Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Want to start an adventure tourism biz? Outdoors yields cash, takes hard work
Adventure tourism companies can be profitable, but a workshop panel says they require careful planning.
The Roanoke Times
File 2007 One of Tangent Outfitters' clients fishes on the New River below Pembroke. The company's owner said the clients didn't quite pile in during the early years.
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Passion, persistence and tolerance for risk.
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Three regional outdoors outfitters and a founder of a Craig County-based company providing wilderness experiences shared their hard-earned wisdom, cautionary tales and enthusiasm Tuesday for chancing a similar entrepreneurial path.
They and others -- including a banker, an insurance pro and authorities on tourism and small business creation -- spoke during a workshop geared toward people contemplating joining the adventure tourism industry.
The small-business owners who had already taken the leap seemed to command the most attention.
During the session's first break, Matthew Dunn said he found the presentations helpful.
"This is real concise, especially when you hear from the people who have been there," he said.
The workshop was held at the Greenfield Education and Training Center in Botetourt County. About 70 people attended. One estimate suggested about 50 percent of attendees were thinking about starting or expanding an outdoors-oriented business.
Dunn once restored old houses but said the economic crisis skewered that work. He is now thinking about starting a small outfitting business. Early brainstorming suggests there might be a market for long-distance horse packing, he said, which could offer a chance to be back in business for himself.
State and regional economic development and tourism officials say there are business niches to fill in the outdoors sector. They cited related marketing efforts that aim to spread the word far and wide about the region's remarkable mix of recreational opportunities -- ranging from the Appalachian Trail to the New River, from the grueling Blue Ridge Marathon to highly regarded mountain biking trails.
Shawn Hash of Pembroke-based Tangent Outfitters described starting small -- with a Toyota pickup, two canoes and four mountain bikes -- to serve customers he and his brother believed would clamor for rentals along the New River and New River Trail State Park.
Persistence and hard-headedness paid off, he said, when the early years turned out to be clamor-free. On Tuesday, Hash sort of reluctantly agreed that Internet marketing was important but added that more than anything else "you can't lose sight of the personal interactions you have with people."
Gene Nervo, founder and executive director of Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing, said his business model shifted over time from a focus on offering outdoor experiences for children to serving groups.
John Mays is co-owner of Twin River Outfitters, a canoe and kayak livery in Buchanan. He told the crowd that he had once naively envisioned a paddling business that would allow him to be out on the river every day.
That hasn't happened, he said. He shared a list of what he described as other "lessons learned," including the need to continuously adjust the business and to accept the reality of working long hours and being always on call.
Mays said Twin River, a seasonal business, makes about 85 percent of its income during four months. He advised "disciplined budgeting" and another income source during the off-season.
Meanwhile, banker Matthew Churchill and small-business expert Tom Tanner discussed the stuff many free-spirited outdoors types might dread -- business plans, income projections, market analyses and the like.
Like any small business, Tanner said, a startup adventure tourism company must have a great product for which there is demand, good marketing and excellent customer service to succeed.
Nervo listed challenges his outdoors business has faced but said the benefits have bested the trials.
"What other business can you get into where you are making people smile every day?" he said.
