Working as adventure tourism consultants
With over 25 years experience, the team has been involved in designing and delivering a range of services to both public and private sectors, to research, develop and grow adventure tourism products, services and experience. Our work has demonstrated that the key to success is the ability to respond to destination opportunities, making use of new technology and developing products that build on natural assets and meet the needs of the market.

Alongside our consultancy advice in the adventure tourism sector, our sister company manages a number of activity tourism businesses including CONKERS, a 120 discovery and activity experience in the National Forest, the Cotswolds Country Park and Beach, a rural watersports and activity destination and three branded high ropes experiences alongside a hotel. This ensures our advice is also reinforced through direct experience of managing successful activity and wider tourism businesses.   This helps to bring a strong commercial realism to our adventure and activity tourism projects.

Some of the adventure tourism services we offer include:

Adventure Tourism Destination Making
Developing strong and distinctive destinations in terms of brand and product offer is critical to increase visitor numbers and encourage greater participation in adventure tourism. Developing adventure tourism destinations is a complex process and requires buy in from a range of stakeholders to help deliver a sustainable solution. Our approach is to ensure that destination and place-making projects are based on a detailed understanding of existing visitor trends (and future forecasts) and community aspirations.   We worked with a client in North Wales to assess the opportunity to develop the adventure tourism product across six counties and with Cumbria Tourism to advise on developing adventure tourism across Cumbria.

Market Appraisal
Future development decisions need to based on market evidence. We continue to analyse market trends and issues in the adventure and activity tourism sectors and carry out forecasting from the macro to the micro level. Our tourism market intelligence service provides a robust assessment of the market from both the supply and demand side.  This also include detailed analysis of the residential population base living within specific drivetime contours of sites.   Our market research and analysis allows clients to make decisions which are informed by a detailed understanding of market conditions. We also carry out primary research and stakeholder and industry consultation.  For a Trust in the Midlands, we carried out an market appraisal to identify the opportunity for a new watersports centre.

Product Development
We have significant experience of developing new, innovative products to build on local strengths and market demand. Product development work is based on identifying the wider trends in the market place and specific needs of end users.    Our work in the adventure tourism sector has included identifying the needs of mountain bikers and other activity tourists leading to the concept development of innovative bunkhouse / hostel style accommodation units, as well as identifying adventure activity product opportunities for a coastal resort town.   

Business Planning
We are able to take a project from conception through to completion, including assessing the viability of taking forward a particular adventure tourism project and developing a business plan which can be used to support funding applications. Our business plans are based on core research, financial modelling and analysis and our work has been used to support funding successful applications.   For the Forestry England we supported the business case for major development and operational changes at Bedgebury with an increased focus on outdoor activities

Strategy Development
We recognise the importance of sound analysis and strategic planning which inspire and create solutions. Our strategic work is founded on the principles of basing decisions on an identfied lead and practical actions that can be measured. It is important to ensure that strategies are supported by available funding. We have developed a range of engagement techniques to ensure that stakeholders, partners and the local community are actively involved in strategy and policy development. We have worked on several tourism strategy projects with a focus on coastal destination development, activity tourism and adventure tourism.    Working with Cumbria Tourism we advised on the development of their adventure within Cumbria.

Find out more about some of the specific adventure tourism projects we have worked on here.

Our approach
We offer quality research-based advice to clients across the UK and internationally on all aspects of adventure tourism. All our work is guided by a number of important working principles:

• Independence and objectivity
• ‘One-team’ approach
• Market realism and understanding consumer behaviour
• Inclusivity and consensus building

How can we help?

If you have any questions or would like to discuss our work within the activity and adventure tourism sectors please don’t hesitate to call Richard Linington on 023 9248 1999 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk