This is a summary of our statistics please call or
email us for more detail in any section.
The short notes would be:
Distributors: Adventure is hot, if you are
not selling it you are missing out.
Suppliers: If you don't have online sales
for customers and distribution to networks - you should.
Adventure Travel Industry Size
Consumer Interest and Demographic
Challenges facing consumer
Tour Product type
Online sales behavior
Supporting Stats
Adventure Travel Industry Size
The last extensive study was completed in the year
2000 showing adventure travel as 7% of total travel
market. There is consistent agreement the market is
growing rapidly yet no further research has been competed
on a global scale. Adventureengine has included its
user statistics along with other industry data to
highlight this lucrative market opportunity. Globally,
it could rival cruise lines in the coming years yet
is relatively untapped by agents. The statistical
estimate of $8 billion US$ from the year 2000 may
be significantly low in today’s marketplace,
in fact some organization claim the total is closer
to 30 billion now.
This is an opportunity for organizations such for
agent applications/ agencies quick to adopt and capitalize
on this segment. Please review supporting statistics
in the appendix.
Consumer Interest and demographic
Geographically, North Americans and Europeans dominate
the overall adventure travel
market, although it is growing in other regions of
the world (Swarbrooke et al., 2003).
“There will be a tremendous increase in adventure
travel with distinctions between those who really
want to experience life on the edge and those older
Boomers who want to think they are experiencing the
edge, but with moderation and comfort.”
http://www.joinvacation.com/pressrel_011107.htm (point
6)
Traditionally Adventure was the stomping grounds
of the young.
The young professional is certainly a strong participant
in this travel sector as well.
However studies show more and more the Boomer generation
is engaging in experiential and adventure travel and
changing the face of the industry.
Today's adventure travel is increasingly aimed at
providing a “life experience” and is certainly
not directed solely at extreme type activities.
“Adventure” can encompass unique wildlife
encounters, cultural encounters, visiting remote “less
touristed” areas, social and educational programs
including aspects of humanitarian work or donation.
This is a relevant experience of course and can also
be related to the traveler’s dreams of participating
in a certain activity and/or location.
To meet these demands there is a rapid growth of trips
which combine a activities in variety of ability levels,
visiting an increasing array of locations and combing
an element of adventure with 5 star amenities.
As Adventure Engine grows its database we are targeting
companies that have both international offerings,
high end experiences and an excellent volume of opportunities
to meet this markets needs.
• A majority of boomers consider themselves
adventurous (55%) and nearly 8 in 10 boomers (77%)
consider their own travel experiences more adventurous
than their parents.
AARP 2005 Travel &Adventure Report: Snapshot of
Boomers Travel and Adventure Experience.
• Boomers see themselves as forever young.
"Adult teenagers" is the way Phil Goodman,
co-author of the Boomer Marketing Revolution, described
boomers. "Boomers will always try to act much
younger than their chronological age." As a result,
boomers still want to fulfill the dreams they had
at 25 –
Association of Travel Marketing Executives: Boomers
• Chuck Hurst, JWT Mature Market Group, reveals
that in a study of 25 to 75 year olds, those 50 to
54 experienced more life changing events and transitions
in the past five years than any other age group.
• According to the survey by American Express
Financial Advisors, 85% of boomers see their retirement
as a time for “learning and self-discovery”,
65% for “reinventing oneself” and 51%
for a “new beginning.”
Eons Time, 2006
• Capturing this trend will be essential for
agents and suppliers alike as Boomers travel more,
expect more and with a transfer of inherited funds
estimated at over 10 trillion dollars* in the next
15 years it’s not a market to ignore..
*Age Power: How the 21st Century will be Ruled by
the New Old, by Dr. Ken Dychtwald
Challenges facing
consumer:
The industry demand for Adventure Travel is making
this niche one of the fastest growing travel sectors.
For consumers to FIND these adventures is extremely
challenging.
There are directory sites which commonly list the
same high end companies and the consumer must contact
the companies directly for availability making research
time consuming.
Adventure Engine has many of these companies in its
database with Real Time availability – no calling
required= instant gratification for consumers.
For access to small to mid size operations (these
companies may do 1-10 million in revenues per year
their trips vary from $99 day excursion to high end
$5-10,000 trips) Adventure Engine is the only aggregated
source of real time inventory currently for this product
via XML.
For forward looking Online Travel sites and Agency
application being first to market to host these trips
in an appropriate environment for clients will provide
significant leverage.
Tour Product type
Trips are classified into 2 main categories –
turn key and complex sales.
Turn Key: may be purchased online without the client
calling an operator/agent first.
• Price point under $1500. (however activity
type and geography can provide confidence buying behavior
in clients and allow for turnkey purchases of higher
price products)
• Typically this will be a trip that is added
after a destination is chosen or as part of a larger
vacation bundle.
• Typically a “familiar” activity
that is similar internationally.
Examples: single day rafting, 2 day biking, wildlife
viewing, retreat
Complex Sale: client requires guidance in the purchase
(from operator or agent)
• Price Point over $1500
• Typically this trip will determine destination
of trip (flights are dictated by choice of activity)
• Unique or complex activity. Factors vary but
may include terrain, geography, activity type.
• Trips in this range can cost $1,500 –
$15,000 per person and given they are “life
experiences” require more education of client
on choices and best options for an optimum experience.
Examples: heli ventures, safaris
*** NOTE: we do experience limited sales of trips
over $1800 without consultation calls through operator’s
sites and Lonely Planet. Where follow up was completed
clients indicated they are return clients, word of
mouth referrals sited for purchase or general comfort
purchasing from a reputable / know supplier or web
site. As the AEI distribution network expands, we
anticipate more of these purchases being made. Hence
the importance of having a turn key shopping portal
on Agency web sites for visitor’s convenience.
Adventure Engine currently carries approximately
75% “complex sales” type trips and intends
to expand its volume significantly in this direction
with plans to reach $900,000,000 in inventory by the
end of 2007.
Online Statistics
"To succeed in the brave new world of online
travel, industry players must be willing to reinvent
themselves to keep up with consumer, technology and
competitive forces," said Jeffrey Grau, senior
analyst and author of the report "U.S. Online
Travel"
• 79% of US travelers are now online (over
98 million)– six percentage points above US
average
• More than half -- 55% -- of online leisure
travelers book online (“Bookers”)
• US leisure Bookers will buy more than $74.4
billion of leisure travel online in 2006
• Online spending will exceed $129 billion by
2010
(Source: Foresters , OTA) http://tia.usdm.net/resources/MOF/2006_MOF.ppt#1445,44,Buying
Travel Online Has Become Routine
• Online bookings will surpass offline for first
time
In 2007 for the first time, internet transactions
will account for over half of all US travel bookings,
according to a new report from PhoCusWright.
comScore Networks, Yahoo!, and Media Contacts released
new research recently underlining the role of Web
search engines on domestic travel spending.
The study looked at the search, visiting and buying
behaviour of consumers over eight weeks following
the initiation of travel research in April 2005. In
that month, 35 million U.S. consumers used a search
engine to initiate travel planning, and those who
bought travel online ultimately spent an estimated
$6.6 billion in the category during the eight week
analysis period. James Lamberti, vice-president of
comScore Search Marketing Solutions, observed: ”We've
long known that the Web is an invaluable resource
for travel planning, and now we've further quantified
the impact of search engines in driving travel bookings.
The latent and multi-channel effects of search are
particularly noteworthy: for every travel purchase
occurring directly after a search referral, an additional
five search-related purchases occur at a later time,
across both online and offline channels.” Of
the 35 million consumers searching for travel in April
2005, close to one-third purchased a travel-related
service either online or offline within the eight
weeks following the initial search.
Among these buyers, 80 per cent completed travel purchases
online. The discovery that 20 per cent of these buyers
ultimately completed a travel purchase offline underscores
the influence of online research across all buying
channels.
www.comscore.com
STATISTICS AND SUPPORTING
REFERENCES
Adventure Engine has over 300 million in adventure
travel products online and plans to grow to 900 million
in the next year. With strong distribution partners
such as Agentfactor this number could increase significantly
as there is untapped potential in the marketplace.
Overall Outlook: Adventure Tourism Market Growth
Statistics and Spending
Specific to adventure travel, in 2000 the international
adventure tourism market was estimated between 4 and
5 million trips, representing about 7% of all international
trips taken during that year. Average expenditure
in that period on adventure travel vacations was $1300
per person. More recent surveys (2005) indicate adventure
travelers’ expenditures continue to rise: nearly
10% of those surveyed said they spend $5,000 or more
on their adventure travel vacations, while 3% spent
$9,000 or more. http://www.xolaconsulting.com/xola_report_final.pdf
A dollar estimate at 5 million trips at 1600$ per
trip (allowing for price inflation WITHOUT considering
market share increase which is estimated at 5.4% growth
annually since the year 2000 report) = $8 billion
US$) Other rate the industry size at closer to 30
billion
“Niche” travel markets such as adventure
continue to thrive. The WTO reports that travel
products such as, “city breaks, cultural tourism,
rural tourism, ecotourism, ‘special interest’
tourism such as health and wellness” continue
to thrive. Further supporting the development
of specialized, niche markets is the parallel growth
we’ve seen in long haul travel, which is
growing at 5.4% annually (WTO, 2005).
http://www.xolaconsulting.com/xola_report_final.pdf
(page 1)
Market Size (Adventure Engine collected statistics)
a) Adventure Collection represents ( 10 members) www.adventurecollection.com
300 million + in annual revenues
95 % sales to USA market
b) Adventureengine.com inventory = GAP, World Expedition,
Iexplore and remainder of smaller companies = 320
million. High USA market sales
c) Trusted Adventures Members = 210 million per year
(7 members – non Adventure Engine affiliated)
http://www.trustedadventures.com/index.cfm
over 80 % sales to USA market
d) AITO. (association of independent tour operators)
has 149 members representing 353 brand names with
a combined annual turnover of £949m and pax
carryings of 1.24million
e) Adventure Engine is currently re visiting our prospect
list to extrapolate figures - we have over 4500 tour
companies listed that are not included in the above
figures.
Of this, the large operator prospect list ( 52 companies)
we are targeting for interfaces includes companies
with est revenues of 10-60 million a year each.
Geographically, North Americans and Europeans dominate
the overall adventure travel market, although it is
growing in other regions of the world
(Swarbrooke et al., 2003).
Domestic Travel
Shifting the focus from international arrivals, many
destinations sought to develop their
domestic markets in 2005, which is less sensitive
to international shocks. In particular,
Domestic tourism in the U.S. already dwarfs international
travel, and saw an increase from
1.1 billion travelers to 1.2 billion http://www.xolaconsulting.com/xola_report_final.pdf
Page 6
More recent surveys (2005) indicate adventure travelers’
expenditures continue to rise: nearly10% of those
surveyed said they spend $5,000 or more on their adventure
travel vacations, while 3% spent $9,000 or more.
http://www.xolaconsulting.com/xola_report_final.pdf
Page 3
Although the exact size of the adventure travel market
is still debatable due to the lack of a standard definition
to measure the market, it is generally agreed that
adventure travel is a newly emerging, fast-growing
sector in the tourism industry (Sorensen 1993; Loverseed
1997; Fluker and Turner 2000). A survey of adventure
travelers in the United States reports that nearly
one-half of U.S. adults, or 98 million people, have
taken an adventure trip in the past 5 years (Travel
Industry Association of America [TIA] 1998). Similarly,
about 45% of Canadian residents engaged in various
outdoor adventure activities during heir trips in
2001, which was overall ranked as the second most
popular type of travel behavior following visiting
friends and relatives (Canadian Tourism Commission
[CTC] 2002).
http://jtr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/4/343
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