New Standard for Adventure Tourism Development Set To Launch in 2008

Adventure Tourism Development Index

In partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association and Xola Consulting, Inc. The George Washington University is slated to launch the Adventure Tourism Development Index in 2008.

The Adventure Tourism Development Index (ATDI) is a comparative measure of adventure travel market competitiveness for countries worldwide. The ATDI uses a broad definition of adventure travel (based on how consumers themselves define adventure) to assess a country’s resources for use in the provision of any trip which includes two out the following three aspects: physical activity, interaction with nature, and cultural learning or exchange.

The ATDI will provide a standard means of evaluating adventure travel markets in countries worldwide with an emphasis on gauging areas of potential growth that can directly benefit local communities and encourage environmental and cultural preservation.

By measuring and ranking countries according to this set of criteria for tourism development we send a global message about what is valuable, encouraging countries to embrace a tourism development strategy that includes not only package tourist attractions, but also niche tourism development projects for the benefit of the environment and local people, as well.

The ATDI has two components:

1. Numerical rankings
2. Qualitative assessments of "Feature Destinations"

Numerical Rankings
In the numerical ranking section of the ATDI report, countries are ranked according to their Adventure Tourism Development score. Similar to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index which examines tourism competitiveness of a mainstream nature in countries around the world, the Adventure Tourism Development Index is composed of a number of "pillars" specifically gauged to measure adventure tourism competitiveness, of which there are ten in all.

Each of the pillars is made up of a number of individual variables. The dataset used to compile the numerical scores includes both hard data and survey data from multiple sources including the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s annual Executive Opinion Survey.

Qualitative Assessments of "Featured Adventure Destinations"
Accompanying the numerical rankings in the ATDI report are detailed analyses of Featured Adventure Destinations. Featured Adventure Destination analyses are conducted according to the same criteria used in the numerical rankings, but provide in-depth discussion and exposure of a country’s specific attributes. A Featured Destination analysis goes behind the numbers to tell the full story of a country’s (or region’s) adventure tourism market and offers specific recommendations for further adventure product development and global marketing.

Featured Destination qualitative assessments will have no bearing on a country or region’s numerical ranking.