For the seventh International Adventure Conference (IAC), academics, practitioners and students congregated in Dumfries, Scotland. The Adventure Tourism Research Association (ATRA) worked together with Laggan Outdoor Activity Centre to host the three-day event. The topic of IAC 2019 was based around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and delegates were encouraged to rethink the outdoor experience with special regard to current issues in nature-based and adventure tourism, outdoor recreation and outdoor learning. The theme was approached from many different and contemporary angles which made for a variety of engaging presentations and, most of all, an inspiring and thought-provoking conference.

As well as the speakers and parallel sessions each day, the conference also offered the chance to engage in activities such as watersports, mountain biking, wild foraging and Laggan activities. The delegates also had the chance to partake in a rally around the activity centre, and which was focused around the 17 SDGs. These workshops continued the theme of the conference on a practical level and allowed delegates to further discuss things learned in the parallel sessions.

For the second time, students from Universities in Spain, Sweden, Scotland and Denmark came together to help out with conference proceedings. This year, we held a specific practitioner day, which saw around 80 businesses and policymakers debate issues such as skills development and engaging and inspiring consumers.

This conference, labelled by some as ‘the best yet!’, was proudly hosted by the Institute of Technology, Tralee in Ireland’s beautiful southwest from 17th to 19th October. Academics and practitioners came from all over the world to share the findings of their research projects on all sorts of topics from adventurous food, to avalanches, to the development of mountain biking apps. Our keynotes explored the disorientation of tourists’ senses, surfing’s role in breaking boundaries and the influences on how we perceive our environment. The theme of ‘Wild Journeys’ was further developed through our daily practical workshops which included surfing, sea kayaking, coasteering (jumping off cliffs into the Atlantic!), trail development wild cooking. Our Barbeque at nearby Fenit Harbour culminated with the traditional ‘International Trangia Championship’ which illustrated both the creativity and competitiveness of our delegates!

This event brought together leading academics, educators and practitioners working in adventure tourism from 29 countries!

The conference theme built on the previous events in Scotland, with a focus on the human-nature interactions which occur during adventurous outdoor activities outdoors. Such experiences may be considered from a practical, commercial point of view, or interrogated through philosophical, sociological or educational lenses. At its heart the purpose of this gathering was to bring together the many perspectives on outdoor activity for its numerous purposes, and to consider how best to understand people’s recreation in these wild places.

The first two-day adventure conference, held in Fort William on 16-17 February 2012, heard that the health and well-being benefits of just being outdoors are equally as good for you as high adrenalin pursuits.

Run by the Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research (CRTR) at West Highland College UHI, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, the conference brought together leading academics, entrepreneurs and practitioners working in the outdoor adventure sector to exchange ideas and confront the issues emerging for this exciting and distinctive niche of leisure, tourism and education in the early 21^st century.  Nearly 50 delegates from countries as far-flung as Canada, South Africa and Nepal attended a stimulating and enjoyable conference.

The chosen theme of Meanings, Markets and Magic was intended to capture the notion that individual consumers, learners, tourists and participants in outdoor adventurous activities may make sense of themselves, others and their place in the world as a result of engagement in these activities. The Markets element of the title suggests the presence of a greater, objective force, confronted by individuals, service providers, businesses and educators alike; that market dynamics are at work in these apparent realms of escape. Yet the meanings, and indeed the marketed products, are often imbued with magic; the Magic of authentic personal experience in the natural environment.