Soft Adventure Touring: A Definition

As international tourism evolves to meet new market trends, products are constantly being sought to allow the industry to keep pace with customer demand.

The client who previously may have been content to spend his or her vacation relaxing on the beach now expresses a desire to do something more ‘adventurous’.

Marketing slogans, cliches, and catchwords sometimes come into play without clear definition. Operators must therefore clarify their own use of terms such as ‘Soft Adventure Tours’’.

Our own definition:
‘A Soft Adventure Tour’

A soft adventure tour is defined by Track of the Tiger as one in which the itinerary of the day may involve a modest degree of physically demanding activity on the part of the guests, but where standards of safety and comfort are well above average.

The programme content is specially designed so that if an individual client wishes to abstain from any particular activity (or activities) in the programme, he or she may do so without penalty (or guilt!), and without affecting the enjoyment of the rest of the group. This is beacuse we have planned our tours to accommodate everyone and have considered the many contingencies that might arise.

The overall soft adventure programme should appeal to all participants, and should be suitable for all age groups:
from 6 to 60.

Examples:

On a tour programme that has a ‘mountain biking element’, Granny may choose to stay with the vehicle as it ‘leapfrogs’ ahead of the cyclists. A younger or less fit member may wish to return to the vehicle after having completed half or less of the cycling stage. It is UP 2 U!

On a river barge trip, during the ‘mini-trek’ stage, Mom may elect to stay on the barge reading her book, opting to meet the group further down river. During the canoeing stage, Pop may decide to canoe the rapids, but restrict the children to canoeing the easier sections of the river. Our staff are trained to handle all types of situations such as these, and are there to serve you!

Later in the day, the whole family would enjoy the BBQ and  campfire together at the ‘River Base Camp’.