Outdoor park in harmony with nature
Outdoor park in harmony with nature
“Forest Adventure” (FA), which started in 2006, has expanded to 34 facilities nationwide in 2020.
From France, first in Japan
There is no doubt that FA has pioneered the market for outdoor parks such as ziplines, which are currently increasing in various places. I think. It all started with an encounter with Altus in France. Even now, more than 10 years later, we still go back and forth between France and Japan, and we continue to have a good relationship. There is no thick contract, and the relationship of trust that has been built through discussions on each occasion is the basis.
At first, it was often misunderstood as a field athletic Tarzan rope or slider, and it was difficult to tell what it was. As for the usage fee, not many people understood the fee of 3,500 yen per adult. However, in Europe, it already had a track record of more than 10 years, and its recognition and market had spread. Instead of adapting to Japan, we decided to introduce the French style as much as possible. Protect your own safety! Symbiotic with nature! etc.
I learned a lot from his partner, Altus, but the management method was created through trial and error in Japan. Marketing, sales, online reservation system, service content, risk management, etc. were all created from scratch, so I think the current form was as much as possible.
Outdoor park franchise?
The franchise system was created naturally as the number of facilities increased. The unique business model of a franchised outdoor park has never been heard anywhere in the world. Wearing a harness and climbing high in the trees, this facility always has the possibility of a fall accident, and at first glance it looks very dangerous. The risk is high for a new business started by a company in a different industry. However, if there is support from facilities to operation, education, and management, the hurdles to entry will be low. It would take a lot of time for a single company to develop, but the franchise system should have sped up the speed.
Since there are no examples in Japan, I searched around for various overseas examples. As far as I know, the parks called FA and GOAPE in the United Kingdom and the United States are the only parks that have multiple locations under one brand name, and dozens of them. GOAPE started two years earlier than FA, but it has grown at an astonishing speed, acquiring contracts to use state-owned land for direct management. Altus is the one who undertakes all of GOAPE’s design and construction departments, so information is shared between FA and GOAPE.
Even in Japan, recognition and market scale increased slowly but proportionally to the number of facilities. At the end of 2019, the total number of annual users of 31 facilities nationwide exceeded 500,000, and the cumulative number of users since its establishment reached 3 million. It is not possible to know exactly how many competitors there are, but it is estimated that the market is probably around 1 million users per year. As for FA, it has not reached all 47 prefectures, so it is a secret goal to have one in each prefecture.
Businesses participating in this project are diverse, ranging from individuals to forest cooperatives, large and medium-sized enterprises, and municipalities, and their ideas and customs are not exactly the same. What they have in common is the desire to make use of their natural assets to create attractive places and turn them into businesses. Public opinion changed after Forest Adventure Kosuge (Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture) opened for the first time as a local government. It must be that the Kosuge village office was full of people with an adventure spirit.
Facilities in harmony with nature
The biggest feature of FA is the use of natural wood. Facilities that can only be set up in forests attract people, generate sales, create employment, and generate profits. Part of the profit will be used as a financial resource for forest maintenance. This is the business model for facilities that coexist with nature. It starts with an attempt to prove that it can be done not only with existing forest management models, but also with other models. Looking at current forest issues, I think this is a forest management method that can be expected to have a certain effect.
An important factor in facility design is the characteristics of the environment of each region. We have been trying to create facilities that can maximize the goodness of each forest. For example, if you can see Mt. Fuji, create a course that allows you to see Mt. Fuji, and if there is a river, lake, or valley, jump over it. The planted forest and satoyama have different tree species and atmosphere, and the bamboo grove course posted at the beginning of this post has a very Japanese atmosphere and is still a very popular spot.
The construction is mostly done by hand, and is done in a unique style that combines tree climbing, aerial work technology, and forestry technology. The strength of a builder who works while hanging from a rope at a height of 10m or more above the ground is great. It’s dangerous and difficult work. The advantage of working with human power is that the candidate for the installation location expands. It can be installed even in places with steep slopes where aerial work vehicles cannot enter.
I have spent a lot of time and money to ensure the safety of the facility. In order to comply with EU safety standards, we are collaborating with Altus on everything from design to material procurement, construction, and inspection. We have more than 10 years of experience, so we can already design and build on our own, but without an outside eye, there is a risk that things will flow in our favor, so we believe that this partnership will always be necessary. ing. Since natural trees are used, the management and maintenance of trees is important, and unless the forest is kept healthy, it cannot continue. At FA, we are regularly taking care of our trees after being diagnosed by a tree doctor and other specialists.
Good balance
Lower initial investment, higher unit price per customer, lower operating costs, and higher profits. I may be scolded for saying something obvious, but I want to cherish the principle. FA is a so-called equipment industry, but initial investment can be kept down compared to other businesses. The average price per customer is over 3,000 yen. In general, an industry that can earn this average customer price would require a certain amount of capital investment or personnel expenses. However, the minimum installation cost of FA is about 40 million yen. The initial investment depends on the size and type of course. Personnel costs account for the largest portion of operating costs. Staff are the most important factor. Most of the accidents that have occurred in the past are considered to be caused by human error. No matter how safe the facility is and how safe the manual is, in the end the result will change greatly depending on who does the work.
I realized it as soon as I started this business. The income and expenditure balance is very good. We have also provided design and construction services to places that do not use the name FA, so we have actually built nearly 40 places, but at the moment all of them are in business. We haven’t gone bankrupt yet. Recently, there have been many business cancellations due to disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and floods, but they are holding up.
I like to say “sustainable” and I use it occasionally. However, I hesitate to use this word because it does not have a period. I think it would be nice if we could set a period such as 3 years or 10 years, but I can’t confidently say that it will be sustainable forever. The number of similar facilities and competitors has increased, but we regard this as proof that a market has been created. Recognition is still shallow in Japan, and there are abandoned forests in various places, so I think there is ample potential for expansion.
Fore on this website If anyone is interested in St Adventure, please feel free to contact us. Please tell us about the forest you want to set up at that time. How wide is it? what about the terrain? What kind of tree? What is the thickness? And so on.
Forest Adventure Official Website
The latest (as of April 2020) Forest Adventure is scheduled to open in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture.