Adventure tourism almost always includes one or more of the following: traveling to a distant place, interacting with different peoples and participating in an unusual physical activity.
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If you love paragliding, rock climbing, surfing, spelunking and scuba diving in remote and exotic locations, then you are a hard adventure enthusiast.
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Soft tourist adventures usually include sedate, educational and non-hazardous activities such as bird watching, wine or architectural tours and religious pilgrimages.
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Leo Le Bon established Mountain Tours, the world's first adventure travel company, in 1967 after returning from an expedition to the Annapurna region of Nepal.
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According to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), approximately 20 percent of adult travelers are adventure tourists.
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the adventure market earned more than $245 million in revenue in 2003.
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Adventure-seeking women, both single and married, make up the fastest-growing segment of the adventure tourism industry. Adventure Women is just one of many tour operators catering to the needs of female adventure travelers.
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Two-thirds of the divorces of couples in their forties and fifties are initiated by women, with many of these women looking to adventure travel to fulfill their new dreams of fun and excitement.
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Many adventure travelers claim there are psychological benefits to adventure travel. Increased self-esteem as a result of completing new and challenging tasks and the clear headedness that comes with travel to remote and beautiful places are just two of them.
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Space tourism may be the new frontier of adventure tourism. It's limited in scope at this point and at $20 million for a one-week stay, probably not in everyone's budget.
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Hilton Hotels has begun plans to open the galaxy's first space hotel. Travel adventurers with money to spare will surely be among its first guests.
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For the guy (or gal) who always wanted a chance to play in the major leagues or to drive a race car, venues like baseball fantasy camps and NASCAR driving schools are popular choices.
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City Slickers starring Billy Crystal may very well have inspired cattle drive adventure vacations, one of the most popular adventure vacations. The main character embarks on a spiritual journey as a cattle driver in the untamed West.
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A safari is an exciting soft adventure popular with all ages. You may even have a chance to see the "big five" -- the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.
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Among the top 10 adventure travel destinations, you will find the Pyramids in Egypt and the Taj Mahal in India.
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You can purchase travel insurance through your adventure tour agency or from your regular insurance provider.
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The Joshua Tree Rock Climbing School will teach you how to rock climb by starting you out on small boulder faces. After about a week of personal instruction, you'll be ready to rock.
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The Wintergreen Dog Sledding Lodge, located in Minnesota's north woods, offers several overnight trips to choose from. Travel by dog sled by day and sleep in warm cabins along the trail at night.
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For a religious experience that lets you trace the steps of Jesus or take a bike ride to the Dead Sea, call Walkways, a tour operator that specializes in religious pilgrimages to the Middle East.
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Revolutions, uprisings and terrorist activity can put a damper on local tourism, and the adventure travel industry has felt the effects of political instability in different regions.
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