In recent years, there has been a marked rise of adventure travel throughout the world. Europe and South America, in particular, are the areas driving up the growth of thrill-seeking. According to a report that was released recently, based on the trends of adventure travel from the areas of both the Latin and North Americas, and Europe, there has been a whopping 65 percent annual increase in growth in the sector.
The study was released by the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and span the years from 2009 to 2012. This has corresponded to a bustling market that has been estimated at $265 billion, from the three regions, which are responsible for the largest share of the world's outbound tourism travelling.
The hard adventure travel, also viewed as those activities which fall into the same category as caving, paragliding and heli-skiing, was found to be enormously popular in South America. The hard travelers from this part of the world showed the highest increase in volume, peaking at just over 153 per-cent annually in the three years.
Europe came in second in this list, also showing a steep average annual increase of 54 per-cent per year in this lucrative niche market. However, the story was different in North America, where, rather than an increment of the volume of hard adventure travel, there was an inverse: a drop of 20 per-cent.
The report also focuses on other regions, which had not been featured in the tourism research. Chief among these were China and South Korea; and the reason for the attention was that the adventure travel is still a new phenomenon in infancy stages in the countries.
Overall, the average percentage change in the trend of adventure travel around the world was found to be an increase, starting with 26 per-cent in 2009, and rising to an impressive 42 percent in 2012. Other factors that were noted in the research included the spending power of the travelers.
The South American thrill seekers were found to have deeper pockets, as compared to a few years back. The spending was increased by a mind-boggling 85 percent. For instance, in the previous year alone, the mean spending of the adult adventurers who were into strenuous and energy-demanding adventures, was $1333. The North American travelers spent $875 per adult, on average, while their European counterparts did better by spending $924 on average.
Their vacations ranged anything from surfing kites to trekking and even exploring caves. This bore testimony to the fact that there are more wealthier residents who are choosing to have an adrenaline-packed adventure on their vacations. These adventures have distinct characteristics, among them being an intimate connection with nature, and having an element of physical exertion.