A Glimpse at the Top Adventure Tourism Destinations in the World

The World Map Shows How Countries Stand on the Adventure Tourism Development Index

The past few years have witnessed the growing popularity of adventure tourism around the world. Adventure tourism can be defined as traveling to remote and exotic areas and taking part in outdoor activities. Since it is an important part of the tourism sector and is a major revenue earner, nations around the world are paying more attention to adventure tourism. To access the adventure tourism competitiveness of nations, the Adventure Travel Trade Association and The George Washington University regularly publish the Adventure Tourism Development Index. The index comprises 10 pillars which are government policies supporting sustainable development, safety, natural resources, health, adventure resources, entrepreneurship, humanitarian, infrastructure, cultural resources, and Adventure Image/Brand. Here the best performing nations have low scores while poor performers score high.

According to the Adventure Tourism Development Index published in 2016, Iceland was the best performing nation with a score of 12. Coming at the second spot was Germany, which scored 19. New Zealand also did remarkably well and was the third best performing nation with a score of 23. The other top performers, which had scores of less than 50 were Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Israel and a few other nations. In fact, of the 23 nations that scored less than 50, 17 were European nations.

Nations where the score ranged between 50 and 150 were Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, South Korea, Greece, Jordan, Costa Rica, Turkey, Singapore, Bhutan, Qatar and other nations. The two Asian nations of China and India, which are home to numerous tourist destinations and adventure tourism attractions were not very favorably placed on the list. While China had a score of 199, India was placed much below with a score of 247.

Nations placed at the bottom and with scores of above 350 were Myanmar, Niger, Angola, Togo, Malaysia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Haiti, etc. Meanwhile, the African nation of Somalia was placed right at the bottom with a score of 487.

To get a better understanding of how nations rank on the Adventure Tourism Development Index, refer to the table below.

Country ATDI Score Iceland 12 Germany 19 New Zealand 23 Norway 25 Switzerland 26 Canada 30 Australia 33 Finland 33 Czech Republic 33 Austria 35 Denmark 35 Ireland 35 Japan 36 United Kingdom 38 Luxembourg 39 Belgium 41 Israel 41 Sweden 43 Estonia 43 Chile 45 Italy 47 Netherlands 47 France 48 Spain 51 United States 51 Slovak Republic 53 Malta 57 Slovenia 59 Cyprus 62 Bulgaria 64 Poland 64 Monaco 65 Portugal 66 Korea, Rep. 66 Greece 68 Liechtenstein 73 Romania 74 Andorra 80 Hungary 82 Jordan 91 Latvia 99 Costa Rica 100 Croatia 102 Lithuania 105 Uruguay 116 Turkey 117 Botswana 123 United Arab Emirates 127 Dominica 129 Armenia 133 Philippines 134 Kazakhstan 135 Barbados 137 Peru 137 Singapore 140 Qatar 143 Mauritius 144 Kyrgyz Republic 146 Bhutan 148 Mongolia 152 Georgia 153 Russian Federation 153 Rwanda 153 Thailand 155 Brazil 162 Belize 163 Saudi Arabia 168 Oman 169 Mexico 172 Panama 172 Bahrain 174 Serbia 174 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 180 Morocco 181 Ukraine 181 Azerbaijan 182 Kuwait 182 Montenegro 182 Bahamas, The 183 Brunei Darussalam 186 Zambia 186 Argentina 187 South Africa 188 Albania 189 Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 190 Namibia 193 Lebanon 195 China 199 Ghana 201 Tunisia 202 Cape Verde 204 Trinidad and Tobago 204 Nepal 209 Cuba 211 Egypt, Arab Rep. 211 Moldova 211 Seychelles 211 Colombia 212 Vietnam 215 Fiji 216 Belarus 220 Palau 220 Sri Lanka 223 Dominican Republic 224 St. Lucia 225 Samoa 226 El Salvador 230 Lao PDR 232 Senegal 232 Macedonia, FYR 233 Nicaragua 236 Ecuador 240 Uzbekistan 241 Guatemala 243 Kenya 244 Gabon 246 Ethiopia 247 India 247 Jamaica 253 Vanuatu 255 Bosnia and Herzegovina 256 Indonesia 258 Pakistan 264 Cambodia 266 St. Kitts and Nevis 268 Tajikistan 268 Suriname 271 Malawi 272 Bolivia 273 Maldives 276 San Marino 276 Algeria 281 Guyana 281 Iran, Islamic Rep. 281 Tanzania 282 Turkmenistan 292 Antigua and Barbuda 298 Swaziland 304 Kiribati 305 Yemen, Rep. 305 Zimbabwe 310 Gambia, The 312 Cote d'Ivoire 313 Marshall Islands 315 Madagascar 318 Benin 319 Sao Tome and Principe 324 Uganda 325 Comoros 326 Papua New Guinea 327 Bangladesh 328 Cameroon 334 Venezuela, RB 335 Mozambique 336 Solomon Islands 336 Grenada 343 Honduras 347 Burkina Faso 349 Mali 351 Myanmar 351 Paraguay 352 Korea, Dem. Rep. 355 Lesotho 357 Burundi 361 Tonga 361 Sierra Leone 362 Timor-Leste 370 Niger 371 Libya 372 Mauritania 377 Djibouti 378 Syrian Arab Republic 379 Togo 381 Guinea-Bissau 388 Guinea 391 Malaysia 397 Equatorial Guinea 398 Liberia 401 Angola 404 Congo, Rep. 420 West Bank and Gaza 421 Haiti 422 Central African Republic 425 Nigeria 426 Eritrea 430 Congo, Dem. Rep. 447 Chad 452 Afghanistan 454 Sudan 460 Iraq 465 Somalia 487

(Data sourced from Adventure Travel Trade Association)

Source: A Glimpse at the Top Adventure Tourism Destinations in the World