba Diving
-
Kayaking
-
Abseiling
-
Canyoneering / "Kloofing"
-
and much more...
Soft Adventure
Soft adventure refers to activities with a perceived risk but low levels of risk, requiring minimal commitment and beginner skills; most of these activities are led by experienced guides.
​
Soft adventure activities are low risk in nature. These activities are led by professional guides. Soft adventure is a popular category in adventure tourism.
-
Backpacking
-
Birdwatching
-
Camping (typically at established campsites)
-
Canoeing
-
Eco-tourism
-
Fishing
-
Hiking (typically day hikes on easy terrain)
-
Horseback riding
-
Hunting
-
Kayaking/sea/whitewater
-
Orienteering
-
Safaris
-
Scuba Diving
-
Snorkeling
-
Skiing
-
Snowboarding
-
Surfing
-
School outdoor education camps
-
and much more...
Outdoor Education
Outdoor education, also known as Experiential Learning, is an engaged learning process whereby students “learn by doing” and by reflecting on the experience.
Experiential learning activities can include, but are not limited to, hands-on laboratory experiments, internships, practicums, field exercises, study abroad, undergraduate research and studio performances.
​
Well-planned, supervised and assessed experiential learning programmes can stimulate academic inquiry by promoting interdisciplinary learning, civic engagement, career development, cultural awareness, leadership, and other professional and intellectual skills.
​
Learning that is considered “experiential” contains all the following elements:
-
Reflection, critical analysis and synthesis.
-
Opportunities for students to take initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for the results.
-
Opportunities for students to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, or physically.
-
A designed learning experience that includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes, and successes.
​
Some benefits of Outdoor Education:
-
It builds community
-
It raises expectations and standards
-
It increases connection
-
It builds culture
-
It develops positive feelings and memories around school or the workplace, and the outdoors.
​
People that work in the outdoor education are know as outdoor adventure learning facilitators. People in these occupations are facilitating experiences where the core purpose is not only fun but also to change thinking and behaviour whether for educational, developmental or therapeutic applications. The objective is to structure intentional activities to reflect on and transfer the learning from the experience to real life, making it applicable to different situations away from the adventure experience.
These people are working as either freelance facilitators or permanently employed at either a school campsite or a corporate team building provider. Some providers offer both these specialities. These facilitators will keep themselves busy with both the technical application of skills and interpersonal facilitation skills.
Adventure Therapy
Adventure therapy is a type of experiential therapy that uses challenging adventure activities to aid the therapeutic healing process. It helps promote healthy identity development, self-efficacy, grit, and a growth mindset.
At an adventure therapy programme, clients get the opportunity to engage in various new activities and experience several novel environments during their experience.
Adventure therapy activities should be facilitated in an intentionally therapeutic manner. Clients are doing more than just rock climbing or skiing. They learn to listen, keep themselves safe, learn emotional regulation skills, and develop grit as they push themselves to overcome challenging tasks.
The challenges clients face through any therapeutic adventure programme should be designed to forge an identity, build resiliency, and improve self-efficacy, just to name a few.
​
Adventure Therapy is not common in South Africa, and there is a huge gap in the therapeutic space that accommodates safe adventure therapeutic programmes and practices.
Experience Facilitation
The term expands beyond Outdoor and Adventure experiences but also using the methodology of outdoor and adventure to facilitate experiences with families, churchgroups, in-house corporate groups.
​
This refers to the offering of an experience where the following factors are integrated; people, the outdoors, adventure, business, facilitation, instruction, competence, learning, development, therapeutic awareness, the environment, and safety. The approach teaches that you cannot have a rich experience if these factors (at varying levels) are not part of the equation.
Facilitating life/organisational/community changing experiences. Experience Facilitation is a combination of guiding, exploration, and learning.
Working with people is one of the most satisfying occupations in the world, working with people in the outdoors is even more satisfying. Seeing people’s reactions when they find an experience pleasurable or enriching is priceless. Experiencing it when someone changes their thinking and or behaviour after an intentional intervention is even better. Being part of a process where you contributed to where a person’s new found insights are impacting communities is more than encouraging!
The reward of appreciating adventurous endeavours in the outdoors is recognised but at the same time neglected. Not only is it an avenue to facilitate experiences in the outdoors, but also to use the methodology and spirit of outdoor adventure experiences in an indoor environment.
In South Africa, the outdoor and adventure industry is known for two main occupations.
The two occupations that combine people, the outdoors and adventure is Adventure Guiding (Tourism) and Adventure Related Experiential Learning Facilitation (Camp Facilitators). Some may argue that nature guiding is also part of this.
