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I'm speaking about tourists who choose to spend their vacations (holidays) in places that push their limits to the extreme; such as the Antarctic, Mount Everest, pluvial forests, jungles, etc.

They're not your average tourist who looks forward to a relaxing week sitting on the beach, and soaking up the sun. These people are seeking ‘danger’ and thrills.

I've come up with excursionist. Although Oxford Dictionary didn't provide any definition, it lists several sentence examples, sadly, none of them seem to fit.

‘A good many of the excursionists were conveyed to the head of the lake by the steam-yacht ‘Swift,’ which made its initial journey for the season on that day.’

  • What are these tourists normally called?

Idioms, and slang are also welcomed, but please say which region the latter is from.

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    How about thrill-seekerz or adreno-tourists or Xcursionistas :)
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 13:16
  • Excursionist could fit, even if it is not specific for people doing that activity while in vacation. You could say extreme excursionist, if you want to make clear you are talking of people going to peculiar places. The NOAD doesn't give a definition of excursionist too, but the version on macOS Sierra points you to excursion, which has the following definition: "a short journey or trip, especially one engaged in as a leisure activity: an excursion to Mount Etna | figurative: an excursion into theology."
    – avpaderno
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 13:21
  • @TRomano I need this word for a student's English essay I am correcting, the word tourist is being overused. I was wondering if a term had been coined. If it hasn't that already is an answer.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 13:25
  • Maybe travel agents have a word for them, or they have a word for themselves, but if a single term exists, it's not in general circulation.
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 15:09
  • Interesting question. One of my best friends (quite the adventurist himself) met his wife when by chance he overheard a woman at a party saying, "Heck, yes, I'd climb Mount Everest on my vacation!" Birds of a feather...
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 18:19

3 Answers 3

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The people would be "adventure tourists" or "adventure travelers". The kind of tourism they engage in is called Adventure Travel

"a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with perceived (and possibly actual) risk, and potentially requiring specialized skills and physical exertion."

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    Since the OP is asking for the term to use for people, I guess it should be adventure traveller.
    – avpaderno
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 13:38
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Since the meaning of excursion is short journey or trip, especially one engaged in as a leisure activity, and one of the meanings of extreme is denoting or relating to a sport performed in a hazardous environment and involving great physical risk, such as parachuting or whitewater rafting, I would use extreme excursionist.

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I Googled thrill-seeking travellers and found a decent number of American and British English citations.

  • 5 Adrenaline Adventures for Thrill-Seeking Travelers.
  • Thrill-seekers are the hard-core bunch of travellers. The more adrenalin-filled physical activities you can pack into your travels, the better. You're not afraid to ...
  • Living on the EDGE: Thrill-seeking travellers make a living risking their LIVES source

This website also uses the term daredevil travelers

  • Planning your thrill-seeking – or daredevil – traveler’s next getaway doesn’t have to be a white-knuckle experience for you – if you know the ropes going in.
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  • Now I wonder to upvote your answer or your question :)
    – Yuri
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 21:26
  • For short, in the right context, the essayist could use thrill seekers and daredevils.
    – aparente001
    Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 0:02

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