Adventure Tourism

I was reading a book about Sport and Adventure Tourism and the book of about the commoditization of adventure.

Perhaps the most significant factor in the development of adventure is the extent to which we really engage in adventure… Adventure is more about uncertainty of outcome… so outdoor recreation cannot be called adventure… but this is how the adventure tourism is marketed.

I agree with the author of the book that many mountains in the world are now are commoditized. I personally don’t like it when I see ladders on my way up Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir), but then again, I guess there must be some commoditization so the companies will work towards marketing the mountains. Commoditization also helps to make treks so much safer, especially for new trekkers.

The book also said that there are generally two types of adventure activities. The broad view of mountain based adventure are activities such as mountain trekking, which are activities which last for sustained period of time, but physical demand is low. The other type is the narrow view and this consists of activities such as at abseiling or rock climbing and these activities are highly charged, intense but are short-lived experiences, probably lasting about one day at most.

Well, my Sabah trek contains both! We are going to trek up Kinabalu and then go white water rafting and diving! Hahaha!

Tags: adventure tourism