The Impacts of Adventure Tourism in Mountain Regions – a Review

Abstract

Recently, mountain regions have become highly attractive and important areas for tourism (Beedie & Hudson, 2003; WTO & UNEP, 2008; Rama et al., 2019). One of the most dynamic components of tourism in mountains is adventure tourism, which combines travel, sport and outdoor recreation (Beedie & Hudson, 2003). Since mountains represent sensitive areas in terms of sustainability, it is important to approach them appropriately, in order to apply measures to optimize the impacts of tourism. This study covers a review of the impacts of adventure tourism on mountain areas and an examination of measures that might optimize the impacts of such tourism. The purpose of this paper is to present the latest findings in the field of the impacts of adventure tourism in mountain areas, and certain measures that can be taken to balance the positive and negative impacts. The findings show that the impacts of adventure tourism in mountain destinations vary, and therefore each destination must be treated individually. Furthermore, a thorough approach to achieve balance is needed on a case by case basis, since there is no universal formula for sustainable development of destinations due to their different characteristics. The implications and further research opportunities are given.