Extreme tourism or shock tourism is a type of niche tourism involving travel to dangerous places (mountains, jungles, deserts, caves, etc.) or participation in dangerous events. Extreme tourism overlaps with
extreme sport. The two share the main attraction, "
adrenaline rush" caused by an element of
risk, and differing mostly in the degree of engagement and
professionalism.
Extreme tourism is a growing business in the countries of the former
Soviet Union (
Russia,
Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, etc.) and in
South American countries like
Peru,
Chile and
Argentina. The mountainous and rugged terrain of
Northern Pakistan has also developed into a popular extreme tourism location.
While traditional tourism requires significant investments in hotels, roads, etc., extreme tourism requires much less to jump-start a business. In addition to traditional travel-based tourism destinations, various exotic attractions are suggested, such as flyovers in
MiGs at
Mach 2.5,
ice diving in the
White Sea, or travelling across the
Chernobyl zone.