TRENDING # new_products # park_closing_checklist # new_revenue_sources # hybrid_parks # and_much_more
Adventure Park Insider Repeat Customers: It takes some effort and creativity to earn repeat business, but the payoff makes it all worthwhile.
FALL 2017
Business Software: An overview of trends and features for booking and management and how they can improve your business.
LONG RANGE PLANNING: HOW TO PLOT THE PATH AHEAD
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EDITORIAL OFFICE P.O. Box 644 Woodbury, CT 06798 Tel. 203.263.0888 / Fax 203.266.0452 Email: Olivia@adventureparkinsider.com Website: www.adventureparkinsider.com Publisher Olivia Rowan olivia@adventureparkinsider.com Editor Rick Kahl rick@adventureparkinsider.com Senior Editor Dave Meeker dave@adventureparkinsider.com Associate Editor / Art Director Liz Mettler liz@adventureparkinsider.com Digital Editor / Project Manager Sarah Borodaeff sarah@adventureparkinsider.com Production Manager Donna Jacobs donna@adventureparkinsider.com CONTRIBUTORS Cameron Annas Peter Oliver Scott Baker Michael R. Smith Aaron Bible Don Stefanovich Sarah Borodaeff Don Stock April Darrow Paul Thallner Moira McCarthy SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR Paul Cummings ADVERTISING/MARKETING OFFICE 70 Pond Street • Natick, MA 01760 Tel. 508.655.6408 / Fax 508.655.6409 Advertising Director Sharon Walsh sharon@adventureparkinsider.com Marketing Manager Sarah Borodaeff sarah@adventureparkinsider.com CIRCULATION / SUBSCRIPTIONS 70 Pond Street • Natick, MA 01760 Tel. 508.655.6409 / Fax 508.655.6409 subscriptions@adventureparkinsider.com Circulation Manager Sarah Borodaeff sarah@adventureparkinsider.com A subscription to Adventure Park Insider is COMPLIMENTARY to industry professionals. Visit our website, www.adventurepark insider.com and click on “Subscribe” to make sure you are on our list to receive the publication and online content. ADVENTURE PARK INSIDER — Vol. 3, No. 3, Fall 2017, pub lished by Beardsley Publishing Corp., P.O. Box 644, Wood bury, CT 06798. Copyright 2017 Beardsley Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Beardsley Publishing, P.O. Box 644, Woodbury, CT 06798.
ETTER FROM THE EDITORS
Survey Says … To quote Emil Faber, “Knowledge is good.” The more knowledge we all have, the better we’ll be at just about everything. This especially applies to running a business, and more specifically, an aerial adventure operation. We learn, in part, by acquiring information from reputable resources. Our goal at Adventure Park Insider is, of course, to be such a resource and help you, our readers, be successful. The most comprehensive step we’ve taken toward that goal was last year’s inaugural 93% “Industry Report,” starting with an industry-wide 60% 43% survey and then producing a full report and analysis of the survey results.
Adventure Park Insider
2017
The 2017 State of the Industry Report An industry-wide survey designed to help operators understand current and future trends of the aerial adventure industry.
RANKED PHONE AS #1 SOURCE OF BOOKINGS
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The survey is an important means for us to fulfill our primary purpose, which is to become a reliable, even indispensible, resource for operators. Our content aims to inform your business decisions. The industry survey serves that purpose by providing a clear picture of the state of the industry—and a peek at what’s over the horizon. More than 150 of you responded to last year’s survey, which was a terrific start. This year, though, we’d like to see that number rise. The more participation we have, the more valuable the data will be, and therefore the report and analysis it produces become even more useful for you. We’ve refined the questions and answer options this year to make the survey easier to complete. You have until Nov. 20 to complete it—but the earlier the better. Mark it on your calendars, encourage your colleagues at other aerial adventure operations to fill it out, and we, as an industry, will be better for it. To share the results, Adventure Park Insider will present and discuss top-line results in a session at the ACCT Conference in February, and will once again publish a top-line report in our winter issue. It’s true that, in some cases, ignorance is bliss. But not when it comes to business. We ask you to play a part in helping the industry learn and grow. You can find the survey at www.adventureparkinsider.com. —The Editors
3 Fall 2017
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VOL. 3 | NO. 3 | FALL 2017
CONTENTS
Settling Down for a Long Winter’s Nap
Attend to these seven aspects of park management to get set for 2018. By Don Stock
20 3 Letter from the Editors
Survey Says ...
8 Park Briefs Summer Ops Camp, ACCT Conference, Emergency Braking, and more. A Staff Report 16 New Products Six gear introductions of note. By Sarah Borodaeff 28 Happy Returns One key to success for commercial parks is finding ways to turn visitors into repeat customers. By Dave Meeker
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ON THE COVER Planning for the future is a bit like exploring a new aerial park for the first time: You have to look around and keep your eyes open, like the guests here on the new canopy tree walk at Anakeesta, Tenn. » 50
Planning Ahead
Getting Business on the Books
50
54
34 For the Record New software makes proper documentation—of inspections, training, maintenance, and waivers—easier. By Morgan Tilton
58 At the Zoo The Bronx Zoo now houses a Treetop Adventure for the urban masses. By Peter Oliver
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you find your way there? By Paul Cummings
40 Park Spy “I am interested in bringing a group from my company to do some teambuilding...” By Sarah Borodaeff 42 10 Tricks for Turning Data Into Revenue (Mostly) simple steps parks can take to mine guest data for effective marketing. By Gregg Blanchard
Booking software, part I: the trends that comprise the state of the art. By Mat Newton
62 Rocking Alt Revenue Adventure parks discover the simple pleasure of revenue from retail and F&B. By Moira McCarthy 66 Hybrid Adventure Offer multiple paths to fun to draw larger crowds who stay longer and spend more. By Peter Oliver
READ MORE ONLINE If you see this symbol, you will find additional information at adventureparkinsider.com. You’ll also find our online-only columns—Insider Man agement and Insider Marketing—plus Park 360s, and more Park Briefs and New Products.
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Getting Schooled at Summer Ops Camp
PARK BRIEFS
NEWS FROM AROUND THE AERIAL ADVENTURE INDUSTRY
The Vendor Showcase at the SAM Summer Ops Camp allowed attendees the opportunity to meet vendors who offer products and services specific to adventure parks—among them, Valdo Lallemand of Aerial Designs, who constructed event host Killington, Vt.’s drop tower and dual zip line racer.
Paul Cummings of Strategic Adventures shared with attendees a trend of increased interest in multi-activity operations, as well as in condensed, small-space indoor parks. This trend, Cummings speculated, might be feeding off interest generated by American Ninja Warrior.
Megan Langer and Casey Dixon from The Flybook led a small breakout session on how to use data to increase attendance and profits, including balancing capacity/crowd control, how to make sense of data to determine customer trends, and online booking.
Getting Schooled at Summer Ops Camp In early September, Adventure Park Insider’s sister publication, Ski Area Management, gathered 170 ski area representatives, vendors, and speakers from the U.S., Canada, and Japan to talk about growing from winter-centric businesses to ones that can increasingly draw revenue during the summer months. Summer Ops Camp, as the program is called, was held at Killington Resort, Vt., Sept. 5-7, and gave operators insights into the opportunities, choices, trends, and pitfalls in developing a summer activities program. The overall agenda included seminars on everything from marketing and branding to the state of the adventure-park industry, mountain biking, and risk management. Killington proved to be a particularly suitable setting for the event, having embarked, in 2014, on an ambitious, five-year expansion of its summer offerings.
Camp attendees received a behind-the-scenes look at the management and operation of the activities in the resort’s Adventure Center, including a mountain bike park, mountain coaster, Skye Ropes Course, maze, Zipline Racer, Soaring Eagle, jump tower, paintball and lazer tag, alpine tubing, and Segway tours. The resort is a model of multi-activity adventure, in short. Product demonstrations and hands-on trial were a big part of the program. A Vendor Showcase with more than 35 suppliers provided an arena for one-on-one presentations and explanations of products and services, with a major focus on aerial adventures. The annual Summer Ops Camp will move to a western location next year and remain in the early September time frame.•
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2018 ACCT Conference: Shoot for the Stars The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) will hold its 28th annual International Conference and Expo Feb. 1-4, 2018, at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. As usual, the event will include a variety of workshops, certification courses, networking opportunities, and trade show. More than 1,000 industry professionals are expected to attend. There will be 12 certification and training courses offered in the days before the conference begins (Jan. 30 – Feb. 1), as well as the Inspector Certification Program Prep Course for those taking the ACCT Inspector Certification exams on Sunday, Feb. 4. The courses include: OSHA 10-hour Construction Course; First Aid for the Challenge Course Professional; Professional Inspector’s Forum; In-House Inspector Training; Wood
Micah Salazar of Outdoor Ventures offered a hands-on look at advanced AAP rescue and assist methods, including the equipment and techniques used in high-volume parks where up to 100 assists per day are common.
Pole Inspection and Safety, and more. There will be an early-arrivals reception on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 31. Then on Thursday, pre-conference courses and training sessions will run most of the day, preceding the opening ceremony and keynote speaker that afternoon. This year’s keynote is Nate Regier, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology who, among many other accomplishments, has developed training, coaching, and measurement tools and systems for Next Element, a company specializing in leadership training and coaching. New this year, the ACCT annual general meeting will take place at 1 p.m. on Friday.
Outdoor demos were a big part of the Summer Ops Camp experience. ResortBoards were a hit with everyone at camp, as they deliver a low-impact, high thrill activity for summer guests.
More than 110 different general conference sessions will be held on Friday and Saturday. Each session will be 90 minutes long, and cover a wide variety of topics in specific tracks. All attendees who are fully registered can attend the sessions on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and to register for the 2018 ACCT International Conference and Expo, visit www.acctconference.com.•
>> continued
PARK BRIEFS
Shaping the Regulatory Environment As aerial adventure parks continue to grow in number, they find their way onto the radar of state regulators. ACCT is among the industry groups that are working to ensure the regulations are practical as well as protective of the public. And the organization plans to become even more active in the future, in anticipation of continuing attention from regulators. Most recently, Kentucky has gotten into the act. Regulators with the state’s Department of Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over aerial parks, issued proposed regulations over the past summer, and have held public meetings on them. Brian Brun, of Environmental Resources Inc., has been representing stakeholders as an industry liaison on behalf of ACCT. ERI is an ACCT PVM, and Brun is a member of ACCT’s government relations committee. “Brian has developed a good rapport with the Department of Agriculture,” ACCT executive director Shawn Tierney says. “The first draft raised alarms, because the proposed rules were vague and overreaching. The drafters have made changes that for the most part are good. It’s still a process. “
Tierney says, “The Agency has been receptive to public and industry input. It is anxious to create a sound set of regulations. We’ve had a lot of input. They cite our standard, and that’s always a good sign. A draft of the regulations is on the Department of Agriculture’s website. “Once finalized, these will be passed to the legislature, and they are scheduled to go into effect in July 2018. There will be time to educate people and operators ahead of that time.” Tierney notes that the rules for Kentucky come after Tennessee and Michigan revised and expanded their rules last year, and that work on regulations in North Carolina is ongoing. To help the industry manage future regulatory changes, ACCT is working with a “government relations policy person” on a consulting basis. The consultant is developing a long-term plan to proactively address regulatory issues, and to revise the association’s position statement on regulations. The statement will reference states that have produced sound regulations, to help guide those states that have yet to expressly address adventure parks.
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Tour & Activity Operator Software
“We want to be involved, at the table, looking at drafts, pointing out things that won’t work, and supplying definitions to keep regulations from being vague,” Tierney notes. “The position statement will be a nice calling card to send to various regulators. We want to help them develop good, sound regulations. “That’s one of the key roles we, as an organization, can fill. We’re starting with a small budget for this policy person this year, and we’ll ramp up our efforts, and budget, next year,” he says.•
Program Accreditation Moves Forward—Slowly Without uniform or consistent regulation across the country, what can an aerial park do to assure visitors it operates responsibly? Providing that assurance is a major goal of ACCT’s program accreditation project. Progress on developing the accreditation program continues, though it is moving slowly. ACCT’s Program Accreditation Task Force did a lot of work over the late summer to model the program. At press time in early fall, the Accreditation and Certification Committee
As a result of the pilot program, ACCT expects to further tweak the program. Once that round of development is complete, ACCT plans to do a soft launch with a small number of operators. At press time, the timetable for this was spring 2018. And then the experience gained during 2018 will help ACCT continue to refine the model. “It’s been a long process and it’s moving slowly, but it has to,” says ACCT executive director Shawn Tierney. “There are lots of details to work through,” including the specific elements of the program and who will
accredit the operations participating in the program. “We’ll release information as we can,” Tierney adds. “We don’t even know the cost yet, and obviously, that’s a consideration.” Another wrinkle: ACCT will likely create separate programs, to account for differences between commercial and traditional programs. “There could be two separate but related programs,” he notes. “It has to work for the different types of operations. It won’t be one size fits all.” ACCT will provide an update on the pilot program, and on the accreditation program itself, at its annual conference in early February. “That will be another place for people to have input as to what will or will not work for them,” Tierney says.•
Emergency Braking: Head Rush Changes the Game also a reminder that change is a staple of the aerial adventure business, which continues to evolve quickly. Yesterday’s state of the art is quickly overtaken by innovations, regulations, and standards.
The company’s white paper, which spells out stringent requirements for use of its emergency brakes, is
That said, the white paper’s impact on zip line operators has been enormous in some cases, leading to the
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In the white paper, Head Rush mandates that an emergency arrest device (EAD) must be used on all zipSTOP or zipSTOP IR installations and meet ACCT and ASTM standards. Head Rush discourages guide-activated EADs, and it requires that the EAD must not be engaged during standard operation. It must also have adequate room to provide full braking for the participant, separate and apart from the braking area necessary for the primary brake. A key question: Does “meet ACCT and ASTM standards” mean that an installation must meet one or the other, or both? The official answer from Head Rush: “If zip line emergency braking complies with ASTM F2959-16, then no other requirements need to be met.
Love it or hate it, you have to admit that the Head Rush Technologies white paper on emergency arrest devices (EADs) has focused attention on the safety of zip lines. In particular, the safety of long, high-speed zip lines.
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costly modification of some installations and the shuttering of others. If all this leads to fewer guest injuries and increased confidence in operators, perhaps parks will judge the growing pains to have been worthwhile.
PARK BRIEFS
was set to have its say on the details, too. Then, in November, the program will enter a pilot test with a couple of companies, including an aerial adventure park.
“If zip line emergency braking only complies with ACCT, then the EAD must also: • Be verified by a qualified person that the participant experiences suitable deceleration and is verified, through unmanned testing, that serious injury or death
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will not occur upon failure of the primary brake.” “Please note that while ACCT recognizes guide activated brakes as emergency brakes, Head Rush Technologies does not,” the official statement says. “Guide activated brakes most likely do not provide emergency braking for the first guide down the zip line, and are too prone to human error to be considered a viable emergency braking technique by Head Rush. A guide activated brake cannot be used as an EAD for a zipSTOP or zipSTOP IR installation.” Head Rush does not endorse any particular type or brand of EAD, but senior director for marketing and sales Bill Carlson notes that zipSTOPS, spring packs, and Bonsai Designs emergency brakes and EADs can be engineered to meet the requirements. However, operators of some zip lines, especially longer/faster commercial zip lines, find it difficult or impossible to meet those requirements. For some installations, there are no drop-in, inexpensive solutions. For others, it is impractical to modify or extend the arrival platform so that the currently available EADs can be installed.
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The upshot of the white paper is to compel some operators to make difficult choices: spend the time and
money to modify their courses, continue to use discouraged forms of emergency braking, or shut down.
least some emergency brake installations “have not been fully tested, or were not sized properly.”
Sweating the Details The initial white paper drew responses from several sources, including ACCT itself. The organization pointed out that the ANSI/ACCT standard does not refer to EADs at all, but to emergency brakes. ANSI/ACCT does not require emergency brakes for all zip lines, but only those where the arrival speed is greater than 6 mph and where a participant could experience “unintended and/or harmful contact with terrain, objects or people in the zip line landing area.” Nor does ANSI/ACCT specify what type of braking system is required.
How Did This Come About? Head Rush says its new policy stems from a broad concern for the long-term health of the industry. “We had been talking about it for a year before we published it, just prior to 2017 ACCT Convention,” says Carlson. “It stemmed from visiting a lot of locations; very few had emergency brakes. It had been in our manual from day one, and in standards for a long time. And it had been ignored.
In response, Head Rush clarified its statements about both ASTM and ACCT standards. Aside from the new requirements, the white paper took many by surprise because it is retroactive. Prior to 2017, says one builder, Head Rush simply required “an appropriate backup brake.” Another builder laments that the short-term impact of the more stringent requirements has been to remove some zipSTOPs from operation. “A lot of those products have been installed, and will keep people safer,” he says. He acknowledges, though, that it appears at
“We did it to increase awareness. The initiative came from a position of protecting the health of the industry. That’s a big part of what we’re doing, helping to educate the industry. The [Head Rush] white paper on braking dynamics is also part of that. We feel we’re the experts at braking, that’s where we play. “We have a strong tie to the business. We knew guest injuries would hurt the entire industry.” What’s Happened Since? Carlson says Head Rush expected the white paper would be a hot topic at last year’s ACCT Conference, but adds, “It wasn’t until a month or two later that we saw the resistance and concern.” >> continued
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PARK BRIEFS
“People ask: ‘What can we do?’ We say, you can use a second zipSTOP, spring packs, Bonsai’s solution, among others,” Carlson says. Head Rush acknowledges that its position puts some parks, and some builders, in a difficult spot. But the company didn’t see another option. “Some long, fast zip lines were not designed properly in the first place. The platform is not long enough for an emergency brake,” Carlson says. “To find a solution, parks go back to the builders, who are stuck between a rock and a hard place. “We knew we were going to put some people into a bind. We knew some might stop buying from us.” Vendors say that has, in fact, happened. “It’s too bad,” says one, “because it’s a good product, and has been used by a lot of people.” The Solutions Vendors and operators have pursued a variety of solutions to either meet the Head Rush specifications or to find alternate means of satisfying the requirement for emergency braking for existing tours and zip lines. Among their solutions:
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1. Modify it. Some zip lines can be modified at a small cost to work with or without a zipSTOP. The arrival plat-
form can be extended to accommodate an emergency brake that meets the Head Rush parameters or for a different braking system. In some instances, operations can put more sag into the cable to decrease arrival speeds, though that may lead to more retrievals. But if guests arrive at greater than 10 mph, solutions become more costly. “There are not many options for stopping from 30 mph in a short distance,” one builder noted. Rebuilding or extending a platform can get expensive. Estimates range from $1,000 to $10,000 per platform, depending on how much work is required. Some parks require a complete rebuild; one spent $250,000 on an overhaul, one builder says. 2. Ignore it. Some parks have simply chosen to operate in violation of the Head Rush policy. They continue to use emergency brakes as they have in the past, and assume the risk that these continue to prove effective. 3. Rename it. According to some observers, a few vendors have changed their manuals to define the zipSTOP as the backup brake, even though in practice, guests contact the backup brake first. For example, in some parks, guides still operate a Prusik as the so-called primary brake.
camps with multiple activities, simply shut down their zipSTOP-equipped zip lines, and focused on their other activities. Vendors report that a few zip tours closed until they could implement a solution. 5. Develop new technology. “Our clients said, ‘we’ll stop using the zipSTOP until you come up with a solution,’” says one builder—a solution that may or may not allow parks to continue using the zipSTOP. Several companies are said to be designing just such solutions. One observer predicts there will be three new zip line emergency brakes or other solutions on display at the ACCT Conference in February. Some may be made generally available; some will be proprietary. One such solution: ZipFlyer’s new magnetic trolley (see New Products, page 16) that can limit speeds and provide more consistent arrival speeds, which makes braking—both primary and backup—easier. Another possibility: an emergency braking system that uses a self-retracting lanyard (SRL) and shock packs. If nothing else, this summer has shown once again that the aerial adventure business is still young, and evolving and changing fast. •
4. Shut down. Some operators, particularly summer
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Adventure Park Insider rounded up a variety of new products for operators to consider.
PMI Falcon P
MI is introducing the Falcon helmet, designed for use in work-at-height and for professional rescue, which meets EN 397 standards for industrial helmets. The Falcon is equipped with a fourpoint suspension system to reduce impact, and a ventilation system with metal mesh for air circulation and protection from debris. It also sports headlamp/goggle retainer clips and an adjustment dial for customized fitting. It comes with a removable, and thus washable, moisture-wicking headband liner. With all that, it still weighs less than one pound. www.shop.pmirope.com
ZipFlyer V2 ZipRunner Trolley and ZipCoaster Shuttle ZipFlyer has released its new V2 ZipRunner Trolley and ZipCoaster Shuttle. The V2
system features a patented variable dynamic eddy current braking system, which is engineered to offer consistent speeds while accounting for variables such as weather, changing slope conditions, and participant weight. It is designed to provide high levels of safety and consistent performance for a wide range of rider weights. www.zipflyer.com
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Walltopia is introducing its latest innovation, the Self Belay—a
Koala Equipment has continued to improve its Po-
uliz continuous belay system with the introduction of the Pouliz 3.0. The Pouliz 3.0 features a slightly larger design than the 2.0, allowing for increased stability when zipping. It comes equipped with a top cover, which meets European standards and protects the bearings from debris, as well as an automatic closing gate. The 360-degree swivel is incorporated to improve ease of use. The Pouliz 3.0 is compatible with all Pouliz accessories. www. koala-equipment. com
climbing connector with a safety feature that only allows users to climb when they are properly attached to the device. The connector cannot be opened while climbing—users can only connect and disconnect when on the ground. Climbers click the SB Maillon, a special carabiner, into the device, which cannot be detached until the climber is once again on the ground. Participants as young as five years old can use the Self Belay device on their own, so operations may be able to reduce the number of required staff that would normally assist climbers. The device is compatible with webbing auto belays and steel cable auto belays. www.walltopia.com >>continued
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Kanopeo Speedrunner Lanyard Kanopeo has designed the Speedrunner Lanyard as an ad-
ditional attachment option for operations equipped with the Speedrunner continuous belay system. The lanyard attaches directly to the Kanhook (PPE) clip, and the shorter end of the lanyard has a “PIER’O,” a plastic holding device that keeps the carabiner in line with the direction of travel and protects the lanyard. The lanyard is made with 9.5mm semi-static rope and features a wraparound protective fabric that covers the termination stitches for increased durability. The Speedrunner Lanyard requires no additional linkages for use with the Speedrunner continuous belay system. The lanyard is CE Certified PPE 89/686/CE and has a lifetime of 1800 days in use. www.kanopeo.com
Elephant Hub by MARK Ropes Park Equipment is now offering the Elephant Hub
by MARK, a descending device designed for multiple-person rescue at height as well as general work-at-height applications. It is recommended for aerial adventure parks, zip line tours, and other applications that may require rescue at height. The Elephant Hub has a load capacity of 496 pounds, with a controlled descent speed of approximately .8m/second (2.6 feet/second). It has an automatic, redundant brake system, with two flywheel brakes and steel drum brakes, allowing for two people to descend simultaneously. It can be used both as a shuttle system and rescue tandem. The Elephant Hub is made in Austria by MARK Save A Life GmbH and imported by Ropes Park Equipment, Inc. www.ropesparkequipment.com
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Innovative manufactured components including trolley accessories and brake systems
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SETTLING DOWN FOR A LONG WINTER’S NAP There are many considerations—and many benefits—to properly closing your park after the season ends.
BY DON STOCK President, ZipStream Aerial Adventure Parks
However, before settling in for that long winter’s nap, it’s wise to invest the extra time needed to close operations in a way that sets the stage for a successful (read: less stressful and less expensive) opening in spring. Thinking ahead now can save a lot of money and heartache later. I can say this with such confidence because—just like licking a frozen flagpole—we’ve learned the hard way. After seven years of operating a commercial aerial adventure park, we’ve learned a great deal about how to avoid leaving our taste buds on the frozen steel. As with most things, having a plan is a great help. We’ve found that the items needing attention when closing up for the season fall into seven distinct areas, which are relatively universal for most operations. >> continued
^
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It’s 7:15 p.m., and the last guest of the season—brow damp with sweat, Cheshire Cat grin across her face— exits the final zip. The long aerial adventure season is finally over, and the thought of checking out and enjoying the off-season feels awfully good after the hectic pace and long days of the previous few months. The temptation is strong to simply lock the doors and head for the hills.
Gear can get grimy and worn after a long season of use, so closely inspect and wash each peice before storing it for winter. Credit: Misty Mountain
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SETTLING DOWN 1. THE COURSE This is the star of the show for our businesses. In most instances, the course is the primary reason people show up and give us money. And all courses take a beating during a busy season. Chances are, lots of small issues accumulate over the course of a summer (frayed element ropes, worn wooden components, etc.). Due to the pace of high season, those items generally get put on the “fix it when we get time” list. This is one of the easiest places to start in preparing for closing. • List all needed repairs. Regardless of whether you do your own repairs or have a vendor that makes repairs for you, no work can really begin without a thorough list of items that need attention. • Do a walkthrough. Many of those items should be noted on the daily inspection reports that (hopefully!) your qualified personnel execute prior
Course elements take a beating. Do a thorough walkthrough of the course shortly after closing and create a list of all needed repairs so work can be scheduled in a timely fashion. Credit: Adirondack Extreme.
to opening every day. However, it’s hard to beat a thorough end-of-season walkthrough to note all the little things that need to be addressed, as well as the more critical structural and arboreal issues that may have developed. • Schedule the repairs. Once you have
a list, ensure that the qualified entity that is designated to make the repairs has an adequate window of time to get the work done. Putting off the walkthrough—and even the repairs—until early spring, when the entire industry gets busy, will likely cause unnecessary stress. This is especially true if you rely
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on a professional vendor to take care of all your repair work. • Recertify equipment now. In addition, some items on your course, such as auto belays and some zip line braking components, may require periodic recertification, which necessitates removal, shipment, and reinstallation prior to use in the next season. Waiting until spring when EVERYONE is scrambling to get courses ready for opening is the worst time to get on a company’s recertification schedule. If you won’t be operating your course for several months, take the units down, send them in for recertification, and then keep them stored over winter to be reinstalled after your annual preseason professional inspection. You’ll avoid the spring rush and have the added benefit of saving your units several months of exposure to the elements.
2. PARTICIPANT GEAR AND EQUIPMENT Participant gear—including harnesses,
helmets, lanyards, as well as zip trolleys, carabiners, and belay connectors on a commercial tour—takes its share of abuse. With thousands of hands and bodies coming into contact with it through the course of the season, each piece can get pretty grimy and worn. • Clean and wash. At the end of the season we typically wash all of our soft goods according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, and then let them dry thoroughly prior to storing them. • Inspect and repair. Everything also gets a close inspection. Any units that need attention (i.e. elastic keeper straps that need mending, etc.) get set aside for repair or for further inspection by a qualified person if there is damage or wear beyond simple cosmetics. • Take inventory. Through this process we also do inventory, so that we know how many pieces of gear will need to be replaced. This gives us budget data leading into the following season, and also gives us time to order and pay for
gear before the end of the year, which may have positive tax implications. • Store securely. One thing to keep in mind when storing gear over the winter is—like us humans—mice and other furry friends seek shelter from the harsh weather conditions. Apparently, nylon is a spectacular material for making cozy nests. Therefore, when storing items such as harnesses, ropes, and lanyards, make sure potential nest builders cannot touch them. If harnesses and other items hang, keep them well off the floor. And don’t fool yourself with the illusion that storing said items in a standard snap-lid plastic bin is the solution. It’s not. Ask me how I know.
3. STAFF GEAR AND EQUIPMENT Like participant gear, staff gear needs a thorough inspection, cleaning, evaluation, and documentation at the end of the season. • Documentation. Really? Yep. Staff gear inspections need to be logged on
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SETTLING DOWN an ongoing basis to be compliant with OSHA requirements. • Stay current with OSHA. OSHA compliance for your course is a subject for a different article, but it’s something that operators should invest the time and resources to learn about. If it’s not something that you’ve historically understood or paid attention to, the end of the season is the perfect time to
board the compliance train.
4. OFFICE EQUIPMENT • General cleanup and inspection. While you’re neck deep in cleaning and throwing things out, inspect radios, tablets, charger cords, computers, paper printers, credit card scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, etc. All need to be assessed, fixed, and possibly replaced before the next season starts. Nothing is more annoying to a returning
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staff than to start a new season with the same old only-kinda-working equipment that they limped to the finish line with last season. Check it out, make a list, and get the stuff fixed or replaced while it’s fresh in everyone’s mind. • Buy and act on extended warranties. Here’s some free advice you’ll thank me for if you heed it: if you purchase electronics online, always get the Square Trade or whatever item replacement program that’s offered. Why? Because even if you put the tablets used for check-in or online waivers in those cool, rugged, rubber cases—heck, even military spec armor—some little minion will still find a way to bounce it off his little sister’s head and crack the screen. If you have the protection, just send the tablet back for a new one. Mischief, managed.
5. FACILITIES • Clean and inspect. Places where people gather on a daily basis will need some attention, such as check-in areas, gear-up areas, demonstration areas, ticketing and merchandise areas, guide break rooms, etc. They normally endure wear, tear, and a general accumulation of “stuff” through the course of a busy season. All will benefit from a general cleaning and de-cluttering. • Clear out the area. Make one last call for the items in the lost and found, and then either chuck the stuff in the circular file, donate it, or offer it up to the highest bidder. Whatever the case, get rid of the junk at the end of the season and get all the spaces—especially indoor spaces—tidied up so a mess isn’t waiting for you in March.
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• Itemize and make repairs. Any big structural or cosmetic issues with buildings, grounds, and infrastructure should also be noted and addressed. If you don’t own the property, but lease or license space on someone else’s facility, they will need detailed information and lead time in order to make repairs before next season. So, if you want that annoying roof leak in the gear room fixed prior to the inevitable April showers, best let the landlord know in November. >> continued
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SETTLING DOWN 6. PERSONNEL • Take stock. Staffing for the following season is a commonly overlooked consideration while in the process of closing up. However, this is a critical time to take stock of how many experienced staff will be returning and how many newbies you’ll have to drum up in the month prior to opening next spring. • Evaluations and reviews. Typically, we use this time to do staff evaluations for those who have served the entire season, and discuss their intent to return the following year. We also discuss promotions or pay raises if it’s appropriate to the situation. Some companies have incentive programs that pay bonuses at the end of the season, so this is a great opportunity to have those conversations and maybe even have an end-of-season party. • Engage staff in the shut-down process. If you’ve already taken care of evaluations and incentives, keep your best staff around for an extra week anyway and engage them to help with the process of closing up properly. It’s a good way to not only lighten the load on management, but also build rapport and get some valuable feedback from them about the season.
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Go paperless by using 1Forms for any of your data collection challenges. Groups, Camps, HR, Guest Follow-ups, Repair and Rental shops. 1Forms can be used in combination with Waivers or integrated with POS systems.
• 1Check – Checklist & Inspections Collect data and report on any reoccurring business item. Geo-Track responses, notifications alert or remind you of critical items. Use Offline where wi-fi is unavailable and view reports and dashboards in one location.
• Schedule spring job fairs and postings. While you’re thinking about staffing for next year, be sure to put an event on your calendar for at least six weeks ahead of opening that reminds you to post your job listings so you’re not scrambling to assemble potential staff for training. ZipRecruiter.com is a great site that has borne a lot of fruit for us. (Ed. note: consider the classifieds at adventureparkinsider.com, too.)
7. PR, MARKETING, MERCHANDISING • Evaluate PR/marketing spend and effectiveness. Your marketing should be something that you keep track of and make necessary adjustments to throughout the summer, but at the end of the season you can add it all up. Review your PR/marketing spend and evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what makes the most sense for the following season. If you don’t already have a system that quantifies the success of your marketing efforts, establishing such a system should be at the top of your winter to-do list. • Inventory, order promotional items. Do a thorough inventory of leftover logo items and other merchandise to see what sold, what didn’t, and determine purchasing needs for the upcoming season. If you do this early enough and have time to make the merchandise order before the end of the year, you can stock up for next year on this year’s taxes. In the end, it’s really all about resisting the strong (and wellearned) temptation to just close the door and run when the busy season is over. By finding the energy and focus to cross everything off your list before turning the lights out, you’ll make the opening process in spring so much easier. And that extra peace of mind will make your long winter’s nap a whole lot sweeter.
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Fun events, like the glow-in-the-dark Pirate Night at Outdoor Ventures’ Adventure Park at Storrs (Conn.), give guests a fresh experience, even at a familiar location. The chance to win prizes helps, too.
HAPPY RETURNS BY DAVE MEEKER
Building a repeat customer base is good for the bottom line, and might be easier than you think.
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The ultimate compliment for any business is a returning customer. It’s a clear sign the business is doing something right. But aerial adventure operations aren’t the same as, say, someone’s favorite ice cream shop. There are special challenges to earning repeat business in an industry that provides, for many consumers, a bucket-list experience, and several creative solutions. Depending on where an aerial adventure operation is located, repeat business may be more vital (and attainable) for some than it is for others. Case in point: ZipZone Outdoor Adventures in Ohio. “We are not in a tourist area, so we are quite different from a lot of other tours and adventure parks,” says owner Lori Pingle. “We are located just outside the city of Columbus [Ohio] in a beautiful natural area right off of a major road in an urban/suburban sprawl. We thrive on repeat customers”
and those who return with friends. A zip tour located in a tourist destination that caters primarily to non-local guests may have less reliance on repeat business, but it still wants people to come back while on vacation in future years. So earning guests’ loyalty should be a part of everyone’s strategy, and there are several ways to go about it. Some of the following points apply to successful operations generally, while others specifically address growing repeat business. Add them all up, and you should start seeing familiar faces at your park more often—and hearing the register ring more frequently. THE PRODUCT Quality matters. “Many factors go into providing an exceptional customer experience that leads to return visits, but the first and most important factor is having a product they enjoy—fun courses to climb,” says Outdoor Ventures
president Bahman Azarm. “Neither the most beautiful location nor the best customer service can replace it.” Choice matters, too. Practice makes perfect, but variety is the spice of life. For this reason, adventure parks with multiple activities are ideally suited to attract repeat customers. However, an aerial course with different routes and varying levels of difficulty or thrill will keep them coming back, too. Azarm says Outdoor Ventures’ parks operate more like a ski area, with different trails to choose, than a golf course, which has a single course to play. This design allows guests to choose their difficulty level, with most opting for the easy to moderate courses. “This has the added advantage of giving the customer something to look forward to, and is a lure to come back for a future visit to climb a more difficult level,” says Azarm. >> continued
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Friendly, even entertaining, guest service—like that delivered by High Gravity Adventures—encourages visitors to come back time and again.
HAPPY RETURNS Challenge Towers president Ken Jacquot agrees. At Jacquot’s High Gravity Adventures, a zip line and aerial adventure park in Blowing Rock, N.C., developing loyal costumers is a top priority. To that end, the park provides an opportunity for guests to set goals that, in turn, encourage return visits. “Have options for growth on your course,” he says. “When someone comes in terrified, but they end up conquering the first level of the course, they are super proud of themselves, and we tell them how proud of them we are! Then we encourage them to take it one step at a time. Next time you come back, maybe you’ll be ready to try the second level! And maybe one day the third level!”
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And that leads us to the next element of attracting return visitors: guest service. GUEST SERVICE Naturally, outstanding guest service is a “must have” in order to be a successful business, not to mention garnering repeat visitors. It’s worth including here, nonetheless. Consider a restaurant that has great food and a convenient location—but the wait staff are a bunch of jerks, and the food takes forever to arrive at your table. There’s another restaurant nearby with different, but equally great food that shows up at your table quickly, delivered by very friendly and attentive staff. Which one are you more likely to patronize
again? A rhetorical question, of course. In earning the trust of guests and making them feel comfortable enough to return, your staff must provide “exceptional, not just acceptable customer service, and exceed guest expectations on a consistent basis,” says Jacquot. Part of this, he says, is constant guest interaction: check in with them, ask what they’re favorite element is, offer to help when they are struggling. All that humanizes the experience. But as the saying goes, you can’t please everyone. Jacquot recommends using negative feedback, whether that occurs in person or is found online, as an opportunity to improve. “In certain situations, we’ll even implement changes and then invite the guest to come back so they can see how they have helped us learn and grow,” he says. High Gravity staff will send a disgruntled customer a free ticket or two in the mail with a “thank you note for helping us improve.” Azarm thinks it’s important to boil it down to the basics. “Eliminate or change the things that hinder customer enjoyment,” he says. “We like to think about a customer’s experience from the time they arrive and park their car to the time they leave.” A simple sign, which reads “Step 1” directs them to registration and ticketing, “Step 2” directs them to the briefing area, and so on. Make it simple, and people are more likely to come back. A confusing experience is frustrating and discourages future visits.
Exemplary guest service reaches beyond the boundaries of the park, though, and extends to how you communicate with visitors who have climbed or zipped with you before. “We will offer discounts and deals and only send them out to our email list to encourage people to be loyal fans,” says Pingle. This imparts a sense of exclusivity and favored treatment, which often goes a long way with guests. According to Jacquot, frequent communication is key to remaining front of mind. “Give people new and exciting things to look forward to the next time they return. Stay relevant. Keep guests updated with changes via email, and post often on social media,” he says. EVENTS A cool event at your park can yield many benefits. It can introduce new guests to the experience you offer, but it can also mix things up for guests who frequent the park. “We have special events throughout the year to create more interest and to give people something else to try,” says Pingle. “Our Full Moon tours and Freaky Flights are very popular. We have also had birding events, and nature tours with a naturalist from the metro parks.” Outdoor Ventures employs a similar strategy. “A tempting event with a fun theme adds variety to the experience for repeat climbers,” says Azarm. “The next best thing to adding new courses is adding new flavor to old courses. It’s a change of pace for everyone, without
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HAPPY RETURNS costly course redesign or construction.” Birthday parties can make inroads with a range of demographics. “This gets a variety of youngsters to come out, and hopefully some will beg their parents to come back another time,” says Pingle. To coax those parents into returning, “We give each guest a party favor that includes a coupon for a free photo and a coupon to come back and zip,” she says. “The free photo gets the parents online to look at it after they get home, and they see what fun their kids had!” PRODUCTS “Do you have customers asking to buy a season pass at your aerial park?” asks Azarm. “If you do, it’s a clear sign that you have a fun and exciting product that customers want to come back to repeatedly.”
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Jacquot offers a list of what will help make your season pass products a success:
• Offer a season pass option for unlimited check-ins during the season. • When a season passholder brings a friend, the friend gets a discount on admission. • Season passes cover entry into special events, not just regular days. • Offer an upgrade option: Give guests a chance to try your course out and decide if they like it, then apply the cost of their ticket to a season pass. • Remember season passholders’ names. Welcome them back. Get to know them. Treat them like family.
comes out to zip, we punch a hole in the card,” says Pingle. After three visits, the cardholder gets a shirt or hat; after five visits, a voucher for a free tour; and after 10 visits, a free tour for two.
Tweak what you offer for a season pass, and decide if you’re going to provide multiple options (four-visit pass, 10-visit pass, shoulder season pass, unlimited pass) at different price tiers. It all depends on your business levels, capacity, and location. Regardless, a season pass is sure way to develop loyal customers.
OFF-SEASON LOYALTY Speaking of products, both Jacquot and Pingle engage in selling products to current and potential repeat customers during the off season. It’s a smart way to keep their parks front of mind, even if the parks are closed. And by offering good deals, customers feel like they’re getting value for their money, which leaves a good taste in any consumer’s mouth.
Another option is to reward your most loyal customers. That is exactly what Pingle does at ZipZone with a Frequent Zipper Card. “Every time someone
“Not only does this reward people for coming back, it also puts the idea in people’s minds that they should come back—that this is not a one-and-done activity,” she says. There’s value in providing guests something tangible as a reminder of the experience they had, and that there’s incentive to return.
Jacquot suggests having a “pre-season sale” after the current season ends.
Naturalist tours augment the aerial adventure at ZipZone, Ohio.
ZipZone’s frequent zipper card tells guests they should, of course, return.
Easy navigation helps encourage familiarity, as Outdoor Ventures has seen.
“Directly reach out to previous passholders to entice them to re-purchase,” he says. In other words, strike while the iron is hot. Lock them in, and give them something to look forward to when the doors re-open in spring.
our email list and social media. We have found most of the people who buy them have been here before. It is a great way to spread the word, earn some loyalty, and also bring in some revenue when we’re closed.” Those are multiple benefits for what is a pretty simple plan.
it’s worth it, and can have huge payoff.
Pingle takes advantage of the holiday shopping extravaganza. “Starting on Black Friday we offer discounted gift cards,” she says. “We advertise through
For most parks, building a base of repeat customers takes time to develop—but
Focus on a few key points, Azarm says: “Simply put: 1) give customers a fun climbing experience; 2) take care of them while they are there; and 3) give them the potential to challenge themselves in variety of ways, so a visit to your park always holds something new and fresh. Then they will have good reason to ask whether you sell a season pass.”
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Documentation of inspections, training, risk waivers, and incidents in the park is a key element of risk management. Captain Zipline Aerial Adventure Park is one of the largest aerial adventure parks in Colorado. Recreationalists can choose from nine different courses, which feature 120 different elements including catwalks, swinging bridges, cargo nets, tight wires, ropes, cable swings, and a flying snowboard. The park also boasts a via ferrata.
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When Captain Zipline opened in 2004, it was the first zip line in the Centennial State, the third zip line in the U.S., and one of 25 aerial parks in the country. More than a decade later, the park has never experienced a major incident or accident, says owner and operator Monty Holmes. But it still maintains meticulous records of park activities, just in case. To ensure every piece of equipment at Captain Zipline remains in working order, Holmes follows ACCT standards. In addition, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment requires annual certification and proof of insurance, and Chaffee County requires an updated report for the site’s recreational permit. KEEPING TRACK It takes a regimen to meet the many requirements. A third-party vendor—California-based Challenge Works— provides an annual inspection. During the season, qualified managers inspect each of the nine courses first thing each morning. Each type of gear has different inspection intervals regarding certification, inspection, and life span, including the automatic belay devices, smart belay devices, clips, bolts, harnesses, helmets, gloves, ropes, and rescue equipment.
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And all those inspections get documented: what was checked, when it was checked, and by whom. This daily routine of inspections and recordkeeping helps identify issues, and helps prevent injuries to both guides and guests. Holmes records all of the details via the old-school, traditional medium: paper. He keeps a detailed maintenance log, including daily, weekly, and monthly inspections. It’s quite specific. For example, it highlights details such as the condition of the wood logs on each feature of the aerial adventure course: are there hairy splinters? Do they need a pressure treatment? Customers all sign waivers, of course, and these are attached to the day’s check sheet. Those stacks are organized by week, inside lidded plastic bins that are labeled by month, which are stored on shelves for seven years, as required by his insurance company. “We store our paper documents in a standard steel shipping container that’s 9 x 8 x 40 feet. The biggest issues that paper documentation might face are mold—especially where it’s more humid, like in the East—and vermin. It’s really dry here in the Southwest, so we don’t need to worry about mold, but the shipping container is waterproof. The shipping container also keeps out mice, so that they can’t get inside and chew up the paper or leave animal waste,” he says. In the shipping container, the plastic bins aren’t vulnerable to ultraviolet degradation or large temperature swings. “Paper
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FOR THE RECORD lasts a long time and the bins are clear, so we can see the stacks of paper, and they do not have any visible degradation over the seven years,” says Holmes. THE ALLURE OF ELECTRONIC STORAGE Still, it’s a mountain of data. Holmes admits that documentation by way of paper files is not always the easiest or most functional avenue. “There are a few drawbacks to using paper, including the volumes of paperwork,” he says. “I see the advantages of having an e-waiver,” Holmes admits. “We have 70,000 waivers in the shipping container as opposed to storing it on a single DVD. We have entertained scanning [both sides of] the waivers” so there are multiple copies, he says. Soon, things will different: Holmes plans to implement an e-waiver next year, and partner with Resmark Systems. His online reservation system captures a lot of user information already, but evolving into a digital record system may not be as user-friendly for some of the guides. For other well-established businesses that, like Captain Zipline, are rooted in a paper routine, the transition from paper to digital can be tough. However, integrating a faster, more efficient system can save both time and money, and it’s more environmentally friendly.
Plus, having easy-to-access, legible records can be extremely helpful in the event of a lawsuit. While lawsuits are infrequent, they can consume a great deal of a manager’s time, and are a source of nightmares for many operators. “It could take two years before the lawsuit is filed, so the guides’ or manager’s recollection of the incident won’t be good, or they might not even be employed there anymore, so the incident needs to be documented very well,” notes Granite Insurance business risk consultant Cameron Annas. Various software companies have introduced products that help aerial adventure companies record data digitally. Information that’s stored via the cloud remains protected from being lost in a natural or human disaster, and it’s easily retrievable and sharable. “By far, the benefits of electronic records greatly outweigh the benefits of paper records,” says Annas. DIGITAL WAIVERS 1Risk, a data company that specializes in risk management, works with a dozen adventure parks that are located at ski resorts across the country. With 1Risk, aerial parks can create not only waivers, but also customized checklists for inspections, employee training, and also record incidents. Once a waiver is created in the 1Risk system, it’s published and the text is preserved. “Five years after a waiver is created, if an incident or claim is filed, and an operation has to look up the waiver, it will have been preserved just as it was written
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five years ago,” explains business relationship director Charles Mickley.
1Risk’s checklist and inspection system helps make recordkeeping easy.
“When a guest or employee is injured, all of the facts are documented, including pictures and waivers, and brought into one system,” explains Mickley. “The file can be exported to PDFs and Excel, and sent to the insurance company or the attorneys that represent each operation, along with the photo logs.”
McCloy, who founded the company in 2004. “When someone sued, which inevitably happens, and they had to find the paperwork, it was a nightmare. I’m a programmer, so it made sense to make a software to fix this problem.” MANAGING THE PAPER TRAIL One company that helps operators implement digital documentation is Papertrail, which enables a business to create digital records for equipment, facilities, and training. Papertrail is used in a variety of adventure parks around the world, as well as High
If an operation needs to update a waiver, it can copy and paste the text, update it, and save it as the new waiver, he notes. WaiverFile, like some other suppliers, provides an electronic waiver form that allows customers to sign a user agreement from a computer or mobile device, either onsite or prior to arrival—and that can cut down on wait times as well as save paper. “Many big-volume companies—ones that go through tens of thousands of waivers a year—were filling storages with boxes and boxes of paper,” says WaiverFile CEO Mike
Parks can record inspection and service info in Papertrail’s mobile system, which also helps schedule repair work.
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37 Fall 2017
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ARCHITECTS OF EXPERIENCES AT HEIGHT
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Papertrail is a turn-key software solution on the cloud, so there is no need to install any storage hardware onsite. The digital program helps administrators record information more efficiently, such as daily inspection records, as well as minimize risk by ensuring inspection schedules are maintained and staff training is kept up to date. “A record can be customized to any type of asset or equipment, and we have standard templates for things like PPE equipment and adventure parks,” says CEO Ben Scholes. The mobile app works offline, so records can be logged in the field and synced automatically upon returning to wi-fi. Papertrail can also integrate with other software solutions to create workflow—such as iAuditor, an audit template solution that can be saved into a Papertrail account. “We also provide an upload service, from a spreadsheet. We have also recently launched an integration with popular PPE manufacturers such as DMM, Petzl and Singing Rock, where you can search for equipment products and directly import as new records into your Papertrail account,” says Scholes. Plus, data doesn’t disappear. “Data is stored for as long as you have an active subscription. You can access and export data at any time.” Scholes says records that get “archived” stay there forever in case an operator ever needs to access them. Subscription prices vary, typically ranging between $15 and $95 a month, based on how many items are tracked and number of users who need access to the account. Papertrail also offers professional services, such as training, uploading, and simple customization of records. Contact the company’s U.S. partner, Aerial Adventure Tech, for specifics.
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MOBILE INSPECTIONS Another supplier, Mobile Inspection, builds customized checklists. Mobile Inspection works with nearly 70 parks across the country, and data collected through its program can integrate into most booking software systems. “The real benefits and value in utilizing a digital software is the documentation,” says Mobile Inspection senior sales manager Anthony Howell. “As we saw this summer, across the country there were a number of fairs with people getting injured from the rides. One significant issue is that the paper documentation process failed in some instances.” A disorganized inspection form with notes scribbled in corners does not present well at the park or in court, and it may lead a manager to overlook a needed maintenance item. Digital records help avoid such issues.
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In addition to identifying an issue and documenting it—like a loose board that gets looser and looser—the Mobile Inspection system automatically schedules a maintenance person to go out and fix the problem, and then that person signs off, too.
And it’s accessible. “With our system you can run a report to see over the last six months how many times, say, platform two was inspected, what issues were noted, and how they were corrected,” says Howell. During a daily inspection, data entry is straightforward. A guide with a tablet or device inspects each element—such as a tower or swing—on the course. For each element, a specific list pops up to remind the inspector what to check, and they enter its condition. If there’s a maintenance issue, a photo can be added, as well as a comment. The data is stored forever, and can be hosted on Mobile Inspection’s servers. Data can be accessed at anytime through the website. The service costs $100 per month. There is also a $500 setup fee that includes training on how to use the system, and how to create the inspection templates and an incident report form based on the park’s criteria. Parks can submit paper forms to be digitalized into the system, so that the digital format maintains a familiar flow and verbiage.
Details, details: Mobile Inspection’s software makes it easy to record and store inspection and repair data. The end user generally can learn how to use the system in 30 minutes. In some cases, the learning curve can be faster.
“One of the benefits is that if something needs to be fixed or adjusted, the guides can take pictures right there [with the tablet] and document an issue.” Why go digital? Hertzel says, “It’s easier to communicate visually and with text than it is with pen and paper.”
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD One park that has adopted Mobile Inspection is Common Ground Canopy Tours in Oberlin, Ohio. “Setting it up is the most difficult part of it,” says Katie Hertzel, assistant manager. “I’m not very techie, so I needed help. But once it’s set up, all the guides know how to use it, and it took only a 15-minute training session to go over all of the sections that we have in the program.”
PARK SPY THE QUESTION: “I am interested in bringing a group from my company to do some teambuilding...” Depending on the local market, commercial pay-to-play aerial adventure parks may have greater visibility than some experiential ropes courses in the area. As a result, corporate groups that want to engage in some sort of teambuilding exercise might confuse the two, and assume the adventure park offers the same kind of facilitated experience that traditional operations do. Plus, some commercial parks are starting to offer facilitated teambuilding, but others, well, aren’t. How do all respond to requests? We wanted to find out. Have a question we should ask for Park Spy? Send your question to Sarah Borodaeff (sarah@adventureparkinsider.com) and if we use it, you’re immune for that issue!
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Park #1, NC
Park #2, AZ
First contact: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: Well, that depends. Are you looking to just have your group come and do the course, or are you looking for a more traditional teambuilding activity? API: I’m not sure. Can you give me a bit more detail? Staff: Well, with traditional teambuilding, you’re doing more collaborative activities, such as playing games that get you to work as a group to solve a problem. A lot of people who call us and ask about teambuilding envision working through a low ropes element to build confidence between coworkers. What we offer is a bit different. Our ropes course does accommodate groups, but it’s less about teambuilding and more about having a fun day as a group. It’s a social activity and a fun way to get out of the office and spend the day with your team. API: Thanks, that’s really helpful. Staff: Of course! Did you know which of those types of activities you might be looking for? API: You know, I am not 100 percent sure. Let me go back to my team and I will give you a call back. Staff: Sounds great. If your team has questions about what the day might be like, we have videos on our website that show people going through the course. API: Great, thanks!
First contact: Male. API: Stated question. Staff: Ummmm, well, we have the zip line. Is that what you wanted to do? API: Do you offer that for teambuilding? Staff: Well, it’s not really a team thing, ’cause, like, you go one at a time. API: OK. Just so I can go back to my team with all the information, do you offer the zip line for groups? Staff: Well, yeah, cuz, like, you go out as a group. API: I thought you said we go one at a time? Staff: Haha, well, yeah, like one at a time on the zip line, like, you can’t zip five people on the line at the same time. Hahahaha. API: OK … Staff: Yeah, l mean, like, you go onto the platforms as a group, but you only, like, zip one at a time. API: OK, thanks.
Score: 9 Comment: Website mention? Check. Good information? Check. Friendly? Check. After watching the video she suggested, I’d like to check this park out.
First contact: Automated machine. Chose operator. Answering phone: Male. API: Stated question. Staff: Well, we don’t offer traditional teambuilding activities. Our activities are more on an individual
Score: 3 Comment: Eventually we got this straight, but could you relate this to team bonding a little?
Park #3, CA
basis, but you can move through them as a group. It’s a lot of fun to make your way through the course with friends and family, but it doesn’t offer quite the same thing as a more traditional teambuilding activity. If you are looking for corporate teambuilding I would recommend calling XYZ company. They are very close to here and offer that type of programming. API: Thanks so much for the recommendation. Staff: Of course, though if you do decide what you are looking for is just a group outing, please consider us. API: Will do. Score: 7 Comment: It’s very helpful to recommend another business when a customer calls asking for something you don’t offer. However, he could’ve sold me a little more on the group outings the park’s website promotes.
Park #4, CO First contact: Male. API: Stated question. Staff: Zip lining is a great teambuilding activity! It’s a really fun way for the whole office to bond, because you work together to help anyone who might be afraid of heights overcome their fear. We also offer a free-fall element, which can be mentally daunting for some. A lot of groups work through this element together, encouraging one another to take the leap or supporting one another when someone is uncomfortable and decides not to do it. API: Very cool, sounds like a lot of fun.
Score: 8 Comment: Super friendly, and even though the park’s activities aren’t traditionally for teambuilding, he did a great job of selling the idea of team bonding.
Park #5, NY First contact: Automated machine. Chose operator. Answering phone: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: Well, we don’t really offer teambuilding. We do groups if that’s what you want. API: I guess. I mean, we would be coming out as a group. Staff: OK, please hold. (bad on-hold music begins) Second contact: Male. Staff: Group sales. Please hold. (bad on-hold music, again) Staff: Thank you for holding. How can I help you? API: Stated question. Staff: Are you looking to book or just find out more? API: I am just finding out about the course at the moment, and then we are going to make a decision about where we want to go. Staff: OK, I will be honest with you, I haven’t done our aerial activities because I am afraid of heights, hehe. So I am sorry to say that I am not the best person to answer those questions. Would it be OK if I transferred you to that department? API: Sure. (bad on-hold music…again) Third contact: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: Let me transfer you to group sales. (Here’s that music again! Enough is enough.) Score: 2 Comment: I hung up after the third transfer. Points to the group sales staff for listening and trying to get me to someone with answers, but being transferred around a bazillion times (yes, a bazillion) and getting nowhere is aggravating.
Park #6, TX First contact: Automated machine. Chose operator.
Answering phone: Male. API: Stated question. Staff: Great! Glad you called us. Let me start by asking what your goals are for your team? API: Well, I guess we have a couple of goals. We’re a remote company and we don’t get together in person very often, so we thought it would be fun to have a day where we all get together and get to know one another better in person. Staff: Well, teambuilding activities are a great way to do that. How many people are we talking about? API: It’s a small group, we’re just seven people. Staff: Excellent. So what we typically do is, once you have booked, we connect you with one of our facilitators, who will talk more in depth about your team goals and then create a program that fits that. API: Sounds great. Staff: Did you have a day in mind? API: I am just information gathering at the moment. Let me touch base with my boss and once we have a more definitive date I will call you back. Staff: Sure thing! We’re here if you have any questions. Score: 9 Comment: By the way he handled this call, clearly this place is prepared for groups like mine.
Park #7, IL First contact: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: Teambuilding? I’m not really sure what you’re asking for. API: We’re looking to set up a day for our office to come out and have a day to do some activities together. We all work remotely, so we thought teambuilding might be a good way for us to get to know each other better in person. Staff: Oh, OK. Well, we do zip line tours and those only fit eight people per tour. So it’s kinda tough to do a whole office. API: That’s fine, our company is only seven people. Staff: Oh, OK, would you like to make a reservation? API: Not right now, I was just calling for information. Staff: Well, the zip line tour takes about two hours and you zip platform to platform. API: OK, anything else I should know before taking this information back to my boss? Staff: That’s pretty much it. API: Thanks. Score: 1 Comment: Try listening sometime, you might learn something. Oh, and you might also try to make a zip tour sound like it might even be fun.
Park #8, VT First contact: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: Very cool! Are you looking to book a group outing or gather more information? API: At this stage I am just gathering more information to bring back to my boss. Staff: Excellent. Well, we have two categories of programs: team bonding and teambuilding. Teambuilding events involve adventure-based challenges designed to help you and your co-workers work on problem-solving skills, group decision making, communication, leadership, teamwork skills—those kind of things that you can take back to your office and hopefully they will help inform and improve your office relationships so you can be more productive! Team bonding, on the other hand, is a great way to have your team come out and share in an adventure together. It’s a fun way to bring groups together outside the office and create memories together. Some people use team bonding to help cement the team relationships, as you encourage each other through the obstacles, but the primary goal is to have fun together. Do you know what type of team event you might be looking to do? API: You know, I am not sure which might be a better fit for my group. Staff: Are there any questions I can answer about either type of activity? API: Are these full-day activities or something we could do for a half day? Staff: We custom design all the programs to fit your group’s needs, including how long the day is. So once you decide what kind of program you would like your team to do, or perhaps a combination of both, we can customize your day to suit! API: Wonderful, thank you so much. Staff: Absolutely. If you have any other questions, please call us back. You can also visit our website at arbortrek.com for more information about the different types of team activities! API: Thanks! Score: 10 Comment: Is an A++ a thing? Since my question was a bit vague, she jumped right in and clearly explained the difference between team bonding and teambuilding. Not only was the information clear, but she offered two options on how to get more information if I needed it. Identity Revealed: Arbortrek, Vt.
41 Fall 2017 41
Staff: It is super fun. The whole course is a really unique way to get to know your coworkers better! Would you like me to transfer you to our group sales coordinator so you can get more information on pricing? It varies depending on the size of your group. API: That’s OK, I’ll take this information back to my coworkers and we’ll go from there. Staff: Great! Let us know if you have any more questions.
10 TRICKS
BY GREGG BLANCHARD
FOR TURNING DATA INTO REVENUE
Mine your data about guests to uncover ways to increase your revenues. It’s easy to be awed by the concept of Big Data. We’re inundated with stories and images of the world’s largest companies solving massive problems by decoding incomprehensible amounts of information.
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But adventure parks aren’t the world’s largest companies, and they don’t have piles of data just lying around. But they have guests. And guests don’t want to be decoded, they want to be understood. Talked to. Appreciated. So while Big Data is easy to fantasize about, it’s the smaller, simpler data points that truly matter to attractions like yours. Turning those data points into revenue involves a handful of coordinated efforts, but we’re going to focus on four of the most important: • data capture • automated messaging • manual messaging • analysis
DATA CAPTURE You can’t do much with data if you don’t have any. And once you start doing good things with data, more data helps that machine run even faster. In other words, all great data-driven efforts start with great data capture. One of the best places to start is with email addresses. These bits of contact information are a powerfully accurate unique identifier that ties different visits and transactions together for a more complete view of a guest’s behavior. Plus, it’s contact information, so email addresses also give you a way to act on what you learn, through relevant, targeted messaging. So how do you get the data you need? Here are three places to start.
1
JUST DO IT It may sound obvious, but it starts with making the decision to do it. Meaning, when you gather guest information at a ticket window or an online form or contest, make sure an email address is part of the ask. Does asking for an email address at the window take longer? Yes. Is the data perfect? No. But the value of that 15-30 seconds per guest far outweighs the costs, and a list of 75 percent accurate email addresses is infinitely better than no addresses at all. Top Golf is a great example of this. Despite lines out the door, you cannot use its facilities without a card. And you know what’s required to get that card? Nothing more than an email address. That may not be the only reason for the company’s success, but it’s a big one. >> continued
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10 TRICKS… 2
ed by incredible lodging for the golfers who travel to play. Savvy operators are converting those partner web pages into a booking widget that lives right on their website, which drives additional revenue and data into their business.
ENHANCE LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS Many attractions and parks partner with local lodging and other complementary businesses that sell the things parks are unable to. What’s typical for lodging partnerships, however, is simply a page on the park’s website, with links out to those properties. This is a huge missed opportunity, because the hotels get all the data, and an upper hand in marketing to that guest. Instead, use a booking platform that enables you to sell that lodging right on your website, alongside your tickets. Not only will you get all the information about each of your guests, but a nice commission to boot.
3
ADVANCE PURCHASE You might be wondering what this has to do with data capture, but encouraging your guests to purchase their tickets in advance generates one of the most valuable data points you’ll ever find: a guest’s arrival date. The time between when someone purchases an experience you’re selling and when they actually consume that experience creates an extremely powerful window of opportunity to provide a guest all the tools and information he or she needs in advance to make the most out of the visit.
Golf courses are quickly catching onto this. Courses that were built before destination golf was a thing are now surround-
Make More Money, Serve More Clients, with
AUTOMATION Once you have contact information, transaction details, and key dates in the database, the next step is to get those pieces into an automation-based email platform. The powerful thing about automation is also the most obvious one: once you turn it on, your work is done. And while there are dozens of clever ways to use automation to increase guest satisfaction, spend, and return rates, here are two to get you started. 4
PRE-ARRIVAL Every adventure park has a pain point or two it wishes it could address. Maybe it’s waivers that delay groups’ start times, or perhaps Google Maps brings people to the wrong place. Whatever the case, building on the advance purchase point above, a pre-arrival campaign is one of the most effec-
• Feasibility Studies • Business Plans • Marketing Plans • Operations Reviews • Sales Training • Management Coaching • Secret Shops
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• Consulting • and more!
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In your email platform, create an automated email message based on a basic if/then statement: • IF this guest’s arrival date is exactly three days in the future, • THEN send this message to the email address in his or her profile. That’s it. A resort in Utah noticed that its first-time guests would often arrive in the wrong clothes and unsure where to park. An automated email sent three days before arrival filled with those details saw a 65 percent open rate and had an immediate, measurable effect on the preparation and satisfaction of guests. 5
POST-DEPARTURE Just like it sounds, the post-departure campaign is another automated email based on the same date, but looking backwards.
Sent 3-4 days after a guest visits your adventure park, these automated emails ask for feedback while that feedback is still fresh in guests’ minds. Set this up now and, even if you don’t have time to review the results until shoulder season, at least you’ll have something to review. This feedback will also be much more accurate than what you’d get from a survey sent months after a guest’s experience. A four-season outdoor resort in Massachusetts takes this one step further by setting up notifications when a guest leaves a bad rating in the survey. When this happens, a staff member quickly jumps on the phone to try to make it right. This can lead to return visits that otherwise wouldn’t take place, and to positive referrals (or at least fewer negative trashings).
MANUAL MESSAGING While automation is handy because it takes so little effort, a little effort based
on the right data points can take you even further. Here are three places to start. 6
SEGMENTED, LIFECYCLE MESSAGING There are two pieces to focus on here. The first is segmentation. That is, taking what you know about the people in your database and grouping them by shared characteristics that influence behavior. For example, a summer attraction in Oregon does nothing more than send two emails every time it has an offer to promote. One is written to parents, and includes pictures of happy, smiling kids. The other is written to everyone else, with the attraction’s typical images and text. This simple difference drives a significant, measurable boost in the performance of those messages, from click rates all the way through to transactions. >> continued
45 Fall 2017
tive ways to address all of these pain points—with very little effort.
10 TRICKS… The second key piece is to keep talking to them. Don’t just wait until you have a slow week to throw your database a discount. Keep them up to date on news and stories and events and upgrades at your park. You’re probably already doing this on social media, so just apply that same pattern to your email lists. Start talking to them the moment they enter your database, and keep it going through your season and their lifecycle.
not losing it. It’s also the best way to identify ways to increase loyalty. The same goes for guests with significant influence, whether that’s online or offline. Give these guests and groups unique opportunities and experiences they can’t wait to tell their friends and followers about. A resort in Alberta invites a small group of loyal guests to a private day just before it opens to the public each season. Those guests feel appreciated and enjoy an exclusive experience. As a result, both loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing increase.
7
8
VERY IMPORTANT GUESTS (VIGS)
PERSONALIZATION
With transactional data you can also start to identify your most important guests. Maybe this is a church group that comes every summer, or that family with the second home down the road. Whatever the case, knowing where loyalty lies is the first step toward
To be fair, this could also fall under automation, but given the more common use in manual marketing campaigns, we’ll include it here. The idea is to take individual data points and use them to dynamically make messages extremely personal and, in turn, increasingly relevant.
The example of this you’ve probably seen is an email with your name in the subject line or body. Some marketers find this cheesy, but consumers love it. Open and click rates can be significantly higher for a well-thought-out personalization campaign. A more advanced example that some resorts in the ski industry use would be season pass emails that show pass photos, usage rates, and fun stats from the previous season right in the message. When split-tested against generic campaigns, these personalized pass promotions see many times the revenue and engagement per send.
ANALYSIS So far we’ve talked about specific campaigns to deploy based on data, but sometimes it’s knowing how or when to deploy them that’s the real key. Once again, taking the time to analyze your data can pay huge dividends. >> continued
SEASONAL STAFF TURNOVER IS REAL.
Keep the knowledge in your operation, don’t lose it to staff turnover. Papertrail stores notes and pictures with every record, tracks who completes inspections, gives you easy access to records for any piece of gear in the system, and automatically alerts you to upcoming inspections so nothing falls through the cracks.
To talk to a product specialist and learn more visit: www.learn.aerialadventuretech.com/papertrail
U.S. Distributor of Papertrail
46 [www.adventureparkinsider.com]
Join the growing list of US adventure parks, zip line operations, adventure outfitters, and climbing gyms that are streamlining their risk management systems with the only tool that does it all.
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Do you want to improve your operations, better understand industry trends, and market more effectively? Go now to fill out the State of the Industry survey and help the industry continue to improve.
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Adventure Park Insider’s 2017 State of the Industry Report aimed to understand current and future trends in the growing aerial adventure park industry. Now the survey is back for year two, with refined questions and answer options in order to gather even more valuable data.
www.adventureparkinsider.com/stateoftheindustry
Complete the survey by November 20 and be entered to win a YETI cooler! Questions about the survey? Email sarah@adventureparkinsider.com.
10 TRICKS…
in the area. If they’re down and nobody else is, they may shift marketing resources to bolster the lagging dates.
9
LOOK FORWARD, NOT BACK
10
DYNAMIC PRICING It’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of only looking at your performance after it’s happened. The problem, of course, is that once it’s in the books, it’s too late to do anything about it. So while your boss may want to know what last week’s numbers were, the more important stat for your efforts is next week’s. You do this by looking forward, comparing the number of transactions that are already on the books to those that took place during this same time last year.
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Some hotels and attractions are reaping huge benefits from doing this. They use services that pool their upcoming performance with that of other lodging providers in the area to see how they are pacing compared to last year, and how that compares to other properties
Weekend spikes in demand give adventure parks pricing power. And by looking forward to see when those spikes are starting, parks can adjust prices to make the most of the limited inventory they have remaining on those days. The inverse is also true. Lower demand on midweek days, identified in advance, can be counteracted with careful pricing and products. This has become a powerful tool for another seasonal, weather dependent industry: ski areas. On weekdays, ski areas sell date-specific, non-refundable tickets at discounted rates. The further in advance skiers buy, the bigger the discount. So, skiers get a big discount, operators get midweek revenue, and
marketers have the opportunity to send pre-arrival messaging in the meantime.
START SMALL It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the possibilities or process, but the beauty of data and modern technology is that you don’t have to go big to see results. Find a good vendor to work with, begin to build your database, turn on some simple automation, start to use insights to segment your guests, and learn from the data as you go. Take small steps consistently, and before long you’ll have your data-driven marketing machine humming along nicely. Starting small is way better than not starting at all, and you’ll end up far ahead. Gregg Blanchard is VP of marketing for Inntopia, a travel tech company with a suite of marketing, commerce, and intelligence solutions (gblanchard@inntopia.com).
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PLANNING AHEAD
Get a few steps ahead of the future by implementing a long-range plan. You ran the numbers, toured numerous other parks, secured the financing, broke ground, shed blood, sweat, and tears (maybe literally) along the way, and finally, you’ve made your business development dreams come true—your adventure park is up and running. Now what? Whenever your business is running smoothly, it’s tempting to kick back, take a breather, and let the business run itself for a while. But don’t rest for more than a brief interlude. This is the time to plan for the next phase of business development. The fact is, competition is knocking at your door, and your visitors will eventually get bored with what you currently offer. I know what you’re thinking: how could anyone get bored with this amazing park that took so much hard work to build and get off the ground? To quote Doug from the movie Up!: “SQUIRREL!!!” In other words, people are easily distracted by the next great thing. If you aren’t looking to constantly change and innovate, your park may soon be forgotten.
^
So, let’s not sit around waiting for something to happen. Whether you just opened last month or have been operating for several years now, it’s time to get planning. Here’s what that looks like.
Facing page, top: The “Dueling Zipline” at Anakeesta is one of the features at the new park for guests seeking high adventure. At bottom left: When weighing what features to include in a new park, or what features to add, activities for kids, like the Treehouse Village playgound at Anakeesta, should be tops on the list.
A long-range plan has three major components to it: 1. a situation analysis 2. your goals for the future 3. your strategy to get there
PART 1: SITUATION ANALYSIS This may sound like a formal undertaking, but it’s really quite simple. Here are the questions that you need to ask yourself for your situation analysis. 1. WHERE HAVE WE BEEN? You’ve heard the old adage, that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. It’s true. So take heed, and look back at the history of your company and the projects you’ve undertaken. Has business been growing? Has the growth rate slowed down or stalled? Consider what you’ve tried before, how long it took compared to your original estimates, and how accurate your cost and revenue estimates were. For example, if the timeline of your build process was off by 20 percent, that is good data to incorporate into any expansion plan. 2. WHERE ARE WE NOW? Consider your staffing, revenues, profitability, and your overall operation. How well are you handling your current customer volume? Are you providing the guest experience you aim for? This reflection will help you figure out what resources must be acquired if you wish to start a new project. These resources include cash, people, materials, and financing.
Speaking of financing, you should take a close look at the condition of your financial statements to see if there is anything that needs to be cleaned up before you go looking for money. For example, if you have any debt, what is the nature of it? In which months are you cash flow positive, when are you breaking even, and are there times when you’re losing money? If there is a loss, is it seasonal or due to other factors? While you’re at it, it’s also not a bad idea to check your business credit score (yes, that does exist). Financial institutions will scrutinize your financial statements, and you will want to be ready and able to explain how your expansion plan will increase your business. 3. WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO? This is where you start to look to the future and create a vision for what you want your business to become. Whether you are looking to add new attractions or services, open up additional locations, or simply make some operational changes that add value, the more specific you can be about what that future looks like, the easier your planning will be. 4. WHY DO WE WANT TO GO THERE? I know, I know. You want to get to the HOW part! But answer “why” first. In his book, “The Answer to How is Yes,” Peter Block argues that before you consider how to do something, you should consider why you want to do it. Asking almost anything other than how will help you see if what you are planning really makes sense for you. Remember, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should—or that the payback will be worthwhile. So, ask yourself: Why am I looking to change? Is the change customer-focused? Will it help increase profits? Is there an audience for it? Do I have competition knocking on the door? Do my changes align with the company’s mission and vision? >> continued
After all of the planning, construction, staffing, training, and more, the payoff comes on opening day.
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Strategic Adventures
^
BY PAUL CUMMINGS
Planning Ahead __________ ^ Adding a ropes course and kids play area to the existing zip line canopy tour at ZipZone, Ohio, was the result of careful planning.
^
Consider the multi-generational families who could be your customers.
once per season, you are making at least twice the ROI for your marketing efforts, and your profit margin is at least 25 percent. These are hypothetical numbers, of course, but are meant to illustrate some of the key factors that should be considered.
And that leads us to our next point: 5. WHAT ARE OUR CORE VALUES? Reviewing your core values can help you set the direction for your project. For example, we often come across prospective clients that want to add a commercial attraction to their educational-based programs. I’m not going to say if that’s right or wrong—there are plenty of examples where this has made sense—but it’s different for everyone. Reviewing your core values will help determine what is right for you and your business.
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PART II: YOUR GOALS If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know how to get there? The planning process is, at its core, setting and achieving goals. Looking back at our situation analysis, let’s first consider our vision of where we want to go and why we want to go there. This will influence our long-term goals. Long-term goals are milestones on the way to achieving your vision for your business. What milestones are you going to pursue? Let’s say, for example, you want to create a chain of aerial parks across the U.S. Your long-term goals may include opening five new parks in your region, then 10 new parks on your side of the Mississippi, followed
by 20 new parks across the nation, and finally selling the business for a large chunk of CASH. These are fairly definitive (albeit lofty) goals that can be measured pretty easily. But let’s look at some other measures of success that will influence how these goals can be achieved. 1. MEASURES OF SUCCESS Each long-range plan will have its own goals, and therefore its own measures of success. In our lofty example, your project will need to measure things such as employee turnover, visitor repeat rate, marketing performance, and, of course, profitability. Perhaps you determine that before your plan moves to the next phase of development, your existing parks must have an annual employee turnover rate of 40 percent or lower, 50 percent of your visitors come back at least
2. POTENTIAL OBSTACLES It is also critical when making long-term goals to examine the potential obstacles that you may encounter along the way. In the case of our national chain of parks, some of our obstacles may be: • competition entering the market • major changes in technology • new state and federal regulations • a change in construction and operational standards • an economic downturn None of these are preventable, so you’ll need a plan for dealing with them if and when they arise—as they most likely will at some point. Take the time to sit down and consider each potential obstacle, one by one. Make a list of every possible solution, and then narrow that list down to three or four realistic, potential solutions.
PART III: YOUR STRATEGY TO GET THERE Now that you know where you want to go and have set goals for major milestones to achieve along the way, it’s time to put your strategy together. Here are some important factors to consider as you create your strategy:
^ Before putting a shovel in the ground, ask yourself, “Where do we want to go?” Here, a rendering of the master plan for Bogus Basin, Idaho, helps map that out.
^ Below left: New technology and attractions are always coming to market, like this single rail coaster. Below right: It takes time and effort, but creating a long-range plan for your park will, hopefully, help you find gold at the end of the rainbow.
2. RESOURCES NEEDED List all of the resources (that you know of) needed to meet your project goals. These may include staff, builders, materials, legal, accounting, and of course, time. If there is a resource that you need but don’t have, determine what must be done to acquire it, and factor that into your plan. 3. FINANCING While “funds” are a resource, financing is so vitally important that it deserves its own place in your strategy. To start, you must figure out how much money you’ll need to complete the project, and also when you will need it. It’s rare that a project uses all of the needed funds at once. Putting together a funding calendar will help prepare you for that next outlay of funds. Always start the funding process sooner than you think you’ll need it. Of all of the components in a project, funding is the least predictable. And if the word “financing” makes you want to run and hide under a rock, hire someone who can help you through the process.
4. IMPLEMENTATION Detail all of the stages of your project, and the steps in each stage. We like to use a tool called a Gannt chart to track all of the elements of the project. You can build one in Microsoft Excel, and there are some great apps and browser add-ins that you can use as well. Along with each step, assign an individual to be responsible for implementing it. This person isn’t necessarily the one doing the work, but is in charge of making sure it gets done. Also, assign a deadline for each step, and identify the actions and moves that contribute to achieving that deadline. By breaking down these steps, you should be able to adjust the timeline of your plan when you experience delays. (Does any of this seem familiar?) 5. PROJECT OVERSIGHT Someone has to be in charge of ensuring that all the timelines are met, and update the Gantt chart accordingly. He or she will also need to communicate the project’s status to the entire team working on it. Larger companies often opt to hire a project manager, while smaller companies typically rely on an
internal staff member. If you are the owner/manager of an aerial adventure park, that person will probably be you. THE BOTTOM LINE While long-range planning may sound like a lot of work, by simply entertaining the idea, you are already ahead of the game. We’ve seen businesses struggle because they got complacent and didn’t think (and plan) ahead. Whether you really do have ambitions to take over the global adventure park market, or simply want to add to your offerings and build an additional revenue stream, walking through and applying this process to your business are the first steps in longrange planning. And remember, if you are looking to expand, it’s not your first rodeo. Your experience to date is an invaluable resource that will help you along the way. You have plenty of other resources in place, too. So don’t sweat it, take it one step at a time, and follow the road map in front of you. Oh, and remember to take a break every so often to actually enjoy the park that you built.
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1. STAKEHOLDERS Identify and communicate with all stakeholders in the project. Stakeholders may include partners, investors, landowners, and current staff. Failing to include someone at the start of the project can, at best, cause delays later in the process. At worst, it can derail the entire thing. On the plus side, your stakeholders may well have some valuable ideas of their own.
FIRST IN A TWO-PART SERIES
BY MAT NEWTON, Founder, TourismTiger
GETTING BUSINESS ON THE BOOKS
Online sales are big and getting bigger, and the software that powers it all is evolving fast. Where’s it all headed?
Booking software is a topic that should never be far from the mind of the average adventure park operator. And how could it be? You and your team interact with it every day. It can help keep the park humming or grind it to a halt.
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So you probably know that this industry has evolved significantly over the past year or two, and will continue to do so. New booking software solutions have arrived and others have departed. One example: Zozi, an exhibitor at the 2017 ACCT Conference, was sold to Peek. And that’s just the start of it. In this two-part series, we will cover the trends, the new features, and the players you need to keep an eye on. In Part 1, we’ll take a look at the rapid evolution of the state of the industry. In Part 2, coming in the winter issue of Adventure Park Insider, we’ll look at the newer players on the block and some new features coming from the more experienced hands.
Mobile device functionality is imperative for both the consumer side and the reporting side. Peek software features a report of the day’s activities (left) so
operators can see what’s booked along with other details. Peek’s software also allows consumers to book a tour (right) from the palm of their hand.
As the founder of a company that builds websites for tour operators—websites that must co-exist peacefully alongside many of the major booking softwares—I have been fascinated to watch the changes happening. The flop of the muchhyped third-party channels and the victory for direct sales has been a surprise, and a positive one for operators. There has been a rapid increase in software tools and solutions for both small and large operators, and in fee structures.
We’ll take a look at the details in the second part of this series. But first, here’s the big picture.
VIATOR, EXPEDIA, AND FRIENDS LAND WITH A WHIMPER Wind back the clock 18 months, and integration of tour and activity sites with third-party distributors like Expedia and Viator was the hot topic in the wider tourism world. Yet, the expected flood of sales through these channels turned out to be more like a trickle. Stephen Joyce, from Rezgo, explains: “There’s a lot of sites trying to become the next Viator or next Expedia for tours and activities, but they’re very few and far between, and are not generating significant revenue. We see two to three percent of revenue on average comes from these companies.” Grant Jurgeneit, of Checkfront, agrees that these channels have not met expectations, but adds, “Especially if customers have a large inventory, having this distribution is a critical facet for them—it can help companies move extra inventory in non-peak times.” Top: Rezgo’s booking software includes a dashboard that displays sales trends and basic analytics.
Above: Another tool Rezgo offers is a transaction summary report that shows how much is collected through each payment type.
IT’S TIME TO FOCUS ON DIRECT SALES CHANNELS If the experience of the accommodation sector is any guide, the disappointing outcomes from Viator and Expedia should be celebrated, not lamented. Many hotels lost control of their distribution to third-party channels, and are now engaged in a daily battle trying to point customers in the direction of the hotels’ own direct channels. Adventure park operators and zip tours still retain that control. Take your digital sales seriously, and make sure your channels are effective: a 2 percent conversion rate on your website means 33 percent more revenue than a 1.5 percent conversion rate. It’s our recommendation to thoroughly investigate all third-party claims on your sales and ask for data from the booking software companies. Craig Langer from The Flybook has been working with adventure parks for years, with some of the biggest in the world using its tools. “We have adventure parks where 70 to 80 percent of their revenue originates online... I’d hate to know what would happen to their revenue if they didn’t have online reservations,” he says.
The Flybook’s online booking interface is customizable, allowing operators to position their most premium products first.
With major purchase waves in mind, like Black Friday, operators can sell tickets in advance at a discount using Flybook gift certificates.
MORE FEATURES AND TESTING TO HELP DIRECT SALES The desire to drive more conversions online is leading to the development of new software features. >> continued
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And if you still aren’t convinced, Xola dug into its statistics vault and shared that, across all its aerial adventure park and zip line customers, approximately 32 percent of bookings are made online. But 46 percent of revenue comes from online booking. Bigger groups plan ahead.
Ian Maier of Xola says, “Something we’re doing is giving people the ability to remarket through email, through Adwords, and through Facebook. We’re taking a two-pronged approach—we get the email of the customer (who nearly booked, but didn’t), so you can win these people back.” Oskar Bruening of Peek shares similar thoughts: “We’ve seen revenue increases of 10 percent just from email retargeting.” No stone is being left unturned. As Jess Pashos from FareHarbor says, “We’re constantly A/B testing to make sure the form is converting at the highest rate possible.” Following a similar theme, Bruening says that a re-build of Peek’s widget with A/B tests in mind saw an incredible 40 percent increase in bookings. Compatibility is also on everyone’s radar. Nearly all booking software offers a standard JavaScript code, which works harmoniously with almost any website, but others have taken things a step further. Steven Joyce of Rezgo points out, “Wordpress has become hugely popular, so we’ve made a lot of changes to the plugin to integrate better with Wordpress.”
Top: For operations that have a more complicated mix of products, including overnight lodging options, Checkfront is one of a handful of softwares focused on integrating multiple facets of a business.
Above: After a customer books online, Checkfront automatically sends a “mobile invoice” to the purchaser.
The Flybook is also in the picture. Its data tools allow you, for example, to see which zip codes are responding best to your Facebook campaigns. That allows you to target your advertising to those areas. Upon doing these kinds of analyses, The Flybook noticed that individual ticket buyers are more likely to live closer to parks, while group bookings tend to come from more distant zip codes. “It’s about giving our operators data they can actually use,” says Langer.
SOFTWARE MODULES SPECIFICALLY BUILT FOR ADVENTURE PARK OPERATORS There is a move away from generic solutions to add-ons built to solve specific problems.
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“Our smart ticketing platform was created specifically for the adventure park industry,” says Langer. “You now have specially designed adventure park software that sits on top of our core software.” Xola has taken a slightly different tack. “Xola has focused on building an API [Application Programming Interface] to expand customized functionality, such as our ticketing and check-in kiosks that help manage high volume walk-up traffic, digital waivers, integrations with distribution partners like Expedia and Viator, or your own custom application. There is no limit to what you can do,“ says Maier. Making the online booking experience fast and user friendly is vital. FareHarbor
has designed its consumerfacing booking screen to be clean and easy to navigate.
Rezgo’s Joyce believes that the talk of online channels, while important, is only part of the story. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on the offline side of the sale,” he says. “Out of 10 bookings, eight are offline, so we want to help operators capture more of that offline business. If you’re not focusing on the ability to make it easy for the operators and their employees in the offline environment, you’re clearly missing out on that.”
No topic is hotter in conversations with booking software companies than business model. It’s also high on the list of questions operators have. Largely, there are three types of software fee models: flat fee (Checkfront, Rezdy, Resmark), commission (FareHarbor, Peek, Rezgo), and flat-fee-per-booking (The Flybook.) Xola offers the choice of either commission or flat fee. The commission-based softwares typically add a booking fee to the final transaction, similar to the Ticketmaster model. FareHarbor believes strongly in the percentage-based booking fee model. Given the traumatic disappearance of Zerve leading into the July 4 holiday, Pashos emphasizes the importance of having a stable business model. She says FareHarbor’s pricing hasn’t changed since day one. Not only that, “We never take a commission from the operators themselves, to save them money. Because of our pricing, our success is literally tied to the success of the industry.” Bruening of Peek wholeheartedly concurs: “This model gives me an incentive to build a better system.” Maier from Xola sees the pros and the cons of all models, but notes that a hybrid model is an option that more and more operators find appealing. You add the booking fee to your own revenue, pay a monthly fee to your booking software company, and keep the difference (if any). He cautions against too much greed, though: “A six percent fee can add up substantially on big ticket items, and that can be a consideration.”
BOOKING SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS CHECKFRONT
REZGO
www.checkfront.com
www.rezgo.ca
FAREHARBOR
THEFLYBOOK
www.fareharbor.com
www.theflybook.com
PEEK
TREKKSOFT
www.peek.com
www.trekksoft.com
RESMARK SYSTEMS
XOLA
www.resmarksystems.com
www.xola.com
REZDY www.rezdy.com
The level of complexity of your business is also a factor to consider. Chip Broyles of Resmark notes that, “with more complex businesses, such as multi-day tour companies, just building the itinerary is complicated. For $5,000 to $10,000 sales, you have to spend a lot of time nurturing before the booking just to make it happen.”
CONNECTIVITY IS WINNING THE DAY The positive of the Expedia and Viator wave is that it has forced booking software companies to create powerful third-party integrations, using those data connections known as APIs. Waiver integrations are now par for the course; just two years ago, very few people were talking about this. FareHarbor’s Pashos says, “It all comes down to connectivity, being able to control your business, being able to connect through APIs.” For her, Expedia or Viator are step one; FareHarbor’s vision is to connect the entire ecosystem. Bruening from Peek also points to the marketing potential. As he sees it, “Integration with email software is incredibly powerful. I can reach out to everybody who came in the last nine months and offer them gift certificates or discount codes.” But it’s not just about marketing. “The last decision of the operator is ultimately based on how tightly integrated the software is with anything else. Whether it’s email campaigns, or getting financials into Xero, just trying to minimize the administration” is also important, according to Checkfront’s Jurgeneit.
WHAT ABOUT THE OPERATORS WITH LODGING, ACTIVITIES, RAFTING, OR ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS? What about the operators with more complex businesses? Checkfront, The Flybook, and Resmark all offer a heavy emphasis on integrating multiple facets of a business. Broyles of Resmark proudly points to this additional capability: “Many operators have lots of moving parts and pieces, such as lodging where people may share rooms. The reason ‘simple’ software tools are so easy to set up is because they’ve got operators selling simpler tours. If you’re managing a multi-day operation with different lodging requirements per day, it’s a whole different ballgame,” he says.
COMING IN PART 2 So that’s the current landscape. Booking software is evolving fast, and gives you lots of functions that weren’t available even a few years ago. In the Winter 2018 issue of Adventure Park Insider, we’ll highlight new products in the business software space and the key features that each system has been rolling out, to help you make informed decisions for 2018 and beyond. Stay tuned!
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THE BUSINESS-MODEL BATTLE IS HEATING UP
BY PETER OLIVER
AT THE
ZOO
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As Simon and Garfunkel once sang famously, it’s all happening at the zoo. These days at New York City’s Bronx Zoo, while the pigeons plot in secrecy and hamsters turn on frequently, visitors can have a gas by zip lining or challenging themselves on an adventure course, or ambling along an easy-going nature trek in the trees. That’s all thanks to the award-winning Bronx Zoo Treetop Adventure, designed by Tree-Mendous, that opened this past summer.
The Bronx Zoo is now host to an aerial adventure course, zip line tour, and nature trek.
Given the diverse audience that frequents the zoo, the park was designed for broad appeal. Inherent in the three-activity design of the adventure park was a goal to include something for everybody. The nature trek is the most accessible of the three components; anyone from small children to seniors and even some disabled people can get in the game. For those seeking something a little more adventurous, the seven treetop courses range in difficulty from easy
to expert, and feature challenges such as suspended bridges, simulated rock climbs, and rope ladders. Taking on the adventure park courses can also be combined with clipping on to the four zip lines, which crisscross the Bronx River, for an extra boost of adrenaline. The design, construction, and management of the park were enabled by a collaborative approach. Tree-Mendous joined forces with Simex-Iwerks, a media company that was installing a 4D theater in a separate location at the zoo within the same timeframe. While both the theater and the aerial activities might be seen as moving the zoo away from its core business of wildlife viewing, “nobody resisted,” says Chris Filomio, the zoo’s director of rides and parking, and who oversees the new adventure activities. In their own ways, the “wildlife theater” and the aerial park contribute to the zoo’s overall educational, experiential mission.
^
That mission is in place mainly because the zoo is under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an international non-profit organization dedicated to preserving animals and the natural environment. So, while Tree-Mendous focused on design and
FACING PAGE: Treetop Adventure at the Bronx Zoo has something for everyone. Top: Kids in the tube on the Nature Trek. Middle: Navigating the Rat Snake expert trail. Left: Aerial view of the netted Nature Trek walk.
^ Ground-level view on the Nature Trek walk. This is the Bronx?
construction of all the aerial features, and Simex-Iwerks pitched in with marketing and financing, the on-ground features, with a strong educational component, were the work of WCS. “It’s much more than just a climbing attraction,” says Tree-Mendous owner and founder Gerhard Komenda. When everything was ready to go, WCS provided the manpower to operate the park, and Simex took charge of equipment maintenance. Training was a shared responsibility, with Tree-Mendous training the aerial staff and WCS handling the nature-education component. Roles appeared to be well defined, so that no one entity was stepping on the feet of another. The result is a combination of activities that are unique in a city of nine million people, and in an environment unique to the city. To find anything comparable, one must travel an hour or more beyond the metro area. For Tree-Mendous to be able to offer something so rare in a city with so many diverse offerings—New York is, of course, a cultural crossroads of the world—was a special opportunity. That said, the collaboration is a bit sur-
prising. WCS had the reputation, says Filomio, of being “an old, stuffy organization.” But when the society’s vice presidents came up with the somewhat out-of-the-box idea to add both the 4D theater and the aerial adventure park, the board of directors unhesitatingly gave its stamp of approval. After all, it was “a new revenue stream to support our mission,” says Filomio. With the zoo’s annual visitation of approximately 2.1 million, the revenue stream from the aerial park alone could become substantial. Ticket prices for the Treetop Adventure range from $35 to $75. Not only could visitors spend money simply enjoying the zoo activities, they might be inspired to give climbing or zip lining a try. In other words, says Filomio, “great for an upsell from the general admission ticket.” Visitors can purchase adventure park-only tickets, but the zoo also introduced a “total experience” ticket that includes zoo and adventure-park admission. So, even if only two percent of zoo visitors opted for the adventure park, it’ll be a home run. NAVIGATING THE BUREAUCRACY The adventure park installation was a particularly sensitive project. Forestland
is exceedingly rare within the urban megalopolis that is New York City, so special care was needed to install anything in this forested tract of the Bronx that’s leased by the zoo from the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. And with education also being a part of WCS’s mission, the aerial park’s design had to incorporate more than simple amusement. Within that context, Tree-Mendous was a logical choice for the project. Komenda is a forester by trade. He knows trees, and he approached the project with the velvet gloves of a conscientious forest-management expert. Tree-Mendous also had precedent projects in its portfolio, having done similar installations at the San Diego Zoo and on California’s Catalina Island, also under the auspices of a conservancy. More surprising, perhaps, was how quickly Tree-Mendous, Simex-Iwerks, and WCS were able to get all the necessary approvals from city agencies and others. New York is famous as a city where development projects can be-
come stalled for months and even years in a morass of politics and bureaucracy. Among the agencies with jurisdiction were the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition to negotiating with the city, Tree-Mendous, WCS, and Simex-Iwerks had to work with the federal Army Corps of Engineers, because the zip lines crisscrossed the Bronx River. Wetlands impacts had to be considered. Environmental groups such as the Bronx River Alliance also wanted input into the project. But according to Komenda, it all went “extremely smoothly.” In part, that was because Tree-Mendous, WCS, and Simex-Iwerks were astute in playing the city-politics game. They hired so-called “expediters” to speed the process through NYC agencies, a standard practice in the Big Apple, according to Komenda. The relative ease of the permitting process, however, didn’t prevent the installation from becoming what Komenda calls “the most hectic project
we’ve ever had.” That was largely due to the fact that it was actually three projects wrapped into one: the zip lines, a seven-course adventure installation, and the nature trek. Hectic as it might have been, Tree-Mendous clearly did something right. After opening in July, the installation earned the prestigious Excellence in Design award from the Public Design Commission of New York City. While the criteria for the award are vague, certainly a big reason for the installation earning the commission’s recognition was the effort by Tree-Mendous to come up with a design that disturbed the natural environment as little as possible. The idea, says Komenda, was to offer something close to a wilderness experience, “where you can forget you’re in the city.” Although the installations required some thinning of the canopy and the removal of deadwood and hollow wood, no trees were cut down. All the while, city officials were keeping a careful
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^
“Given the diverse audience that frequents the zoo, the park was designed for broad appeal.” The entrance to the Nature Trek invites kids to experience nature from a new perspective.
eye on every twig that was snipped. “It was an immense hurdle to cross,” says Komenda. “New York City is very protective of its trees.” Komenda was, too. “Gerhard was looking out for the best interests of the ecology of the trees,” says Filomio. As is his practice, Komenda’s adventure-course features and zip-line terminals were clamped to trees rather than bolted, to lessen scarring and exposure to disease. Except for some tower footings, little was done to disturb the forest floor. According to a Tree-Mendous company philosophy, the idea was that “the health of the forest will improve,” says Komenda. With the success of the first two months of business, growth plans are already in the works. Komenda gives no details, but says that expansion next year is planned. Also, the installation of lights for night climbing is imminent. Park hours are currently 9-5 (5:30 on weekends); adding evening hours can only help to juice up the revenue stream. More is happening these days than ever at the Bronx Zoo, and in the near future, even more will be happening. Perhaps it is time for Paul Simon to write a new song.
^ ^
^
Top: The Nature Trek is designed to suit a wide range of ages.
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Above and left: The aerial challenges in the adventure park range from a log bridge to spider nets. Dual zip lines crisscross the Bronx River.
BY MOIRA MCCARTHY
Alternative revenue sources are a boon to business, not something to fear.
ROCKING ALT REVENUE They can be the three words that strike terror in the hearts of park operators far and wide. Food. Beverage. Retail. With all the work that goes into making a park function, thinking of ways to boost revenue can be a task. Taking on F & B and retail can sometimes seem like an insurmountable challenge. So rather than really study it and find a breakthrough solution, you purchase the water bottles, stock a few t-shirts, and go on with your day.
^
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But here’s the thing: done right, managed with your clientele and theme in mind, F & B and retail can actually be aspects of your business that you cheer, not loathe. More and more parks are seeing their profits soar after committing to doing it right.
At Rush Mountain Adventure Park in South Dakota, quality ice cream and other simple, fun food products are the recipe for driving revenues.
IF YOU CAPTURE THEM, THEY WILL SPEND We already know that if you build it, they will come. But there’s more to that equation. Parks are adding more and more cool new activities. From zip lines at cave tours, to mountain coasters at what was once a simple scenic attraction, parks are becoming places that are not just a stop-by, but now a stay-at. Rushmore Cave has been entertaining visitors with cave tours for 90 years. Starting in 1927, it was, for 60 years, a
But over the years, something had to change. Two Federal Park cave tours were launched nearby, and they cut into Rushmore’s business. The Park tours were able to keep entry prices down, since they operated on a government budget, and Rushmore Cave started to lose business to those
lower prices. Once people were able to search prices and destinations on smart phones, Rushmore Cave truly faced a battle. “We were getting killed on ticket prices,” says owner Tom Hagen. And so Rushmore rose up. In 2008, it added Rush Mountain Adventure Park, including a zip line, mountain coaster, a cool 7-D interactive ride, and a mining activity center. Cave tours became just one of several reasons to visit. And with multiple activities, the cave wasn’t just
^ The gemstone mining sluice at Natural Bridge Caverns in Texas is inexpensive fun for the entire family—and a huge seller.
a cool reason for people to stop by. The collection of activities meant that visitors stayed for a longer period of time, and that meant they needed—and wanted—food, beverage, and other necessities and mementos. Hagen took his time and studied what worked (more on that in a bit). Then, in 2013, he went forward with simple, fun food offerings like ice cream, pizza and hot dogs. The result? “Our food revenues are up 300 percent since we started offering them,” he says. “Ticket sales used to be our sole driver. Not anymore.” The success of the food offerings expanded the range not only for what activities were offered, but also for what folks could spend money on at the park. At Howe Caverns in New York, operations manager Mark “Sparky” Spaulding has had a similar experience. Offering cave tours since 1920, the Caverns have long run a small restaurant and gift shop, but nothing that drove much revenue. In 2011, high adventure was added to the operation, and almost immediately the possibility of greater F & B and retail revenue was obvious. Why? Because people started sticking around. “It wasn’t even about more people,” says Spaulding. “It was about more time.” Still, he says, the Caverns realized via trial and error that, even though people were staying longer, services such as food offerings needed to be considerate of the guest’s time. Sit-down restaurants, while tempting, didn’t suit guests’ interests. “Simple and quick is what works,” says Spaulding. “We can actually serve more people that way, and it seems to keep them happier, too.” At Natural Bridge Caverns in Texas, the expansion into aerial adventure and other activities came five years ago, when it added a ropes course, zip line, and most recently, a maze. Says attractions manager Mario Guittari, “Food follows the attraction. The more time spent, the more they spend on F & B. The more time they are here, the more chance they are going to have that second drink or peruse the gift shop.” >> continued
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successful cave tour with a small gift shop. Ticket prices were the revenue, the gift shop a small swath of icing on that cake.
The maze, he says, doesn’t keep people at the park as long as, say, the ropes course does as a standalone activity. However, it serves an important purpose for the overall operation: it offers an inclusive activity for all, and rounds out a day of fun. “So now we have a way for families with kids of all ages and even older folks to stay longer. It’s been a great boost [to alternative source revenue],” Guittari says.
MAKE IT ALL ABOUT YOU— BUT FOR THEM At first blush, stocking a basic retail shop and food and beverage site may seem simple: T-shirts, bottles of water, bumper stickers, etc. But the successful revenue manager finds a marriage of what customers need at that moment, and also what connects them—long term—to who you are and the experience they had. Retail isn’t just about selling stuff; it’s about selling memories.
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“You know,” says Guittari, “if you go to Disney, you are going to buy a Robin Hood hat, not just a t-shirt that says ‘Orlando’ on it. When a product—food or soft goods—connects, it works.”
That’s why Spaulding has seen such great success with his park’s gemstone mining. Guests, who have just toured caves and learned about rocks and gemstones, can then purchase the opportunity to sift through sand using a sluice, and they’re promised to find a variety of gemstones. Once they’ve found some treasures (oh! the joy of discovery!), Howe Caverns offers a retail service on site where guests can make jewelry from their bounty. “People absolutely love it,” he says of the huge revenue enhancer. Natural Bridge Caverns also has a sluice, and it is one of its biggest sellers as well. “It fits with what we do with the cave and all,” says Guittari. “And it’s like an attraction in itself—something the whole family can do that is fun and relatively inexpensive.” According to Hagen, a wildly popular retail item at Rushmore Caves is cave helmets. “We sell a ton of them and kids love them,” he says. “Plus, they have lights and you can use them on the tour.” The helmets have Rushmore Caves’ logo on the side, but Hagen points out the useful souvenirs are taken home with more than a brand connected to them.
“They are a memory. You wore that [helmet] in that cool cave, and you always remember that.” A good lesson: choose products that match the experience. Food can do the same thing as those helmets. The home-run products are those that build a memory of the visit as well. Natural Bridge Caverns found its golden product in a Texas brand: Blue Bell Ice Cream. And it’s proudly served in handmade waffle cones you can only get at the Caverns. So popular are the cones, it is considered an integral part of anyone’s visit. To push its “personal brand” more, the park makes its own fudge, which is also wildly popular. “People like buying local when they are visiting somewhere,” says Guittari. “Blue Bell is a huge brand here, and our fudge, with unique flavors, like chocolate jalapeno, is something you just cannot find anywhere else. You have to have some, and take some home.” This makes a visit to the Caverns a multi-sensory memory.
^
Rocking alt revenue
Cave helmets sporting the Rushmore Caves brand fly off the shelves because they’re unique, and also useful.
^ As an inclusive family activity, the maze at Natural Bridge Caverns keeps guests of all ages entertained longer, and helps increase overall spend.
“Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s an old and, well, simple plan that works in F & B, too. Easy to purchase, easy to stock—that’s what makes revenue rise.”
But that’s not the biggest seller. What flies off the shelf fastest? Sweatshirts. And not just because they are handsomely branded. “It’s 52 degrees in [the caves],” says Spaulding. “Guests forget that, so they all need them.” But despite the demand for sweatshirts, the operation offers them at a reasonable price. “We’re respectful,” he says. “We keep what they need at that moment at a reasonable price. We’ll catch them on other things. But sweats? We make it affordable for them to be comfortable.” Plus, the major benefit of selling more clothing that sports the Howe Caverns brand is every time a guest wears his or her sweatshirt in public, the attraction is gaining organic exposure. It’s like having thousands of walking advertisements. Hagen says he keeps his shelves stocked with simple products folks
need—water and t-shirts, for instance— and makes sure all are properly branded. The water bottles sell well, and he actually uses them as promotional vehicles. “We are active in our community,” Hagen says. “We donate water to lots of events in our area, always with our logo on the bottles. It’s using one of our products to market ourselves to a new audience.” THE KISS METHOD KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s an old and, well, simple, plan that works in F & B, too. Easy to purchase, easy to eat, easy to stock—that’s what makes revenue rise. Asked for advice on how to bump sales, Hagen is to the point. “Ice cream, ice cream and ice cream,” he implores. “Everyone loves it.” He made sure to invest in a quality product, which, he says, is worth the extra cost, “so it’s a good experience.” In addition: bottled water, fountain soda, hot dogs, and pizza. “The simplest things do the best,” he says. Same with retail.
Sometimes, to increase revenues, it’s best to give the guest something for free. Let Hagen explain: “Stickers,” he says. The Caverns has rolls of stickers at each attraction, and gives them away as each guest conquers each attraction. Free. “So they leave us and go seven miles down to Mount Rushmore carrying our name throughout the hills. They are walking advertisements for us. It’s great.” So, now you’re convinced. You should ramp up your other sources of revenue. But how? Start by just giving it a try. It’s easy to do, says Spaulding. Thanks to modern technology, a park can now introduce a product with a relatively low investment and low order amount. “Don’t be afraid to at least dive in and give some things a try,” he says. “Nowadays, you can buy small amounts and see how it goes. There’s so little risk, trying new things now is simple, and makes sense.” It especially makes sense when many of those simple things do wonders for the bottom line.
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Spaulding says that at Howe Caverns, gifts that match the experience work well, too. Its rock shop is successful, in part, because guests have just been educated about the products it offers, including magnetic rocks, which are huge sellers.
BY PETER OLIVER
Some parks are adding multiple activities in one location to spark more visits, longer
HYBRID
stays, and broaden their markets.
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ADVENTURE
Guests use lazer guns to shoot their way out of peril while participating in the popular Zombie Apocolypse experience at Coral Crater, Hawaii.
The reasons? More options on a park’s menu can bring more people into the fold, the principle being, as one park operator puts it simply, “something for everyone.” An expansion of offerings can certainly equate to an expansion in business, revenues, and profits. But it is not a step be taken without considerable forethought and planning to avoid potential pitfalls along the way.
Several park operators have been thinking outside the normal adventure park box. In some cases, a chicken-egg scenario was in play—i.e., adventure park activities were added to activities pre-dating the adventure park age, rather than the other way around. ALL-IN-ONE ADVENTURE That was certainly the case at French Broad Adventures in Asheville, North Carolina. Rafting had been the company’s go-to activity since the early ‘80s, but five years ago, the company was “looking for a way to diversify,” says Korey Hampton, French Broad’s co-owner. Thus, a zip line canopy tour was built.
What Hampton and her team recognized was that visitors to the Asheville area weren’t coming for a specific outdoor activity, such as rafting, but were generally looking for outdoor recreation. Zip lining was an activity already offered successfully by several other adventure companies in the area. But French Broad’s strategy was, “why not all things in one place?” says Hampton. “You don’t have to go to six different places.” So in went a network of 10 zip lines, along with a canopy bridge and a treehouse. Just last year, canyoneering was added to the mix. Hampton figured that activity mix reached a broad audience— rafting and zip lining for all ages and physical abilities, along with canyoneering for those who “want a little bit more and want to take it up a notch,” Hampton says. The result: longer visitor stays at the park and a nice little extra padding to the bottom line. At Coral Crater, Owen has noted a
French Broad Adventures added canyoneering to its activities mix for guests who “want to take it up a notch.”
^ Zorbing is one of the many activities at Lawson Adventure Park that are designed to cater to a broad audience, not just the most athletic or adventurous.
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The possible additions are innumerable and intriguing. Spelunking, zorbing, ATV tours, laser-gun target shooting, canyoneering: these are just a few possibilities being introduced at some parks.
A little research can help, too. Jim Owen, founder and owner of recently opened Coral Crater in Hawaii, talked with hotel concierges and read numerous online travel inquiries to determine what activities were most in demand. In Hawaii, where water activities rule, offering alternative activities away from the water filled a void.
^
The staple activities of an aerial adventure park are zip lines, canopy tours, challenge courses, and climbing walls. But why not bring other activities into the mix to augment the basic adventure park paradigm? Many park operators have been reaching beyond the core activities to create, for lack of a better term, “hybrid” parks.
HYBRID ADVENTURE
of the general public. Nothing too scary, or especially challenging technically.
difference in use pattern between vacationers and local park visitors. The locals, he says, usually book just one activity, while out-of-state visitors typically book packages of two or more activities.
DOWN LOW, UP HIGH Whether for the 90 percent or a specific audience, however, any activity should be compatible with, or take advantage of, the natural setting and specific natural features. As an example, Cave and Mine Adventures in California began almost 40 years ago as a cave exploration company, offering guided walks and more challenging expeditions in the subterranean world of the Sierra foothills.
Greg Brook, founder of Lawson Adventure Park in Lawson, Colorado, has had a somewhat different take on choosing activities. Lawson has a jam-packed menu; in addition to familiar adventure park fare such as a challenge course and a climbing wall, the park offers, among other activities, rafting, zorbing, bungee trampolining, a mechanical bull, and a via ferrata. But Brook’s overriding philosophy in the choice of activities has been to be “a park for the 90 percent. Nothing too extreme.” In other words, rather than offer activities that might appeal to a specific audience with a specific skill set and physical ability, the idea was to only include activities accessible to 90 percent
The unique underground features of the region were the initial draw, but clearly the Sierras also had an above ground natural appeal. So 10 years ago, some adventure park staples were added to the mix—zip lines and a climbing tower. When the zip lines were added, says director of marketing Heather Ginn, “we saw a huge spike in participation.” But some symbiosis was also in play— people who might initially have been attracted to cave exploration could see
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zip lining or climbing in action and want to try those activities as well. Or vice versa. “Trying one adventure gives them the encouragement to try another,” says Ginn. Adding the above ground activities is “a great chance to cross-market for the caves.” One intriguing hybrid strategy employed by Coral Crater has been to turn activities into games, essentially marrying the allure of adventure with a video-game-like component. Coral Crater is a unique setting, created from a quarry that supplied material to build a nearby Air Force runway. The quarry cliffs—the park’s most compelling physical feature—make for especially exciting zip line rides, making it Coral Crater’s most requested activity. But Coral Crater came up with a way to make an exciting ride even more enticing. Target shooting with laser guns supplements zip lining, giving zip liners an incentive to return with the goal of improving their shooting scores. Laser guns at Coral Crater have inspired the park to go a step
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further with a night-time activity it calls Zombie Apocalypse. Park staff dress in zombie masks while guests—via ATVs, walking, and zip lining—try to shoot their way to safety. It sells out regularly. MULTIPLE ACTIVITIES ARE STICKY Having multiple and diverse activities can be especially valuable for parks, such as Lawson in Colorado, that have a lodging component and guests who stay for more than one day. An extra activity or two can mean an extra day’s stay, and more money in the till. But Brook says it is also “great for the return visitor.” At a park like Lawson, which is an easy day trip from Front Range population centers such as Denver, Colorado Springs, and Boulder, having alternative and diverse activities to bring people back for a second or third visit is a tremendous asset. STAFFING CONSIDERATIONS Obviously, however, adding activities can present a number of logistical challenges. Prominent among them is
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staffing. Can guides be trained to lead and supervise a variety of activities? Or are specialists needed for each activity?
ing ATV tours was different: “It takes a special guide to know how to keep people under control when they drive.”
Cross training seems to be the way to go, according to the park operators interviewed here. Hampton says that she “hires for personality” rather than for specific skills. “You can teach somebody rafting or zip lining or canyoneering,” she says. “You can’t teach somebody to be nice.”
INSURANCE ISSUES Multiple activities can also present insurance headaches. At Lawson, Brook has found that “no insurer has jumped into this hybrid space.” As a result, Lawson is currently covered by three separate policies. Over time, as insurance companies come to better understand the risks of various adventure park activities, this problem might resolve itself. But for the time being, it remains an obstacle.
Cross training obviously can help reduce overall staff costs, but it can also be a means to encourage guests to try multiple activities. If they have a good time engaging in one activity under the leadership of a particular guide, the personal connection between guide and guests can be a powerful incentive to reunite for another activity. That said, cross training is not a panacea; some activities do require specialists. “I started by wanting every guide to be able to do everything,” says Owen. He quickly learned, however, that guid-
For proprietors and guests, “adventure park” is a term that is most likely to conjure images of zip lining, climbing, and canopy tours. But clearly a host of other activities can be added to the mix, helping to prolong visits or to encourage repeat visitation. Presumably, some adventurous component should be a part of any chosen activity, but with adventure being so ill defined, that can mean a lot of things. That’s why it’s well worth thinking outside the adventure park box.
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