Selling a thrill: for one tourism outfit, it's not just a job--it's an adventure.

Soaring through mango trees may be the action of a monkey or possibly a toucan, but for one enterprise in Mexico, this activity is being marketed and sold--with much success-to leaders of industry and their staffs.

The longest tirolesa in Latin America spans a grove of trees in Veracruz, and it is part of the adventure experience marketed by Rio y Montanas Expediciones, a motley crew of free-thinking individuals that includes one of the handful of Mexicans to summit Everest, a fixture of the Mexico City nightlife scene and a former German computer consultant.

The rapidly developing adventure tourism scene has brought them together, and they help form the oldest adventure tourism outfit in Mexico--one that taps into everyone's inherent need for excitement and the more calculating need to form an efficient working unit.

Throughout BUSINESS MEXICO'S in-depth examination of the tourism industry as a whole, the adventure angle has been repeatedly cited as an up-and-coming force. Yes, Cancun and Los Cabos may still be the kings when it comes to vacationers, but some white-water denizens in Veracruz would beg to be different.

Several other businesses have joined the market, but Rio y Montanas has distinguished itself with its relative longevity in a nascent field, its talented team of guides and "corporate team builders" and its camps that have been carved out of the Veracruz forest.

Although the tirolesa is the most dramatic feature of its Veracruz camps in Picocanon and Okavango, the firm attracts most of its guests for the celebrated rafting of the area.

"The thirst for adventure, everyone has it. It is definitely a trend and it is getting bigger. Especially the rafting, the rafting is the winning horse right now," said the firm's chief executive officer Andreas Weigeit. The German has been involved in adventure sports for 11 years, having started his experience as a raft guide in the Austrian Alps.

Many extreme activities-mountain climbing for instance (one of the Rio founders was Everest conquistador Alfonso de la Parra)--have always been around; it is the commercialization of these time-honored traditions that is new. And if you are talking about commercialization, this growing sector has attracted the attention of some of Mexico's top promoters--Hugo van Belle among them--who are looking to capitalize on the sport and tap alternative markets through it.

This concept of motivation, a central theme to adventure sports, can be used as a vehicle to an end beyond simply making it through the white water in one piece.

Corporate team building is one of the features of the Rio firm, and several major corporations--including Danone, Hewlett Packard, Columbia TriStar and Domecq--have allowed the Veracruz adventure crew to put them through their paces.

Van Belle, who has worked as a corporate and cultural event promoter, high-profile model and brand marketer during his 10 years in Mexico, said the adventure theme is something businesses can exploit to team build and open up avenues of communication that previously may have been closed.

In charge of corporate groups for the firm, van Belle stressed that adventure sports not only appeal to those adrenaline junkies out there, but for straight-up businessmen looking to improve their working unit.

"These are not everyday challenges, but the important thing is they can be applied in everyday environments," said van Belle, who added that the Veracruz forest has a way of puffing previously hidden talents on display. "Sometimes you need to get out of the office environment to get to know your co-workers' strengths and weaknesses. You see that they're capable of things you never expected."

Matthew Brayman is the editor of BUSINESS MEXICO.