Trends in hard and soft adventure
holidays

Euromonitor International
21 January 2011

In August 2010, a report published by George Washington University (GW), Adventure Travel Trade Association
(ATTA) and Xola Consulting confirmed that travellers are becoming more adventurous and seek new experiences.
According to the survey, which was carried out across Latin America, North America and Europe in late 2009,
adventure travellers globally represent a significant and growing market, worth some US$89 billion annually. Such
consumers are therefore of increasing interest to tour operators, travel agents and other travel companies, as well as
manufacturers of a variety of outdoor wear and equipment.
In the countries surveyed, 26% of respondents indicated that they participated in adventure travel activities. The term
'adventure holiday' is open to some interpretation. The study breaks it down into 'hard adventure', which involves
high risk activities that require a high level of skill, such as trekking, climbing and caving; 'soft adventure', which
involves less taxing activities such as skiing, scuba diving, archaeology trips, etc; and 'other', which includes cruises,
walking holidays and cultural activities.
Table 1

Activities by Type

Activity
Hard
Archeological expeditions
Attending local festivals/fairs
Backpacking
Birdwatching
Camping
Canoeing
Caving
Climbing (mountain/rock/ice)
Cruise
Cultural activities
Cycling
Eco-tourism
Educational programs
Environmentally sustainable
activities
Fishing/fly-fishing
Getting to know the locals
Hiking
Horseback riding
Hunting
Kayaking/sea/whitewater
Learning a new language
Orienteering
Rafting
Research expeditions
Safaris
Sailing
Scuba Diving
Snorkeling
Skiing/snowboarding
Surfing
Trekking
Walking tours
Visiting friends/family
Visiting historical sites
Volunteer Tourism
Source:

Soft
X

Other
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Adventure Tourism Market Report 2010 (George Washington University School of Business, ATTA and Xola
Consulting)

Soft adventure increasing in popularity
According to the study, hard adventure trips accounted for less than 2% of the population, while 25% went on soft
adventure trips and 74% on 'other' adventure holidays. In all three regions, soft adventure increased steadily over
travellers' past three trips and continued to do so with regard to future travel intentions. Latin Americans took the
most adventure trips (35% of total outbound travellers, compared to 23% for European travellers and 18% for North
American travellers), while around 43% of Europeans indicated that for their next holiday they would take a soft
adventure trip. Germans, in particular, drove growth in “hard adventure” trips.

The GW/ATTA/Xola study found that adventure travellers place importance on exploring new places and meeting
and engaging with local cultures while on holiday. Overall, adventure travellers are equally likely to be single or
married, and equally likely to be male or female. The majority are between 35-47 years old. They are also more
highly educated than other types of travellers, with 70% of hard adventurers and 63% of soft adventurers having
post-secondary education. Consequently, adventure travellers also have higher levels of disposable income.

Soft adventure travellers don't necessarily travel far, but spend a lot
It is important to note that 75% of hard adventure travelers have passports while only 56.5% of soft adventure
travellers have them, which suggests that a lot of soft adventure is happening in the domestic tourism market. 63.7%
of other travellers have passports. However, soft adventure travellers spend more on average than the other two
types of adventure travellers.
Table 2

Average Spending per Trip Excluding Airfare by Adventure Type

US$
European Travelers
North American Travelers
Latin American Travelers
All 3 Regions
Source:

Hard
500
500
375
462

Soft
525
914
861
822

Other
483
605
835
591

Adventure Tourism Market Report 2010 (George Washington University School of Business, ATTA and Xola
Consulting)

Adventure travellers segmented by age group
The characteristics of adventure travellers vary according to age group, according to the GW/ATTA/Xola study, and
the needs of these different groups must be addressed by tour operators and travel agents.
The younger generation, Generation Y, tend to have small budgets but plenty of time to travel, since they often take
a 'gap year' after university, or between jobs, in order to fulfil their dreams of travelling. This type of traveller tends
to seek authentic experiences, connecting with local people or trekking long distances or taking long bus or train
journeys. Budget and value are the key selling points for this group, although sustainability/responsibility plays a
surprisingly high role in decision making.
Generation X travellers have often travelled extensively in their youth or studied abroad during college. They are
confident navigating the internet to find good deals and new destinations. However, now that they have demanding
jobs they are time poor and want to get the most possible out of their limited holiday time. They demand once-in-alifetime experiences, such as hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, and are prepared to splurge to achieve them.
The Baby Boomer generation is either discovering or re-discovering the adventure travel experience later in life.
Many empty nesters have extra time and money on their hands and are still fit and healthy. They are curious to do
things they could not do in their working years or have not done since their youth. They have large budgets and
value adventure combined with a cultural experience. They tend to book through tour operators and may take more
than one trip per year.
Table 3

Characteristics of Adventure Travellers by Age Group

Characteristic
Age segment
Small budgets, seeking value
Generation Y
Time for travel, hence longer trips
Seek authentic experiences/connect with local people
High users of the internet to research travel, especially social networking
Sustainability/responsibility play a high role
Experience of travelling throughout their youth
Generation X
Adept at navigating the internet to find good deals and new destinations
Time poor
Big budgets
Demand once-in-a-lifetime experiences
Seek new experiences or want to recreate experiences from youthBaby Boomers
Empty nesters have extra time and money to dedicate to holidays
Big budgets
Prefer soft adventure combined with cultural experiences
Less experienced with internet, more likely to book through tour operators
May take several trips in one year
Source:

Adventure Tourism Market Report 2010 (George Washington University School of Business, ATTA and Xola
Consulting)

Reaching the adventure traveller
Most adventure travellers use the internet to research their trips, with the majority of these going directly to Google
with generic search terms such as the destination name. Around 20% use social media to learn about the destination,
either by reading a blog post or viewing a friend's photos on a social networking site.

Table 4

Most Used Social Networking Sites by Adventure Travellers %

Social network
%
34.3
11.9
8.6
7.1
5.9
3.3

Facebook
MySpace
Twitter
Hi5
Orkut
Flickr
Source:

Table 5

Adventure Tourism Market Report 2010 (George Washington University School of Business, ATTA and Xola
Consulting)

Top Magazines Being Read by Adventure Travellers in the US only

Magazine
Local daily newspaper
People
National Geographic
Newsweek
Time
Reader’s Digest
Cosmopolitan
CondeNast Traveler
Glamour
GQ
Source:

Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Adventure Tourism Market Report 2010 (George Washington University School of Business, ATTA and Xola
Consulting)

Europe leads the way in adventure/trekking travel retail sales

Not surprisingly, seven out of the ten largest markets for adventure/trekking travel retail sales are Western European.
With a culture of sabbaticals and gap years, many Europeans travel to explore nature.
Although most countries saw declines in sales, Switzerland and Australia saw increases. In the case of Australia, the
target consumer group for this product – those in their 20s and 30s – is the demographic that has been least impacted
by the economic downturn. Without sufficient wealth to lose in the stock market, and with mortgage rates falling,
this demographic took advantage of the bargains that the crisis has produced. The focus on adventure travel by
leading travel retailer Flight Centre Ltd, since it formed a joint venture with Intrepid Travel in 2008, has provided an
additional stimulus. Furthermore, adventure /trekking holidays will continue to grow due to the increased
accessibility of many of the most desirable locations with a growing number of more affordable flights to South
Asia, Africa and Latin America.
For Switzerland, backing this growth in adventure/trekking sales are several trends, among which nature-affined
travelling is the strongest. Also, holiday makers tended to holiday closer to home in 2009. Finally, accommodation
for these kinds of holidays tends to be basic, and cheaper, than with other types of holiday. The hostels category
benefited from this growth both inside Switzerland and outside.
A representative survey conducted in September 2009 by Zurich-based LINK Institute for Coopzeitung (514
interviews) showed that for 41% of Swiss holiday makers (44% of women, 38% of men), peace and quiet is the most
important factor. 23% want to get to know their holiday destination, and 18% are after adventures and new
experiences (23% of men, 14% of women). For 13%, the weather and the climate are decisive factors, and only 4%
make food and drink the basis of their holiday.
Table 6

Adventure/Trekking Travel Retail Sales US$ Million)

Top Countries
Top Countries
USA
United Kingdom
Japan
Switzerland
Germany
France
Italy
Austria
Netherlands
Australia
Source:

2009% Growth 2008/2009
4,750
-6.1
2,473
-11.4
1,283
-5.3
801
10.5
779
-5.6
737
-7.4
704
-1.6
453
-3.5
401
-9.0
367
4.5

2008
2,825
2,057
1,808
1,724
1,912
1,351
1,113
987
749
731

2009% Growth 2008/2009
2,634
-6.8
1,919
-6.8
1,718
-5.0
1,679
-2.6
1,549
-19.0
1,430
5.8
1,022
-8.1
998
1.1
744
-0.7
735
0.5

Euromonitor International

Table 7

Number of Backpacker Departures, '000

Top Countries
Top Countries
Germany
France
Japan
Belgium
United Kingdom
Italy
Russia
Sweden
Netherlands
Switzerland
Source:

2008
5,058
2,792
1,355
725
825
796
715
470
441
351

Euromonitor International

For further insight, contact Michelle Grant, Travel and Tourism Analyst at Euromonitor International,
michelle.grant@euromonitorintl.com