Photo Credit: Courtesy of Westminster Woods
A challenge course offers opportunities for visitors to explore, develop new skills, and gain confidence in their abilities. A challenge course may also help some overcome a fear of heights, strengthen relationships in groups, or develop new relationships. Before designing a course, discuss whether one is viable for your area, as well as who will be using it.
“Determine what other recreational opportunities are already available in your community, and if there is a market for a challenge course,” says Sylvia Dresser, executive director of Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT), which serves the challenge-course and zip-line tours industries. “Develop a business plan to guide you in developing a challenge-course facility that is reasonably self-supporting.” The business plan should include the cost of installation as well as long-term maintenance and training.
“Sometimes people don’t think beyond the installation and physical maintenance of the course when developing a business plan,” says Dresser. “Keeping staff on and properly trained can sometimes be a larger expense than the physical maintenance of the course.”