Friday, August 23, 2013

Namibia Adventure Tourism

What is Adventure Tourism?

Namibia has long been considered an adventure travel hotspot but what is adventure travel? Adventure tourism is really any travel that combines physically demanding activities, cultural exchanges and authentic engagement with the natural environment. Adventure tourism is not only getting off the beaten path but is rather about meaningful interactions with locals, wildlife and nature.


The average tourist will be content to simply fly into Namibia, take some photos with their expensive camera and fly back out again having experienced almost none of the richness that Namibia offers. This in itself is not a terrible thing but it does lead to largely meaningless interactions between tourists and locals. Adventure tourism attempts to bridge the gap between the locals and the tourists and get them involved in each other’s lives.


Adventure tourism means stopping in the small towns that most drive through; hiking up the trails most are too tired to, and helping with human interest and conservation projects around the country. Adventure tourism is then the manifestation of many visitors’ desires to be more than just a tourist scratching at the surface of a country’s culture. Adventure tourism uplifts and builds local communities in meaningful and lasting ways. Through volunteer programs or conservation projects adventure tourists are helping to uplift and improve the countries they visit.


This is in stark contrast to traditional tourism models. As we all know most tourists seem intent on going into a country in massive crowds of tour groups and collecting knick-knacks and photographs so that these can be horded on mantelpieces and in display cabinets.

The Go Big Namibia Campaign

 
 The 20th of August 2013 marks the beginning of Namibia Tourism Board’s Adventure campaign. The campaign aims to highlight the various and unique activities found all over Namibia. In order to achieve this four bloggers and a Namibian music celebrity EES have been invited to take part in the ultimate Namibian adventure holiday experience: The Go Big NAmibia roadtrip.
For eleven days these lucky travelers will journey through game parks, desert dunes, deserted coastlines and wildlife sanctuaries. Traversing the countryside in our specially designed Go Big Van these travel writers will be taken on the trip of a lifetime.


Traveling on Namibia's road network is one of the best ways to experience
the grandeur Namibia has to offer.


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