STEP 5: Support

The Support phase is intiated by the transition of supervision from the Training Team to Operations personnel. Despite a diminished presence on-site, it is our goal to ensure the smooth operation of the tour and successful business practices.

Depending on the business arrangement formalized in the Development process, support services may be obtained through phone consultation, periodic site visits, scheduled maintenance, and the development of joint relationships.

It is important that operators budget sufficiently for course maintenance, periodic external review, and staff development. Our experts make themselves available by phone and e-mail and arrangements can often be made for immediate site visits. As a company, we understand the time considerations and pressures that adventure tour operators are under and purposely maintain a staff large enough to assist.

In general, operators should budget for bi-annual inspections (more frequently for courses in areas with extreme weather or where high volumes are predicted), annual or bi-annual training sessions, periodic site visit and site reviews, and the amortization of course hardware and equipment. For this reason, operators may opt to arrange a support relationship in advance to ensure priority support and response when needs arise.