Explore Adventure Tourism with SATSA - Where wild beauty meets bold opportunity.
Southern Africa is a playground for thrill-seekers, and SATSA and industry roleplayers are 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, and more competitive sector. Take the survey here.
Operator Resources: Self-Assessment, Toolkits & Guides
SATSA’s Adventure Chapter Committee is developing self-regulation resources to support and strengthen the sector. The documents below are open to industry input at all times. Latest versions are listed, and new ones will be added as they are developed.
1. Adventure Tourism Self-Assessment Tool
Start here by measuring your alignment with global best practice. Our free self-assessment tool is designed to help adventure operators benchmark their operations across key areas of safety, sustainability, community engagement, and customer experience. It’s completely free to use — and if you choose to submit your results, you’ll receive a detailed score breakdown, tailored resources, and practical tips to help you grow and improve.
2. Roadmap (AT001)
The Adventure Tourism Self-Regulation Roadmap sets out the structure and desired outcomes of the project.
3. General Code of Good Practice (CoGP) Guide (AT002)
The General Code of Good Practice Guide provides compliance information and assistance in completing the CoGP Checklist.
4. General Code of Good Practice (GoGP) Checklist (AT003)
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.
5. 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:
- Standard Operating Procedures (AT004)
- Risk, Safety & Incident Management (AT005)
- Participant Care (ATT006)
- Responsible Adventure Tourism (ATT007)
- Leadership & Guides (AT008)
6. Category-Specific Code of Good Practice
Development of category-specific CoGPs is currently underway for the categories listed below. This will consider the common requirements of all activities within a category. Further categories will be added regularly.- Boat-Based Activities (AT100) Draft
- Paddling Activities (AT200) Draft
- Hiking & Trekking Activities (AT300) Draft
- Aerial Non-Flight Activities (AT400) Draft
- Wheels-Based Activities (AT500) Draft
7. Individual Activity Standards
Once category-specific codes are developed, each activity will create unique standards, keeping in mind that all requirements of the General and Category-specific CoGPs are already in place.
We value your feedback to ensure the framework remains relevant and effective. Please email us here if you have any comments or suggestions on the above resources.
Why Adventure Tourism
According to Allied Market Research, the global adventure tourism market is estimated to generate $1,169.09 billion by 2028. This market segment is widely acknowledged as 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.
Based on research conducted before the pandemic, the key challenges facing our adventure tourism sector include vulnerability concerning unscrupulous operators, safety and reliability issues, and a largely fragmented and uncoordinated industry that is underrepresented 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 (see our Development Plan graphic below) 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, competitive, and can be confidently marketed to travellers.
In addition to creating job opportunities and achieving a coordinated industry with a cohesive marketing effort, the spin-off will develop 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 providing 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 the 101 Adventure-compliant products, visit our 101 Adventures Southern Africa website and our Dirty Boots 101 Adventures product listing.
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 this is an industry-led initiative, SATSA invites 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 value proposition and credibility.
Become a member and take full advantage of the work and benefits of the Adventure Chapter and the benefits of being a SATSA member. Emerging businesses under R1 million turnover can apply to become a SATSA Growth Affiliate.
2. List your adventure tourism business for free as a Community Member
You can register on our adventure database to become part of the adventure community, receive information on industry matters, and contribute to positioning South Africa as a top adventure tourism destination.
This is available to any adventure-related business in South Africa. It is free of charge but does not include SATSA Membership and Adventure Chapter benefits.
To register as a Community Member, click here.
3. Register as a Stakeholder
We invite operators, associations, legal specialists, educational institutions, and any relevant regulatory authorities to join the Adventure Chapter as Stakeholders or Task Team/Technical Working Group members to participate in the discussions and development of standards.
To register as a Stakeholder, click here.
Please note that this data is kept strictly confidential. Individual information will not be shared with any party outside the direct employment of SATSA, for which 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 Southern Africa, and these are the first steps to achieving this. And so, the adventure begins…
Please feel free to contact any of the following Adventure Tourism Committee Members for further details:
