Yoke Har Lee: Cycle adventurer blazes fresh trails

As well as New Zealand, Geoff Gabites has branched out to offer overseas adventures. Photo / Simon Baker

Geoff Gabites can't seem to get away from creating businesses based on his love for the outdoors.

In the 1970s Gabites and his wife Shelley made outdoor clothing and tents under the Wilderness Equipment brand, which he later merged with Macpac.

These days Gabites' business is based on providing tourists with cycle adventures, through a company called Adventure South, which he started in 1992 with friend John Gooding. Despite last year's recession, the company has achieved year-on-year growth in travellers, although revenue took a hit as those travellers spent less.

Adventure South's biggest boost came in 2000 with the launch of the Otago Central Rail Trail, a cycle trail that snakes 150km between Clyde and Dunedin.

"The Otago Central Rail Trail is our biggest single unit seller," Gabites says. Once customers have done the trail, they tend to come back looking for other adventures and experiences to match it.

When the company began, it focused purely on mountain biking adventures. But the market demanded change.

"We began in mountain bike touring, but three years on we finally realised that there was no market there - or it was very small. Hence our trips evolved into road cycle trips and then we launched a walking product. Later we purchased a company called MidLife Adventures from friends of ours and that opened us to the baby boomer demographics and different style of 'adventure seeker' market."

That group changed the plan for Gabites. He realised money was being spent by a specific group of people. The key was meeting the needs of this 40-something-plus group, with ample money to spare but not much time.

Besides catering to Kiwis, the company also became a ground operator for overseas adventure companies. It also began conducting special departures, taking adventurers abroad, along trails in the Mekong delta, and Hokaiddo, a cycle mecca in northern Japan.

Part of the recipe for Adventure South's success is a combination of strong operational knowledge of the local conditions, and providing a team of well-trained staff who can deliver the company's message consistently and make clients happy.

"We have a strong infrastructure base, owning our own fleet of 12 vehicles, numerous trailers and 100-plus bikes," says Gabites. "After 17 years of business we are well known, well connected through the industry and have a strong database of satisfied clients to connect with."

The internet has also revolutionised the tour industry. The traditional model of using an agent to plan tours has become less relevant when holidaymakers can directly approach tour operators such as Adventure South to place bookings.

"The shorter distance between the client and the delivery, the better the service," says Gabites.

"The whole internet development would be the single most influential factor the industry has faced."

New Zealand's image helps with the business.

More important, however, is how a company communicates its brand, and what the brand stands for.

"Essentially the clients will determine if you meet your hype and they will be the ones who determine if your initiatives are actually important or not."

One of the most challenging aspects of running Adventure South is the seasonal nature of a tourist operation.

There is always the challenge of maximising fleet utilisation, providing enough work in the non-peak season, then finding enough trained people to handle peak volumes. Outbound trips are important to help manage seasonal dips in the local business, and in May the company will take a group to Kyushu, Japan.

For a company growing at a good pace, gaining sufficient financial resources and knowing where to put the greatest amount of energy and resources is also tricky, says Gabites.

This is not unlike the challenge facing the country. While the national cycle trail project seems like a good idea, the resources put into these trails may have little financial impact for local communities.

According to Gabites, to be successful financially, 100km seems to be the minimum length to get tourists committed to a cycle holiday.

This length may take up to three days, and, with travelling time, makes for a decent five-day getaway.

He cites the Little River Rail Trail, near Christchurch, which he believes has provided low returns for the community, unlike the Otago Central Rail Trail, which has revitalised the region.

Thirteen cycle trail projects will go through to stage two of the next funding round of The New Zealand Cycle Trail Project.

This is on top of seven cycle projects already on a fast track to development.

Gabites has travelled to some of world's most spectacular mountain regions, in Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Iceland, Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Ladakh and Pantagonia.

The adventure business continues to keep him on a high as he searches for the next cycle adventure for those looking to fulfil their next big pilgrimage.

RIDING ON

* 42,100 overseas tourists went biking at least once during their stay in NZ in 2008.

* Cycle tourists were generally younger than other international visitors, stayed longer (40 per cent for more than a month) and spent more ($3895 v $2662 for all international tourists).

Source: Ministry of Tourism