KARIN WEBER
The expansion of the types of settings and risks to be considered obviously introduces difficulties in deriving at an exact definition of adventure tourism. Yet, it has perhaps more fluid boundaries than a single definition could capture. There boundaries, challenging the exclusivity of only certain market segments being associated with this type of Tourism, May also open up new opportunities for marketers. Market segmentation using psychographics in combination with the currently used segmentation approaches would appear critical in this context, as it may result in the identification of " marginal " adventure tourists. These individuals may currently choose products other than those offered by adventure tourism operator. However, they may be turned into potential customers by targeting them with appropriate promotional massages and media. Expending some marketing effort on select people in there previously untapped markets may increase adventure operations, customer base without the need for substantial marketing expenses. Promotional massages alone, reflecting an intimate understanding of turn these potential customers into actual ones. In other instances, adjustment to the actual products being offered may be required to better meet their needs. These adjustment, of course, would have to be of a rather subtle nature so as not to alienate operators, core markets. Consequently, it is not suggested that these products modifications should be foremost in terms of destination / activity coverage, but perhaps more in the management of these adventure experiences, as outlined above.
As suggested here, the proposed change in research focus on the Subjective adventure experiences may both have theoretical implications and prove profitable to practitioners. Therefore, it should be of interest to researchers and practitioners alike to engage in more research to further explore the adventure tourism phenomenon along the lines suggested in this paper.