The Full Scope of the Outdoor Sector

In my experience, people who think about the "outdoor sector" do so with a much too limited view of what the sector encompasses. The active recreation sector is in my view a much better naming (it excludes things like 4WDing or dirt bike riding, and loosely holds things like fishing [it depends] and going for a jog at the park). The distinction also needs to be drawn to separate out "sport" from "recreation". (Canoeing for example is in both, but Rugby League is definitely in the Sport category). 

Here is what I think the full scope of the Outdoor Active Recreation sector really encompasses:

• Education – curricular and extracurricular: outdoor education, environmental education, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, residential outdoor schools, outdoor learning, Wilderness Studies high school subjects, nature immersion and nature play eg “Bush Schools” Wild Ground, The Nature School, Blackwoods, ROSA

• Education – institutions and RTO’s (TAFE, Higher Education, Research, Teacher Training)

• Youth and Community – volunteer and not-for-profit organisations eg Scouts, Guides, Pathfinders and more military style eg cadets, etc

• Recreation-based counselling, Nature Therapy and Adventure Therapy

• Clubs and special interest groups (bushwalking, uni clubs, fitness groups, photography, etc)

• Health and lifestyle improvement (those that do not fit under sport/fitness.) eg. Wild Women on Top, Summit Sisters

• Outdoor sports/competitive events/outdoor events (those that do not fit neatly under sport/fitness) eg Paintball/Skirmish, Ultra Trail Australia, Tough Mudder, Adventure Races, Orienteering/Rogaining

• Team Building (Facilitation, group/personal/leadership development)

• Adventure tourism, eco-tourism, nature-based tourism, voluntourism eg. ski touring, surf camps, multi day hikes, climbing instructors, cave adventures, bush tucker, wildlife tours, heritage and interpretive guides, and sooo many more…. 

• Outdoor artificial amusement venues eg. indoor climbing gyms, tree top adventure parks, high ropes courses, cruise ships, Paintball/Skirmish

• International experiential/adventure educational programs eg. World Challenge, Antipodeans Abroad

• Indigenous and other cultural experiences eg Muru Mittigar, Blue Mountains Ancestral Pathways

• And potentially:

  • Field work - working for protected areas land managers, or on scientific, research or commercial expeditions to provide support and/or manage risk. (eg National Parks, the Australian Antarctic Division, supporting geological surveys in the mining sector, or doing field work with scientists in remote areas.)

  • Equipment / Service providers (including wholesale, retail and hire)

  • Armed Services (police, army, navy, airforce)

  • Technological partners – mapping software, apps, bloggers, geocaching, research, product development

  • All of the other business services that layer over the top of any business, but with an outdoor bent: risk management, logistics, sales, hospitality, etc 

And this list doesn't even touch on the activities (abseil, climb, canoe, ski, ride, run, etc) that any of the entities might do. I'm not even going to attempt to write a list here as it is constantly evolving and growing....