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Studies & Degrees in Adventure Tourism

Adventure tourism is the part of the tourism industry that sells outdoor activities as travel experiences: guided hiking and mountaineering, climbing, kayaking and rafting, mountain biking, skiing, expeditions and similar trips. The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) in Scotland, which teaches a degree in the subject, describes it as bringing adventurous activity experiences into commercial tourism.

Studying it means combining two kinds of learning. One is practical: outdoor skills, guiding and leading groups, safety and risk management. The other is the business of tourism: products and markets, operations, marketing, entrepreneurship and sustainability. The UHI degree, for example, covers outdoor skills practice, safety and leadership, tourism, research, business and entrepreneurship, with modules such as adventure operations and risk management, adventure tourism guiding and interpretation, and sustainable management of adventure tourism.

Qualifications and levels

  • Bachelor's degrees. The BA (Hons) Adventure Tourism Management of UHI is taught in Fort William and takes 4 years full-time or 8 years part-time. Applicants need 3 Scottish Highers or 2 A levels at grade C or above. Personal outdoor experience is an advantage but, according to the university, not essential.
  • Certificates and diplomas. Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Canada offers an Adventure Guide Certificate, based on field courses and classroom modules, and an Adventure Guide Diploma focused on technical skill specialisation, business management skills and self-directed expeditions. Credits from these programmes can count toward its Bachelor of Tourism Management with a major in adventure studies.
  • Vocational training in Spain. The official title is Técnico en Guía en el Medio Natural y de Tiempo Libre, an intermediate vocational training (FP de grado medio) qualification of 2,000 hours. Entry requires the Spanish compulsory secondary education certificate or a higher qualification, and the programme includes a training period in a company. Its holders guide groups on foot in low and medium mountain terrain, by bicycle, on horseback and on the water, and Spain's vocational training portal TodoFP names active, sports and adventure tourism among the sectors where they work.
  • Short and online courses. Some tourism schools and distance-learning colleges offer shorter courses. Ask the school what recognition the qualification has before enrolling.

Many guiding jobs also require activity-specific instructor or guide certificates issued by national sports bodies, in addition to an academic qualification.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 5 active schools for adventure tourism: two in the United Kingdom and one each in Australia, the United States and Ireland. They are the University of Worcester, in England; Warnborough College (UK), in Canterbury; Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia; City College at MSU Billings in Montana; and Warnborough College (Ireland), an independent college in Dublin that offers its qualifications by distance learning. Course catalogues change from year to year, so confirm with each school which programme in this field it currently teaches.

The programmes described on this page are taught in English, or in Spanish in the case of the Spanish vocational qualification. Students who need a visa should check the conditions for practical work: UHI notes that international students on a UK Student Route visa may take part in sports activities, including on a work placement, only as amateurs and not as professionals or semi-professionals.

Careers

Graduates work as guides and instructors, in companies that organise adventure trips and events, in management roles in activity centres, or start their own business. UHI lists these paths, together with international expeditions, for its graduates. The sector has its own trade body, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, established in 1990.

For the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that employment of tour and travel guides will grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, and that employment of recreation workers will grow 4 percent, about as fast as the average. The BLS notes that recreation workers typically need at least a high school diploma, so a degree is mainly a route to management and to running a business.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need outdoor experience to study adventure tourism?

It helps, but it is not always required. For its BA (Hons) Adventure Tourism Management, UHI states that personal practical outdoor experience is advantageous but not essential; applicants are expected to show an interest in practical outdoor activities.

How long does a degree in adventure tourism take?

The BA (Hons) Adventure Tourism Management at UHI in Scotland takes 4 years full-time or 8 years part-time. The Spanish vocational qualification for nature guides has 2,000 hours.

Is there an official adventure guide qualification in Spain?

Yes. The Técnico en Guía en el Medio Natural y de Tiempo Libre is an official intermediate vocational training qualification of 2,000 hours, listed on the TodoFP portal of the Ministry of Education.