Adventure Tourism Activities in New Zealand: Perceptions and Management of Client Risk

Abstract

For many participants, negotiating risk is an attractive feature of structured adventure tourism activities. However, a failure to control that risk will potentially cause harm both to participants directly involved and to the reputation of the activity's operator. In examining adventure tourism, this paper reviews how operators assess risk and explains why clients accept that risk. Following this, a model describing participants' conditions of adventure based on the interactions between their perception of fear of physical hazards and control is proposed. This model is then integrated into a framework that depicts the adventure tourism process. Based on this framework, a number of research areas are suggested and a process for industry standardization is outlined.