| Summary: | Adventure tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. As a unique form of nature-based tourism, in that it involves active engagement with nature, the relationship between the adventure tourism industry and the environment has yet to be adequately explored. The vital role of the environment in adventure tourism has been mentioned throughout literature, but the environmental perspectives of adventure tourism operators are largely unknown. This study examines the attitudes and practices of adventure tourism operators through data collected from five companies in the Tsitsikamma, South Africa, a hot-spot for adventure tourism in a unique environment. It first demonstrates the wide spectrum of initiatives taken by different adventure tourism companies that operate within this unique and fragile environment. The results also show that this group of adventure guides do have some sense of environmental awareness, though environmental values were, generally, relatively low when compared with other similar studies. However, this group of adventure guides do demonstrate a number of behaviours taken to minimize the environmental impact of these activities.
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