How can we manage risk in adventure tourism so that the excitement opportunity and benefits are enhanced but the numbers of accidents and fatalities are reduced? In general, risk is considering as a key component of adventure activities. The majority of adventure visitors accept risk as an integral part of the attraction. There would be a strong desire of visitor to belong as a part of this kind of tourism. They willing to participated in adventure activities that contains unpredictable risk. To some extents, the risk is necessary to be recognized by participants and strictly manage by operators to protect not only tourists’ safety but also the organization’s sustainability. Therefore, management risk is very crucial in adventure tourism. Besides, on the general theme of adventure tourism, there should also paid attention to an effective management to not only decrease the number of victims in adventurous tour but also raise the advantages and opportunity when participate in adventure tourism.
How can we manage risk in adventure tourism so that the excitement, opportunity and benefits are enhanced but the numbers of accidents and fatalities are reduced? In general, risk is considering as a key component of adventure activities The majority of adventure visitors accept risk as an integral part of the attraction There would be a strong desire of visitor to belong as a part of this kind of tourism They willing to participated in adventure activities that contains unpredictable risk To some extents, the risk is necessary to be recognized by participants and strictly manage by operators to protect not only tourists’ safety but also the organization’s sustainability Therefore, management risk is very crucial in adventure tourism Besides, on the general theme of adventure tourism, there should also paid attention to an effective management to not only decrease the number of victims in adventurous tour but also raise the advantages and opportunity when participate in adventure tourism Adventure tourism is basically defined as an activity where the outcome is uncertain, and the participants should experience the activities which contains risk While risk is a vital element of the adventure tourism experience, from an ethical perspective, there could be some concerns about provide safety environment for participant as well as support them in accessibility and heath protection (Richter & Richter, 1999) There is a scientific recognition that a high level of “perceived risk” is an important attraction of this kind of tourism In the vast majority of participants in adventure activities every year, accidents occur from time to time An evidence show that certain activities present a serious actual risk to the health and safety of participants, approximately 70% of adventure tourism caused injuries (Swarbrooke, Beard, Leckie, & Pomfret, 2003) Those unavoidable accidents also received the attention of visitor as it is a part of reason why they choose to take part in adventure tourism It is notable that these dangerous activities attract the tourism markets who are prepared to gamble their personal safety, and at times their life in search of an excitement rush or an unusual achievement (Bentleya, Page, Meyer, Chalmers, & Laird, 2001) That is the reason why the risk management in adventure tourism is much more depend on visitor’s expectation and their perceived of risk, therefore the operator need to clearly classify their client’s perception to give out an appropriate managing Indeed, the non- mountainous adventurous activities such as bungee jumping, sky-diving which consider as high “perceived risk” were not certainly represent the high number of injury morbidity compared to mountainous adventurous activities For example, the highest injuryincidence was found for mountain-based activities such as skiing, climbing and trekking, which mainly involve independent unguided participants (Bentley, Page, & Laird, 2001) Moreover, the tour operators have some influence on visitor’s risk perception For example, guide can take the risk high to make the experience seem more interesting or talk them down to prevent over arousal and subsequent loss of control by tourists Trekking is still the most popular sport among visitors The geographical and natural diversity and a range of exotic culture make Nepal an ideal place for trekking Trek to the Himalayas of Nepal provides an opportunity to observe the culture and enjoy the beauty of nature White water rafting on Himalayan Rivers across the typical cross section of Nepal’s geography is equally popular You can coast on clam jade waters with splendid view all around or rush through roaring rapids Rafting is inarguably the best way of exploring Nepal, as it takes you through hamlets, canyons, virgin forests, and wildlife On average, there are about or fatalities a year amongst school children on visits, but only one tends to be directly related to the adventure activities Most deaths on school visits are due to road traffic accidents or drowning The risk of death, or even serious injury, is very low and about the same as we all face in everyday life Although the risk is low, when something does go wrong and an incident occurs, particularly involving a young person, it can provoke public concerns Sometimes, these concerns are justified - on occasions safety standards have fallen far below what is expected and society can reasonably expect action against those responsible On other occasions an accident simply happens and no one can, or should, be blamed 28 All adventurous activity has an element of danger; adventure implies that there is an element of the unknown It is important in assessing the risks to acknowledge this and recognise that the aim is to ensure the activity is as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible In doing this it is useful to think about these four ‘Cs’: • Competence – recruitment, induction, training and validation for particular tasks and activities, monitoring staffing the field, further training and experience, and accessing external advice as appropriate; • Control – deploying the right instructors to the right activities; allocating responsibilities; supervising: and keeping people focused, motivated and committed; • Co-operation – between individuals, groups, middle-managers (programme managers, training managers, etc) and senior managers; and • Communications – with staff and others whether spoken, written or visible Risks in tourism stem from two main sources: a lack of knowledge about the tourism destination especially compared to usual place of residence, and lack of knowledge of future conditions, ranging from the weather to extreme natural or societal hazards (Chang, 2009) The intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability of tourism products make it particularly difficult to assess risks (Mitchell & Greatorex, 1993) 38 The safety of someone taking part in an adventurous activity under their own (or peer) leadership is primarily influenced by their own experience, knowledge, competence and judgement Tour operator or other relevant companies need emergency management plans for all foreseeable emergencies There would be a regulations for all staffs so that when a emergency occur, everyone should know what to The purpose of this essay is to set out the management strategies of risk in related to adventure activities While adventure tourism provides some extensive risks up to and including potential death or disability due to the dangers involved, legal and moral concerns appear to be in conflict Currently, travel companies have provided many safety insurance, upgrade facilities and security equipment as well as enhance the standard of guides ... at times their life in search of an excitement rush or an unusual achievement (Bentleya, Page, Meyer, Chalmers, & Laird, 2001) That is the reason why the risk management in adventure tourism is... what to The purpose of this essay is to set out the management strategies of risk in related to adventure activities While adventure tourism provides some extensive risks up to and including potential... 2001) Moreover, the tour operators have some influence on visitor’s risk perception For example, guide can take the risk high to make the experience seem more interesting or talk them down to prevent