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Adventure sports resorts are springing up all over the world
by Keith Miller
Take an eclectic mix of daring, fast-paced individual sports, bring them together in one location, and then throw in retail, dining, family entertainment, and lodging, and you have the latest international trend in leisure entertainment: the sports resort.
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Adventure Sports: Defined
Snowboarding—A sport that involves sliding down a snow-covered slope while standing on a board that is similar to, but smaller than, a surfboard.
Wakeboarding/Waveboarding—A surface-water sport that involves riding a small buoyant board while being pulled on a tether by a boat or a motorized cable system.
Ice climbing—Ascending icy cliffs or inclines, usually with the use of ropes, as with rock climbing.
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Often characterized by what are called “extreme” or “adventure” sports, a spate of these complexes opened recently, with more in the planning or construction stages. But since most of the sports they feature—snowboarding, waveboarding, surfing, and rock climbing—have been around for years, why are these facilities popping up only now?
Steve Jones, managing director of Ventur e Xt r eme (www.venture-xtreme.com), which is based in the United Kingdom and is developing several extreme sports complexes there, believes he has the answer: “None of the sports are unique. The uniqueness is the scale, and bringing all the sports together in one place. Also, traditional sports aren’t getting people motivated anymore, but things like ice climbing and surfing are. Traditional sports are played in school, but after people graduate, they turn spectator. But if you’re a climber or surfer, you tend to be that for life.”
Richard Mladick, co-founder of the Waveyard sports park (www.waveyard.com) planned for Mesa, Arizona, also sees this trend as an issue of access. “The big thing I would point to is the growth of access to snowboarding and waveboarding, two primary drivers in this business,” he says. “Snowboarding was around for 10 years with relatively little participation— a niche sport. But as soon as the first [ski] resort allowed snowboarders to ride, you saw an explosion in snowboarding. The potential demand was there, but the access was not.”
Growing Faster Outside the United States
While Europe has been building sports parks for some time, the United States seems to just be catching up with the wave. Bill Mefford is the media contact for Wake Nation Waveboarding Park in Cincinnati , Ohio (www.wakenation.com), which opened in May. “We’re only about the sixth cable waveboarding park of this kind to open in the United States, and the first one in this region,” says Mefford. There’s not another one within 600 miles. But in Europe, there are probably 150 of them.”
In fact, the inspiration for Wake Nation came from a trip the park’s CEO, Peter Kennedy, took outside the United States. While Kennedy was on a medical mission in the Philippines, he saw a bunch of kids gathered outside a hotel and asked them what they were doing, and they replied they were there for the waveboard park. Kennedy went waveboarding himself at the park and was hooked, so he decided to create such an attraction in the United States.
Roy Higgs of Baltimore, Maryland’s Development Design Group says he’s not certain why the growth is faster outside the United States but suggests “it may have something to do with the fact that the Extreme Sports Channel is carried in 70 countries, but not in the U.S.” He says the hottest markets for the DDG/Extreme Group partnership are the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Japan.
Despite the current credit crunch, those associated with these sports complexes see a very bright future. “Interest in adventure sports is growing astronomically—every other week a different adventure sport claims to be the fastest-growing,” says Jones of Venture Extreme.
This fact is what will attract developers to sports parks and resorts, according to Higgs. “Commercial property developers are looking for something unique,” he says. “Developers see the interactive nature of extreme sports and retail is very powerful, and it’s relatively low-cost entertainment.”
Mladick sees the explosive future demand as the key: “None of this is about how many people participate today—what’s important is what is the latent demand. If people are given access, how many people will participate—that’s what is driving this.”
Contact News Editor Keith Miller at kmiller@IAAPA.org.
Retail a Key Component for Many Sports Resorts
Some sports complex developers see retail as a critical financial component in the success of these facilities, while others do not.
 These sports centers can generally be characterized as one of two types of developments—those built as a part of a retail shopping complex and those that are standalone resorts—and it seems the type determines how critical retail is to a project’s success.
Roy Higgs is CEO of Baltimore, Maryland-based Development Design Group (www.ddg-usa.com); he’s teamed with London-based Extreme Group to bring extreme sports together with leisure brands and food and beverage in a retail environment, a concept they call Expo-Xplore. Extreme Group produces the Extreme Sports Channel (www.extreme-international.com), which is broadcast 24 hours a day in some 70 countries. The partnership has U.S.-based projects in various stages of development in Hawaii, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey, and internationally based projects in Hungary, China, the UK, Turkey, Japan, and South Africa.
“Almost all of them have a very strong retail presence, and that is the profit center without a doubt,” says Higgs. “We leverage the retail sales as an extreme park, but the money that pays for it all is on the retail side.”
But such will not be the case with SnOasis (www.snoasis.com.uk), a winter sports resort developed by Onslow Suffolk Ltd. in Suffolk, England. Jim Carroll, spokesperson for SnOasis, says: “SnOasis will have retail, but it is a residence facility, with [lodging] on site, so there will be income from admissions, accommodations, exhibitions, and a corporate facility that can accommodate 1,000.”
For the standalone sports resorts, Waveyard’s Richard Mladick explains why retail partnering is such a challenge. “We’ve talked to retail brands like Quiksilver and Billabong, and their view of these parks is negative,” says Mladick. “They’ve existed so long by supporting the core athletes, and now we’re coming along and wanting to take the sports to a place where individuals can participate just for fun. There’s a lot of skepticism on the part of the brands, and rightly so. But once this starts showing success, I think you’ll see their support.”
Venture Xtreme has several sports complexes in various stages of planning in the United Kingdom, and Steve Jones of Venture Xtreme tells FUNWORLD, “The adventure sports elements themselves are actually very profitable. But it’s just difficult in the current climate to get investors to spend 50 million pounds (US$83 million) on an adventure center without associated retail. Retail gives the investors confidence.”
Indeed, the current tight credit market is the biggest challenge to getting sports complexes built worldwide, says Mladick: “Globally, financing has been closed for 14 months now. The big challenge is that this is a new concept, with no historical performance dynamics.” |
Sports Resorts: At a Glance
Here’s a look at a few of the adventure sports complexes that have recently opened or are currently in the works.
 Waveyard is a 160-acre development planned for Mesa, Arizona. Plans call for the park to offer a variety of sport and adventure activities, including surfing, wakeboarding, kayaking, scuba diving, zip lining, canyoneering, and whitewater rafting. It will also feature a large sand beach, resort hotel, villas, an indoor waterpark, a conference center, an amphitheater, restaurants, retail shops, and office space. The park will play host to world-class competitions and special events. Waveyard cofounder Richard Mladick hopes construction on phase one of the $500 million project will begin in 2010.
 Development Design Group and Extreme Group teamed to create a branded extreme sports concept called Expo-Xplore, in which extreme sports venues are brought together with leisure brands and food and beverage in mixed-use retail centers. One of their major projects, the Alpella Youth Center, is scheduled to open in 2010 at Fenerbahce S.K. in Instanbul, Turkey. The center will be a state-of-the-art sports, lifestyle, and entertainment development made up of a 15,000-seat multiuse arena, a three-level sports lifestyle center, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a family entertainment center, and a mix of retail stores, restaurants, and cafes.
 SnOasis in Suffolk, England, will feature winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, snowtubing, speed skating, ice climbing—16 sports in all. It will boast Europe’s largest indoor ski slope—1,361 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a 328-foot vertical drop. The 400-meter speed skating track will be the first in the UK. SnOasis spokesperson Jim Carroll says professional and Olympic athletes will be given exclusive training access from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. each day, and the public will be able to watch them exercise. “[Guests] will not only be able to participate in the sports themselves, but see the top athletes in action,” he says.
 Wake Nation Waveboarding Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, which opened in May 2009, is set on a 10-acre man-made lake in Joyce Park, which also features other extreme sporting venues including BMX biking. Wake Nation allows guests to wakeboard, water ski, and kneeboard without the need of a boat because participants are pulled along the water’s surface by the use of a cable. According to spokesperson Bill Mefford, the facility has another advantage over wakeboarding or skiing behind a boat on a lake or river: “There are usually no obstacles (such as ramps) in a lake or river, but here we have half a dozen obstacles for veterans to use.”
 Venture Xtreme in the UK plans several extreme sports parks, with three large $100 million projects currently in the works in London, Manchester, and Sheffield, with the Manchester project farthest along. They will combine up to 30 adventure sport activities, including surfing simulators, climbing walls, ice walls, zip lining, and a 50-meter-high (164-foot-high) bungee jumping tower. These venues will accommodate both participation and spectatorship. Specialty shops, restaurants, and hotels will round out the offerings. |
Suit Up
Sports parks popular in Latin America
by Ana Belluscio
 Sports resorts are capitalizing on a growing tendency within amusement parks in Latin America, as well: direct contact with nature. Outdoor attractions, sports facilities, and spas are increasingly placing guests amid a variety of landscapes. Here’s a look at two:
• Villa Serranías de Zapla, located in the Argentine province of Jujuy, capitalized on its history as a mining town to provide guests a new visitor experience.
After the closure of the mine, workers left their homes for more productive cities. Nature prevailed, and the mining town landscape reverted to a lush, green area. Local government realized decades later the potential of the area as a natural park and refurbished the facilities, which now accommodate more than 250 people.
“People come looking for peace and comfort offered by the complex,” says Hugo Vázquez, head of tourism for the park. “They can be in direct contact with nature while enjoying different outdoor activities.”
The park looks like a jungle surrounded by wild biodiversity. Guests come to enjoy sports activities and learn about conservation, a common theme in South American parks and attractions. Activities include tyrolean traverse (zip line) hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, abseiling (roping), and exploring the old mining tunnels. But not everyone has to hike; the facilities include a restaurant, a movie theater, a swimming pool, and basketball and soccer courts.
 • Las Estacas Park in México offers a similar option. Located in the state of Morelos, the “natural park” is a place where “the main attraction is being in contact with nature,” says Venancio Lopez, activities coordinator for the facility. Located along Las Estacas River, the park offers activities to suit all family members: diving school for beginners and professionals, catch-and-release fishing, and even triathlon and Olympic swimming training courses. For those who are looking for an adrenaline boost, the park has implemented tyrolean traverse and abseiling circuits. While children take swimming lessons or take any number of the park’s classes on environmental practices from Morelos State University teachers, parents can play 18 holes of golf or enjoy the spa.
Ana Belluscio is a freelance journalist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She writes for a variety of printed and online international publications in Spanish, Italian, and English. She can be reached at anabelluscio@fibertel.com.ar.
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