How EF Adventures Plans to Lead the Adventure Travel Boom

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Driven by a collective yearning for activities that combine excitement, personal challenge, and a connection to nature, travelers of varying fitness levels are increasingly shifting from traditional sightseeing to immersive adventure travel. According to Skift Research, travelers now spend more than $250 billion annually on adventure travel. 

However, according to research from EF Adventures, only one in four travelers felt they had a perfect adventure tour experience. At a time when the majority of travelers report that experiences have a moderate to huge impact on shaping their trips, as explained in Skift’s State of Travel 2024 report, there is a significant opportunity for tour operators to deliver better adventure trips. 

EF World Journeys is a leading tour operator with 35 years of experience in the adult leisure travel sector, operating several brands like EF Ultimate Break (ages 18 to 35) and EF Go Ahead Tours (ages 35-plus). EF Adventures is the company’s newest venture hoping to reach an increasingly active base of travelers. SkiftX spoke with EF World Journeys’ President, Heidi Durflinger, about consumer preferences and expectations around adventure travel and how the company’s newest brand, EF Adventures, aims to meet these evolving traveler demands. 

SkiftX: What inspired EF World Journeys to launch EF Adventures? 

Heidi Durflinger: The launch of EF Adventures was inspired by our company’s passion for education and learning, as well as a workplace culture that prioritizes wellness and staying active. EF World Journeys lives these values as a part of the larger EF Education First organization. Not only is EF a global leader in education, but one of the 15-plus businesses the company owns and operates actually includes a men’s and women’s pro cycling team. So, the marriage of cultural immersion and adventure is built into our DNA.

Our research shows that although the adventure travel marketplace is growing, many unmet needs remain. Around 80 percent of the travelers surveyed said the idea of adventure travel is exciting, as are opportunities to learn about the people, history, culture, and cuisines of the destinations they’re visiting.  

SkiftX: How do you define adventure travel, and why is it so appealing to consumers right now? 

Durflinger: Adventure travel is all about exploring new cultures and environments while getting outside and being active. For us, it combines movement and cultural immersion, allowing travelers to learn about a destination and get outside their comfort zone to experience something new. 

Our research found that 75 percent of travelers want to be more active on vacation and are seeking a variety of experiences to explore the world. This could include activities like hiking or walking tours in the Alps or biking in Spain. It also encompasses multi-adventure tours, such as those we offer in Costa Rica or Bali, which include activities such as kayaking, rafting, ziplining, or yoga. Our goal is to provide adventure travel experiences at varying physical activity levels that allow travelers to immerse themselves in the local culture.

SkiftX: In a recent study, you found cultural immersion is the most meaningful experience travelers seek during adventure travel. Why is EF Adventures particularly suited to offer this type of experience? 

Durflinger: Our mission at EF is to open the world through education. For nearly 60 years, EF has been the leader in education, cultural immersion, and incorporating those special learning moments into our travel offerings. With more than 50,000 team members living in and working across 100 countries, our local expertise is unmatched.

It starts with our vision for every tour we produce, the story we are trying to tell through an itinerary, and the tour design principles that bring to life these stories of a particular destination and the people who call it home. Our itineraries are designed with immersion and experiential activities at the core.

Our secret ingredient is the incredible tour directors we work with locally to guide our travelers. The talented tour directors are local guides, history teachers, and community builders with inside knowledge of those special off-the-beaten-path moments that truly make a trip unique. 

SkiftX: Can you share some examples of EF Adventures’ unique blend of cultural immersion and active excursions?

Durflinger: Our research shows that adventure travelers are dynamic people. They view themselves as foodies, quintessential sightseers, culture seekers, hobbyist photographers, art enthusiasts, and so much more.

These insights inform how our tours blend movement amidst iconic landscapes, local sights, and historic landmarks. For example, one of our tours takes travelers on a hike of the Trans Bhutan Trail, ending in the village of Dopshari, where travelers eat a traditional lunch at a local farmhouse and can try their hand at the national sport of archery or play a quick game of darts. On another tour, travelers can bike to a truffle farm in the Alba Region of Piedmont, where they take part in a truffle hunt and enjoy their findings over lunch.

SkiftX: How are consumer preferences evolving around other aspects of adventure travel, such as food and lodging? 

Durflinger: Travelers who have been on adventure tours told us they want more cultural immersion on their trips, but many also expressed concerns over lodging and meal quality. We believe we can offer an elevated experience on all fronts.

After an active day, travelers want the opportunity to rest and recharge. We see this as another opportunity to experience local culture. We will fuel our bodies with nutritious meals, taking time to recharge by learning more about local cuisines.

We offer an elevated lodging experience that includes carefully selected property styles from modern hotels to agriturismos (an independently owned farm with lodging) to family-run boutique properties and mountain chalets. Many of these special hotels will offer recovery services, including spa treatments and amenities like pools, hot tubs, and saunas.

SkiftX: How does EF Adventures fit into the broader family of EF World Journeys brands?  

Durflinger: EF World Journeys operates three adult leisure travel brands that offer guided tours and experiential, culturally immersive travel to more than 400 international destinations. We are a privately held business that is part of EF Education First, which was founded in 1965.  

Our first adult tour business, EF Go Ahead Tours, provides guided, experiential travel services for adults 35 and older and has been around since 1990. EF Ultimate Break, which serves adults 18 to 35 years old, has operated since 2003. EF Adventures will round out our house of brands, powered by nearly six decades of institutional knowledge around blending cultural immersion into travel that promises enlightenment and life-long memories.

SkiftX: According to Skift Research, travelers spend over $250 billion on adventure travel annually. How can travel providers partner with operators to leverage this opportunity? 

Durflinger: We want to partner more with corporate brands, like fitness trackers or athletic clubs, and we value our tourism and destination partnerships worldwide to help raise awareness of the amazing benefits their locales might offer travelers. We independently curate our tours, but we will also work with local destination management companies with extensive knowledge of a region that can partner with our in-house teams. 

Destination marketing organizations, destination management companies, hoteliers, airlines, and excursion providers interested in working with EF should contact us to learn how we can help them generate interest in their locales. Anyone interested in working with EF Adventures or any of our brands at EF World Journeys should connect with us at www.efworldjourneys.com to learn more or find us on LinkedIn.

To learn more about EF World Journeys, click here.

This content was created collaboratively by EF World Journeys and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.