Canada among top 1 in adventure tourism

A sweeping tourism study of developed countries around the world has ranked Canada in the top 10 both for adventure opportunities and being a "safe and welcoming" place in which to experience them.

Canada placed seventh out of 28 nations for its combined scores in tourism entrepreneurship and adventure activity resources, and eighth for the collective elements of sustainability, safety, natural resources and health.

The report, jointly issued by The George Washington University, the Adventure Travel Trade Association and Xola Consulting, is not based on opinion but rather detailed data from both government and private-sector agencies internationally.

"People are graduating from those regular mass tours where they find themselves on a bus with 20 people from the same town that they're from," says Philippe Duverger, research director for the Adventure Tourism Development Index.

"Adventure now represents about 20 per cent of why people travel -- and it's growing."

Where Canada stumbled in the rankings was in what Duverger calls "readiness," which incorporates scores for tourism infrastructure, cultural resources, image and humanitarian development. Despite high marks for our image -- nearly nine out of 10 possible points -- a dismal rating of 4.76 for humanitarian, which evaluates a country's partnerships with non-government and aid organizations, pushed Canada to 24th in this category.

By contrast, some of the nation's best scores were in factors that can't be created -- think rare natural resources, open spaces and innate opportunities for ecotourism.

Arctic Kingdom in Nunavut, for example, allows travellers to experience the thrill of floe-edge diving. Manitoba's Sea North Tours provides the chance to snorkel with Beluga whales. And visitors to Newfoundland can go iceberg -through Stan Cook Sea Kayak Adventures.

Sourced=montrealgazette