Adventure tourism in Azerbaijan and the role of mountaineering in its development

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Tourism, grade: 7.0, Dublin Institute of Technology (Dublin Institute of Technology), course: Tourism Management, language: English, abstract: The present research focused on exploring the concept of mountaineering as adventure tourism, analysing the development of mountaineering in Azerbaijan, determining the main challenges to the development of mountaineering as adventure tourism in Azerbaijan, and defining the role of mountaineering in developing adventure tourism. Over recent years, due to the increasing popularity of mountain-based tourism, the role of mountaineering has increased in importance. The mountains have for centuries served as a principal attraction, enticing tourists to visit particular vacation destinations. Mountains continue to be one of the core features of adventure tourism. Mountains cover one-fifth of the earth's land surface and continue to market themselves, in a way, as destinations with a clean environment, a variety of flora and fauna, and beautiful nature. The case study location chosen for this research was Azerbaijan, a country near the Great Caucasus Range and Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan is a country primarily covered by mountains that have a high potential for adventure tourism.