Australia Adventure Tourism Market Size & Share

The Australia adventure tourism market size was valued at $22,370 million in 2019 and is estimated to reach the market value of $33,519 million by 2027, grow at a CAGR of 21.0% from 2021 to 2027. Based on type, soft was the most prominent segment accounting for $14,027 million in 2019. Adventure tourism is defined as travelling outside a person’s regular environment. Adventure tourism involves exploration or travel to remote exotic areas. It includes unique and challenging experiences during the vacation, in which travelers interact with the local population and connect with their core values. Adventure travel in Australia is widely popular among travelers from around the world. This is due to presence of great landscapes, good food and accommodation facilities. Australia is also home to beaches and wildlife sanctuary, which further increase its popularity as a destination for travel.

The inbound tourism in Australia took a major hit after the COVID-19 incident in 2020. It caused severe disruptions to the demand for the Australian tourism industry. The industry experienced a sudden halt in international visitation, restrictions on mobility, and increased health and safety concerns. According to the “Tourism Australia – Travel Sentiment Tracker”, only two-thirds of travelers within Australia felt safe to travel during the poll of September 2020.

The growth of the Australia adventure tourism market can be attributed to presence of attractive landscape and availability of a large variety of activities within different cities of the country. Furthermore, strategic marketing initiatives taken by players in the industry coupled with increase in government initiatives to promote tourism drives the country’s adventure tourism industry. However, risk involved in adventure travelling and unpredictable weather conditions hamper the growth of the adventure tourism industry in Australia. These factors can thereby hamper the growth of the market. Conversely, increase in social media networking and rise in popularity of travel blogging/video logging on social media platforms such as Instagram, and Twitter, are further expected to pique the interest of travelers around the world. This is expected to increase the popularity of Australia as a tourist attraction, making way for the Australia adventure tourism market growth in future years.

The Australia adventure tourism market is segmented on the basis of type, activity, type of travelers, age group, and sales channel. By type, the market has been classified into hard, soft, and others. Based on the activity, the market has been divided into land-based activity, water-based activity, and air-based activity. Based on the type of travelers, the market has been classified into solo, friends/group, couple, and family. By age group, it is categorized into below 30 years, 30–41 years, 42–49 years, and 50 years & above. The sales channel segment includes travel agent and direct.

By type, the soft segment was the highest contributor to the Australia adventure tourism market in 2019 and is expect to remain dominant through the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to activities in this category having moderate to low risk level, and thus, being highly popular among adventure grazers, adventurers, and adventure enthusiasts. The hard segment is also projected to grow at a notable growth rate throughout the forecast owing to gradual increase in the number of people/travelers who are willing to partake in high risk activities.