The Outdoors
The Outdoor sector essentially covers a range of leisure and learning activities undertaken within the natural environment.
This is a diverse sector with private, public, not-for-profit and voluntary operations and an equally varied customer base. Employers are mostly small organisations - 90% of them are micro-businesses with less than 15 employees. This, together with a high reliance on younger, seasonal employees and volunteers creates unique issues for workforce development.
The National Skills Academy supports employers in the outdoors by providing low-cost training and improved access to needed qualifications and skills for their employees. Employers benefit from access to a wide range of valuable resources aimed at optimising business performance.
Broadly the outdoors can be categorised into five sub-sectors:
- Outdoor education Experiential, environmental, physical and social education
- Outdoor recreation Organised and self-guided outdoor activities for fun
- Outdoor development training Leadership, team and management development
- Outdoor sport development Competitive performance, instructor and skill development
- Expeditions and exploration Planning and delivery of local, national and international expeditions and research
To find out more, please visit our outdoor regional pages.