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Explore Adventure Tourism with SATSA - Where wild beauty meets bold opportunity

Southern Africa is a playground for thrill-seekers — and SATSA, together with industry roleplayers, is leading the charge to make it safe, credible, and competitive. Globally, adventure tourism is a $1.1 trillion industry, and with South Africa’s diverse landscapes and experiences, we’re perfectly positioned to stand out.

Since 2020, our Adventure Chapter has been working with industry leaders to raise the bar. We’re building a trusted community of providers through self-regulation, self-assessment, voluntary accreditation, and a centralised database of vetted experiences. It’s all about giving travellers — and the trade — confidence in Southern Africa’s adventure offerings.

What’s in it for you?

✔ A growing network of credible operators
✔ Support in safety, quality, and market-readiness
✔ New routes to market and untapped itineraries

Want to dive deeper?

Scroll down to see what we’re working on — or check out 101 Adventures for traveller-ready inspiration from our best-in-class adventure products.

Adventure Stats - We need You!

The adventure industry is growing, but we need real data to shape its future. SATSA is conducting a nationwide survey to better understand the impact and potential of adventure tourism in Southern Africa. Your input matters, whether you're a SATSA member or not. It only takes a few minutes to help us build a stronger, safer, more competitive sector. Click here to take the survey.

Operator Resources: Self-Assessment, Toolkits & Guides

 

SATSA’s Adventure Chapter Committee is actively developing self-regulation documents to support and strengthen the sector. These documents are open for input from the industry at all times. The latest versions are listed below, and new ones will be added as they are developed.

We welcome feedback from SATSA members and non-members to ensure the framework remains relevant and effective.

To share your input, please email Hannelie@satsa.co.za with:

  • Document name
  • Page number and section
  • Current wording
  • Suggested wording

 

1. Roadmap (AT001) Published

The Adventure Tourism Self-Regulation Roadmap sets out the structure and desired outcomes of the project.

 

2. General Code of Good Practice (CoGP) Guide (AT002) Published

The General Code of Good Practice Guide provides compliance information and assistance in completing the CoGP Checklist.

 

3. General Code of Good Practice (GoGP) Checklist (AT003) Published

The General Code of Good Practice Checklist was designed as a simple self-evaluation document to indicate compliance with the most generic aspects of any adventure tourism activity.

 

4. Adventure Industry Toolkits 

To support the CoGP Checklist, we are in the process of developing toolkits to explain and expand on the various topics. These will be published here for public comment and will include, amongst others:​​

 

5. Category-Specific Code of Good Practice

Development of category-specific CoGPs is currently underway for the below-listed categories. This will take into consideration the common requirements of all activities within a category. Further categories will be added regularly.

  • Wheels-Based Activities (AT100)
  • Boat-Based Activities (AT200)
  • Paddling / Rafting / SUPs (AT300)
  • Mountaineering (AT400)
  • Aerial Non-Flight (AT500)

 

6. Individual Activity Standards

Once category-specific codes are developed, each activity will develop standards that are unique to the activity, bearing in mind that all requirements of the General and Category-specific CoGPs are already in place.
 

We thank you in advance for the time investment and commitment to ensuring that Southern Africa’s Adventure industry can be positioned as world-class.

Why Adventure Tourism

 

According to Allied Market Research, the global adventure tourism market is estimated to generate $1,169.09 billion by 2028. There is widespread acknowledgement that this market segment is resilient to natural and political setbacks, attracts high-value visitors and is aligned with sustainable practices.

 

For a country like South Africa where post-pandemic national imperatives include transformation in rural areas, job creation, geographic spread and the development of sustainable tourism products, adventure tourism offers a strong growth opportunity, not least because of its rich assets, excellent climate, and the already extensive array of adventure experiences on offer.

 

The key challenges facing our adventure tourism sector, based on research conducted before the pandemic, include vulnerability concerning unscrupulous operators, safety and reliability issues, and a largely fragmented and uncoordinated industry that is under-represented in tourism markets and lacks a cohesive marketing effort.

 

Developing a Credible, Safe Adventure Tourism Industry

 

Our rich potential can only be leveraged if these experiences are well organised and safe, hence the need for a more formal approach:

  • A self-regulatory environment.
  • A database of credible adventure experiences.
  • A coordinated community of adventure tourism stakeholders.

 

Based on industry feedback, SATSA is developing a voluntary and dynamic self-accreditation process that will elevate the profile and operations of this sector and provide the public and private sectors with the confidence that South Africa’s adventure tourism experiences are safe, and competitive, and can be confidently marketed to travellers.

 

In addition to the job creation opportunities and achieving a coordinated industry with a cohesive marketing effort, the spin-off to this will be the development of new adventure tourism products in areas not traditionally included in traditional itineraries.

 

Benefits and Outcomes of Self-Regulation

  • Avoid potential costly, delayed, and irrelevant government regulations.
  • Raise the standards of adventure tourism.
  • Create a safe, accredited, and verified adventure tourism industry.
  • Market-ready adventure tourism products that can be marketed by South African Tourism, Provincial and Local Tourism Authorities, and the private sector.
  • Transformation through the provision of technical and training assistance to new and emerging black-owned adventure tourism operators.
  • Improved market access by developing adventure products with a comparative advantage internationally.
  • Increased demand by attracting more adventure tourists to South Africa.
  • Increased turnover and profit for adventure tourism products. Development of new adventure tourism products, many in non-traditional tourism areas as demand increases.
  • Increased employment with the growth in existing adventure tourism products and the development of new adventure tourism products.

 

101 Adventures Brand - A Database of Credible Adventure Experiences

 

To view all the wonderful 101 Adventure-compliant products, visit our 101 Adventures Southern Africa website and our product listing, a proud partnership between SATSA and Dirty Boots, Dirty Boots 101 Adventures.  

 

 

 

Why and How to Collaborate with SATSA’s Adventure Chapter

 

 

Join our mission to unlock Southern Africa's potential as a leading adventure destination. With SATSA, you're not just exploring the wild; you are part of a movement that builds integrity and excellence, embracing challenges to shape the future of tourism. 

 

Inform a self-regulatory framework for South Africa’s adventure tourism industry:

  • Establish minimum operating criteria.
  • Communicate these as minimum standards – a stamp of credibility.
  • Develop individual regulation modalities for safety and operational standards.
  • Skills development and training requirements.
  • Insurance, risk management, and legalities.

 

To ensure that this is a true industry-led initiative, SATSA is inviting all role-players, stakeholders, operators etc. to join hands with the Adventure Chapter to position our destination. Several options, from paid membership to free community and stakeholder registration, have been made available as follows: 

 

1. Become a SATSA Member and join the Adventure Chapter

SATSA is inviting all adventure tourism operators to join the Adventure Chapter which already comprises over 150 businesses representing all provinces and adventure types. Chapter members will play a significant role in informing the self-regulatory framework devised by voluntary technical working groups and task teams, participating in a community to network and grow the country’s adventure tourism industry, and creating awareness of South Africa’s adventure tourism value proposition and credibility.

Become a member and take full advantage of the work and benefits of the Adventure Chapter as well as the benefits of being a SATSA member.

 

2. List your adventure tourism business for free as a Community Member

To become part of the adventure community, receive information on industry matters and contribute to positioning South Africa as a top Adventure Tourism destination, we have made available a free-of-charge registration to our adventure database.

This is available to any adventure-related business in South Africa. It does not include SATSA Membership and Adventure Chapter benefits and is free of charge. 

To apply: Please click here.

 

3. Register as a Stakeholder, Industry Body, Association, etc.

We invite associations, legal specialists, educational institutions, and any relevant regulatory authorities to join hands with the Adventure Chapter as a Stakeholder and join the discussions and development of standards.

 

Please note that this data is kept strictly confidential and individual information will not be shared with any party outside the direct employment of SATSA, of whom all employees have signed confidentiality agreements. Aggregates of this data will be used to lobby on behalf of the industry.

Contact Us

 

We have a window of opportunity to put adventure tourism on the map in South Africa and these are the first steps to achieving this. And so, the adventure begins…

 

Please feel free to contact any of the below Adventure Tourism Committee Members for further details: