A group of about 20 staff and clients of Canadian tour operator Arctic Kingdom were temporarily stranded when a 30-mile ice floe they were camping on broke off and floated seven miles from its original position in the Arctic Ocean near Canada’s Baffin Island. According to Arctic Kingdom, the group was rescued with the help of Nunavut Protection Services, the local Arctic Bay Search and Rescue organization, Joint Task Force North from Iqaluit, and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.

With the demand for adventure and novel experiences continuing to increase and tour operators trying to outdo each other in meeting the demand it seems inevitable that mishaps will occur. Tour operators have to weigh the risks they take to meet the demand. Where do you draw the line? When is adventure too much?

According to Dan Austin, director of Austin-Lehman Adventures, “As a general rule of thumb we are considered quite conservative. The way I look at it, would I put my family or even more specific my children on the program, activity, region, etc? If it is safe enough for me to send one of my kids, than it is good for all. Picture your 16-year-old daughter coming in and saying, ‘Hey dad, I want to go raft the Zambezi by myself at flood stage.’ I say err on the side of caution and plan on staying in business for the long haul. Thrill seekers are better off on their own.”

Jim Holden, president of African Travel, said, “I think most operators make the distinction between soft adventure and the more adrenaline-type adventure. Soft adventure by definition should be safe and well-tried and tested, minimizing the risk of mishaps. More extreme adventures, such as the Arctic, have followers who are not put off by disasters; in fact they’re probably even more determined to go.”

Bill Robison, director of program development for International Expeditions, said, “I don’t see this issue really as knowing ‘where to draw the line,’ but rather how a company weighs resources versus risk for an adventure, and then communicates that to the guests so that they can make an informed decision about their personal safety. Companies must evaluate the level of experience the guest can expect, the risk in obtaining that experience, and their ability to manage those dangers and respond to emergencies or risks that cannot be fully eliminated.  This all then has to be well communicated to guests so they know the level of risk they are taking.  At IE, we ‘draw the line’ in terms of what kind of products we want to offer, but there are other companies that specialize in the extreme…so obviously their line is in a different place.”