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The Daily. Wednesday, May 9, 2001
The adventure travel industry boomed during the 1990s, as adventure-seekers signed up to do everything from whale-watching to hot-air ballooning, rafting and sea kayaking.
Between 1993, when the Survey of Adventure Travel Operators was last conducted, and 1999, the number of adventure travel operations doubled from 669 to 1,336, and their sales more than doubled. Revenues in 1999 reached an estimated $362.0 million, up 119% over 1993.
Fifty-two percent of these revenues came from sales of guided adventures, and 22% from sales of self-guided adventures with equipment rentals. The remaining revenues were generated by merchandise and meal sales, among other things.
In 1999, operators in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba had the lion's share of revenues, 61%. Ontario and Quebec operators took in 28%.
These data came from the Survey of Adventure Travel Operators, conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of the Canadian Tourism Commission from October 2000 to January 2001.
Adventure travel is defined as an outdoor leisure activity that generally takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness setting, involves some form of unconventional means of transportation and tends to be associated with high or low levels of physical activity. It includes scuba diving, trail riding, canoeing, mountaineering, dog sledding, snowshoeing, spelunking and hang gliding.
The industry reported gross profits of just over $40 million in 1999, up 32.1% from 1993. However, because of rising costs, the sector's average gross profit margin was only 11.1%, down from 18.3% in 1993.
The adventure travel sector consists mainly of small companies. Those generating less than $50,000 in revenue comprised 48% of the industry in 1999, but generated only $11.5 million in revenue, or about 3% of the total. Those making over $500,000 represented only 7% of all operators, but generated an estimated $248.6 million, or 69% of total revenues.
The adventure travel industry is mainly seasonal; in 1999, only about 20% of operators reported running year-round.
Adventure travel accounted for 4 million traveller-days in 1999. Fifty-four percent of travellers were male and aged from 20 to 44. Fifty-seven percent came from the domestic market. Canadian adventure operators provided over 1.7 million traveller-days to foreigners in 1999. Half of all foreign travellers came from the United States.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Norman Fyfe (613-951-9028; fax: 613-951-1572), Small Business and Special Surveys Division.