First of Three Parts

THE PRINT “So Many Islands, So Little Time” in front of the t-shirt given out with the seminar kits for the delegates did not say it all.

There could have been a third phrase, “so few visitors,” in the statement to catch the folly of people who happen to read it and to graphically describe the real condition of tourism in the country.

The Seminar on Adventure Tourism in Clark and Subic last June 3-5, 2008, has sparked some interest in the latest craze of outdoor recreations in the hope of capturing the visitors who prefer to go into thrilling and exciting activities. The seminar was attended by some 300 participants from accommodation facilities, adventure/nature parks, adventure providers, consultancy, fairs and exhibit organizers, government agencies, LGUs, marketing companies, media, outdoor equipment apparel, tour operators, tourism councils, and tourist transport operators.

There were nine (9) adventure travel and outdoor sports tackled by the local speakers in the conference – bird watching, surfing, spelunking, trekking/mountaineering, kayaking, rock climbing, rafting, whale watching/butanding interaction, and skin diving/snorkeling. Actually, if we define adventure tourism in the context of these activities, then there is nothing new about it. It’s just a matter of semantics – a new name concocted by people in the tourism business so that there is something to talk about, a reason for some junket.

It took a whole morning of briefing and orientation for the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC) and the Department of Tourism (DOT), outfitters of the seminar-workshop, to make things clear of their objectives to promote Adventure Philippines. The whole conference was indeed informative and has opened new doors for the tourism industry and has proven to be “more than the usual” conference.

An overview of adventure travel and outdoor recreation was discussed by Russell Walters, board member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), an international group which specializes in this kind of activities. He introduced adventure travel by starting with what the man in the street would describe it or associate it with, such as “Spa-like: its all about spa!”; “It’s dangerous, you must suffer!”; “It’s on the road”; “Something different, something you have not experienced before.” Bicycling and fishing are the most popular among travelers who went into “adventure” activities which also include hiking, camping, and trail running.

Walters went on talking about the core attributes of adventure travel which encompass aspects of culture and heritage tourism, active travel incorporating hard and soft adventures, some components of environmental interaction, nature-based travel (eco-tourism in local parlance), the so-called Green Travel, sustainable travel, etc.

Walters emphasized that these core attributes are the keywords for attracting a bigger tourist market who would not only be thinking merely of adventure travel as “often involving perceived risk or controlled danger…” but also an “enriching authentic community- based experience.”

Another key factor in considering potential markets is the availability of vacation time. Statistics show that of the 639 Million outbound trips worldwide, over half of which was generated with the Europeans, Americans account only 24%, Asia Pacific with 17% and just 3% for the Middle East and Africa. Italians usually stay longest at 42 days, French 37, Germans 35, and Brazilians 34; tourists from the UK, Canada, Korea and Japan stay more than three weeks but less than a month; Americans for a maximum of just two weeks; and the Southeast Asians stay the shortest of up to five days only. (To be continued)

Leave a Reply