Adventure travel is a type of tourism involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should "expect the unexpected". Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the U.S.-based Adventure Travel Trade Association, "adventure travel" may be any tourist activity including two of the following three components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction, and engagement with nature.

Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing culture shock, or through the performance of acts that require significant effort and involve some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger. This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, rafting, zip-lining and rock climbing. Some obscure forms of adventure travel include disaster and ghetto tourism . Other rising forms of adventure travel include social and jungle tourism.

Access to inexpensive consumer technology with respect to navigation systems, flashpacking, social networking and photography have increased the worldwide interest in adventure travel.

Tour operators, travel agencies & retailers

Many organizations and companies worldwide cater to adventure clientèle. Some of these include Intrepid Travel, GAP Adventures, Far Frontiers, Mountain Equipment Co-op, BadAss Travel1, BikeHike Adventures 2Rainforest Expeditions and Scott Walking Adventures 3. Some geographic regions are promoted by both private and public agencies as adventure travel destinations.One of the premier and pioneer adventure companies is Mountain Travel, of California,founded in 1968 by mountaineers/adventurers Leo LeBon, Allen Steck and Barry Bishop.

Disabled

With the trend of increasing accessible tourism available to disabled persons around the world, some tourism areas are developing adventure tourism specifically for the disabled. Whistler, British Columbia and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada have been taking the lead with the 2010 Paralympics. Adventure travel for the disabled has become a $13 billion USD a year industry in North America.

Notable disabled adventurers include Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest; Casey Pieretti, an amputee skater; and Caroline Walsh, founder of the Access to Marine Conservation for All International.

Some adventure travel destinations offer diverse programs and job opportunities developed specifically for the differently abled. Esprit Rafting, located in Pontiac Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada designs rafting trips for people with spinal cord damage. Accessible Canadian Adventures in Ontario, Canada offers hunting, fishing and wildlife photography adventures for those requiring assistance.