outdoors-participation-report-v2

Provider Family:
Commercial Facilitation
• Retail Outlets
Outdoor shops with ‘come and try it’ or product testing facilities.
• Booking agencies/activity bureaus
4.3% 6.4% 7.2%
6.4%
75.2%
0.2%
Shop fronts by location or web. Very common on the continent, but rare (yet
growing) sector in the UK.
• Independent traders
• Sole traders: the independent guides, coaches and leaders. AKA the ‘man
and a van and a website’
• Secondary Income: a growing sub-set of the above, who have an
alternative income and do a bit of outdoor work ‘on the side’ often as
valuable skilled volunteers
Leisure Operators
Adventure Fitness Providers
Retail Outlets
Booking Agencies/Activity Bureau
Independent Traders
Commercial Activity Facilities
Destination Providers
Adventure Facilities
The primary reason for the provision is commercial delivery of facilities and
equipment; often the opportunity to try a new experience or activity.
The sporting or personal development of the participant is secondary, and
these activities are often categorised by the use of purpose built facilities,
where the barriers of risk are managed or removed by the activity provider, not
by the skills and/or learning of the participant.
These providers are often founded on a commercial or industrial model.
• Leisure Operators
Private and public sector leisure centres offering a gateway to adventure
sports. For example: kayaking in swimming pools, and/or indoor climbing and
traverse walls etc.
• Adventure Fitness
Independent providers of adventure fitness and boot-camp style exercise and
health classes.
• Co-operatives: groups or consortiums of the above, who team together to
share the cost of marketing and administration.
• Commercial Activity Facilities
Pay to enter, purpose built facilities. Typically privately funded and offering
non-residential participation in a particular activity. These centres may be
focussed on marketing a narrow band of skills development in that activity:
from beginner to expert.
• Destination Providers
Locations containing natural facilities. Simple provision of the venue in which
the activity takes place – often free and unregulated.
• Adventure Facilities
Free to access, purpose built yet simple non-commercial facility provision,
usually unregulated. A hint of outdoor sport provision amongst other activities,
and often in an urban setting, including: Local Authority owned and purpose
built facilities for parkour/bike tracks/fitness courses etc.
Provider Workforce
This is a commercial job of work, and these activators and facilitators are the
least likely to have a deep involvement with the activity as a participant.
The exception is single sport or activity providers: driven by an individual’s
desire to fund their own participation or lifestyle.
Due to the repetitive and entry level nature of the work, there is a high turnover
of relatively unskilled labour.
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