Adventure Travel Industry Has Fully Recovered From Pandemic Impacts

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:25 PM ET, Wed July 19, 2023

The adventure travel industry appears to have fully rebounded from the pandemic-era downturn.

An annual industry snapshot published by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) shows that revenue, trip fill rates, and staffing have all substantially increased and are nearing 2019 levels.

Conducted in April in both English and Spanish, the ATTA survey reached 144 of its member operators and invited them to share information about their company’s well-being, their 2022 guest profile, and which consumer motivations, activities, and destinations are trending for the current year.

Highlights of the report include:

The most popular adventure travel itinerary is priced at a median of $3,000 and involves an eight-night vacation.
About 76 percent of that $3,000 (or about $2,280 on average) is spent with local supplier
On average, trips were 65 percent full (up from 52 percent in 2021), and only 1 percent of respondents had zero guests in 2022 (down from 9 percent last year and 16 percent in 2020)
The most popular consumer motivations for traveling were new experiences, to go off the beaten track, and to travel like a local 
The hottest trending destinations were the Mediterranean, Western Europe, South America, Scandinavia, and Central America 
Globally, 74% of respondents expect their 2023 net profit to be equal to or better than 2022, and 63% expect it to be higher than 2019

The ATTA industry snapshot also reveals that operators are taking steps to ensure future success— an effort that includes 85 percent having a documented safety and risk management plan and 68 percent already having or working toward a sustainability certification (up from 45 percent one year earlier.)

“I am relieved to see such a momentous change in our operators’ focus on sustainability and also to see that cultural travel moved from number 6 to number 2 as a trending activity,” ATTA CEO Shannon Stowell said in a statement.

“Safety continues to be a priority and there is renewed concentration on employee retention. These are all indicators that businesses are building smarter, leaner and strengthening again despite constant human resource and climate change challenges.”

Want to hear more about the current state of the adventure travel industry? Check out our recent podcast on the topic, which features Stowell's insights.

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