In South Africa, the majority of adventure tourism companies sell air, land and water activities, or an amalgamation of these activities and experiences, to accommodate the growing market. From these activities, mountaineering, which includes rock climbing and mountain climbing, arose as one of the most predominant financial contributors to local communities, regions and/or destinations. Although the exact impact and size of the rock climbing market is unknown, analysing
rock climbers’ spending behaviours could be helpful in determining its financial value. Research on rock climbing is limited to its supply side with little information focusing on the rock climbers’ specific spending behaviour patterns, as this study sets out to investigate. A self-report e-questionnaire for rock climbers (n=228) was designed and used to examine descriptors of the behavioural and spending patterns of rock climbers in Gauteng, a province of South Africa. Rock climbers spend very little at Gauteng climbing sites, but are characterised by millennial behaviours. These findings could assist rock climbing marketing companies to determine the economic impact of this adventure activity on the local community, region or tourist destination. Moreover, the study could assist adventure tourism companies to manage and market experiences that will meet the specific target market’s interests and needs. However, adventure tourism companies should implement the last two target marketing steps, namely market targeting and positioning, to effectively complete the systematic process.