Outdoor Recreation and Adventure Tourism: Unique but Allied Industries

Outdoor recreation and adventure tourism are overlapping industries serving similar clientele. While descriptive marketing research exists for both industries (George Washington University School of Business [GW], Adventure Travel Trade Association [ATTA], & Xola Consulting [XC], 2010; Outdoor Foundation [OF], 2014), there is no clear distinction between those who recreate routinely in their home region and those who travel a significant distance for adventure activities. As such, national reports on outdoor recreation participation (cf. OF, 2014) are useful as economic indicators, but not very instructive for industry policy and practice. The purpose of this study was to contrast descriptive statistics and participation patterns of adventure tourists with active local residents attending an annual outdoor event. The findings demonstrate that there are differences of which both industries should be aware. For example, while outdoor recreation is often portrayed as an upper-class activity, that only held true for tourists in this study. Poorer local residents were involved in more outdoor activities than were residents in higher income classes. This and other atypical findings draw attention to the need for regional data to supplement national reports.