Funding for adventure holiday and outdoor activity businesses

Adventure tourism is a tourist or traveller service that includes a physical activity or activities in nature. It can range from gentle rambling to mountain climbing and base jumping, and from birdwatching to scuba diving with sharks.

It can involve exploration or travel to remote, exotic and even hostile areas – but just as frequently it can be enjoyed close to home. Whether as just one activity feature of a resort holiday or as the focus of a break, Adventure Tourism Activities include:

• Day Hiking - organised hikes are popular with older parties and can combine walking with accommodation, with luggage transported to hotels along the route. Backpacking is a little more demanding and may require proper survival knowledge and gear. 
• Zip Lining - ziplining is growing in popularity and combines a real adrenaline rush with the chance to enjoy dramatic scenery from a new angle.
• Climbing - climbers can progress from indoor training to real climbing quite quickly with the help of a trained guide.
• Bungee jumping and skydiving - the ultimate adrenaline trip for those brave enough to take the plunge.
• Scuba diving - a training course, which can lead to basic qualification can be combined with real ocean dive experience.
• Rafting and kayaking - white water rafting and kayaking can offer thrills, and many visitors combine a stay with a training course.
• Mountain Biking - offers a great workout and a fun way to enjoy nature, with dedicated trails for all levels of fitness.
• Skiing and Snowboarding - an annual family ski trip qualifies as adventure tourism, and can offer excitement for any level of skill.

Travel Trade research suggests that activities are playing a larger part in holidays for many travellers and that those taking focussed adventure holidays are growing in numbers. It means exciting opportunities for companies offering activities, activity holidays, and those providing the necessary equipment.

What are the business opportunities?

There are several types of business involved in adventure tourism. They include:

• Holiday companies. These will arrange flights or travel, accommodation and activities from local providers
• Activity providers. These provide activities - such as ziplines - which are enjoyed as part of a holiday or visit
• Dedicated activity holiday providers. These may offer an entire holiday package, with accommodation - which can range from the most basic to real luxury, activities and support 

The costs you will need to cover

The holiday industry is a fiercely competitive market, and success is largely dependent on finding the right niche, the right activity and the right location. To be successful, you’ll need to put a great deal of effort into market research - ensuring people will want to do the activity you provide in the locations where you provide it. Then you will need to invest in branding and marketing - making sure that tourists will find your business, and want to try the experience you have on offer.

On top of this, you will need to provide equipment. Even the most basic activity holidays such as rambling will need you to offer a support vehicle. Setting up a zipline may mean investing thousands of pounds, and a scuba school may mean tens, if not hundreds, of thousands.

At Rangewell, we know the challenges of setting up, buying or growing a holiday business - and the ways to provide solutions for them.

There are many funding options which can help you with:

• Setting up an adventure holiday business
• Buying an adventure holiday business
• Equipping an adventure holiday business
• Providing working capital for your adventure holiday business
• Insuring your adventure holiday business
• Covering tax
• Dealing with problems

Setting up an adventure holiday business

The cost of setting up a new adventure holiday business will depend on the type of business you plan. If you are setting up a travel agency specialising in adventure tourism, you may simply need an office, IT equipment and a suitable website. Your main cost may well be marketing.

You will be faced with much higher costs if you want to provide activities. You will still need an office and the associated costs, but you will also be faced with the need to provide equipment - which may need safety certification. You will need a vehicle, and you may need premises on site.

The highest costs of all will occur if you are providing accommodation. Depending on your activity, this may not need to be to luxury hotel standards - many activity seekers may be happy with basic huts, especially in rugged country, as long as they can count on more than adequate food. But unless you already own suitable land, the highest initial cost may be to acquire a site with permission for the use you plan.

Getting funding for setting up any new business can be a challenge. Lenders can be reluctant to lend to any venture that is unproven, as they have no evidence that the business will be profitable and that they will be paid back.

However, there are solutions. You may need to put up assets such as property - perhaps your home - to use as security for the loan you need. If you are setting up a business abroad, it may be possible to raise the funds you need by securing them on a property that you own within the UK. 

The first step with any new business is to write a detailed business plan. This should show how your business will work and the level of profits you expect to generate. Lenders will use it to make their lending decisions.

At Rangewell, we know the lenders who are likely to be the most receptive to new business lending in the adventure holiday sector

Buying an existing adventure holiday business

Setting up an adventure holiday business is possible - but you may find that it is easier to raise funding to buy an established business. This is because it will have accounts from previous years trading. These give a potential lender something to base a decision on, demonstrating that the business you want to buy is profitable and generating sufficient funds to repay their lending. This can increase your chances of being accepted for funding and may help you get the loan you need at a more attractive rate.

We can help you secure a number of solutions to help fund an adventure business purchase. 

Equipping an adventure holiday business

Your adventure holiday business may need a wide range of equipment, from climbing ropes to aircraft. The costs will be high, but Asset Finance can help you spread the costs of the equipment or ‘assets’ that you need. The equipment acts as the security for the finance, which means that if you fail to keep up repayments you may lose the asset - but finance structured in this way can substantially reduce the costs you pay.

There several types of Asset Finance available:

Hire Purchase

Hire Purchase lets you hire the assets until you have paid for them. Agreements generally last between 12 and 72 months and require a 10-20% deposit plus fixed monthly instalments. It can be a simple way to spread the cost of basic items - such as camping equipment or kayaks -  that you will want to keep for the long term.

At Rangewell, we can often help arrange Hire Purchase finance at rates that undercut the finance plans offered by equipment dealers. It is also possible to set up finance plans for pre-owned equipment and vehicles - giving you a low-cost way to equip your business.

Leasing

Leasing is much like a rental agreement in that you are expected to pay a monthly charge in order to use the asset. With some arrangements maintenance, repairs and registration can remain the owner’s responsibility. Leasing is common for equipment which will have a limited life – it means you can easily update it when you need to.

Contract Hire

Contract Hire is often used for business vehicles, from a Land Rover you use to support ramblers to a light aircraft for skydiving.  Payments are usually calculated on the purchase value less the estimated value of the vehicle in question at the end of the agreement. This helps keep your monthly repayments down.

Our Asset Funding team can help you lease or Hire Purchase almost any type or value of asset - new or used. Find out more here.

Finance for operating your adventure holiday business

Your business should generate cash - but all holiday businesses are season, and the bills keep coming in even when the tourists do not. There will be costs that will have to be met all year round, and this will include publicity and marketing. You will need to run a website and have a presence on online directories to secure the level of business that you need.

You may also need staff to train and supervise your guests.

You may also find that you need to arrange finance for many of these expenses at the beginning of the season and before the full income from your business starts rolling in.

Working Capital Loans may provide one solution. These are designed to provide the funds you need for the expenses of operating a business and are designed to be paid back once funds start coming in.

Contact us to find out more about Working Capital Finance for your adventure business.

An alternative to the traditional capital may be found with a Merchant Cash Advance. Many travellers will pay for their holidays and activities with their cards. A Merchant Cash Advance, or MCA, lets you use this income stream as the basis for a cash advance which will be repaid automatically by deduction a proportion of each card payment you take.

Tax Loans - the answer to seasonal cashflow problems 

Tax is an issue for every business and in the holiday industry, the seasonal nature of your cashflow can cause problems. A large quarterly VAT or annual tax demand can cause serious difficulties particularly if it falls at in the middle of your slow season.

Tax Loans are designed to help. They let you spread the cost of all your tax liabilities into affordable monthly payments, helping ensure that your business does not have to face a drain on cash-flow at the worst possible time.

Benefits of a Tax Loan include:

• Better control of your cash flow
• Predictable Fixed monthly payments
• Quick and simple to arrange
• Avoids issues with HMRC and potential penalties

Insurance cover for your adventure holiday business

You will face a number of insurance requirements for your adventure holiday operation - and with some activities, the premiums will be very high.

This is on top of insurance cover for any staff - even part-timers - which is a legal requirement. You must have employers’ liability insurance up to the value of £5m to protect you against the cost of a claim if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of working for you.

You should consider speaking to a specialist insurer for the sector who tend to offer more suitable policies than mainstream insurers. However, there are a number of ways to provide for the costs. Find out more about funding for the premiums of insurance cover for your adventure holiday business.

Helping adventure holiday businesses with problems

Your business could be highly successful - but any business can run into financial difficulties. There are bills that come in, breakages and wear and tear to deal with - and times when visitors are simply not coming in.  

Financial problems could cost you your business, but solutions may exist to help get you back on your feet. We can provide funding solution if your business has run into these types of difficulties - and even if you have a damaged credit history or CCjs, we know which lenders can still help.

Find out more about finance for adventure and outdoors businesses facing financial difficulties.

Why you need Rangewell to find finance for your activity holiday business

Many lenders will not be able to provide lending for activity holiday operations - especially if your business will be located outside the UK. At Rangewell, we know those that are able to take a more enlightened view.

Whether you have a straightforward, small-scale funding need for equipment that would let you provide an activity - perhaps as a sideline for another business, or require a complicated ‘Jigsaw’ Funding plan made up of a combination of financial products to take over an established business we can work with you to find the answers.

Call us now to get our experts working to find the funding your adventure holiday business needs.