PacTravel
Staying on the Cutting Edge of Adventure
Why the Vanuatu venture's a success
Cutting Edge Adventures doesn't need a wakeup call. The Vanuatu-based soft adventure company is thriving, and it has distinct ideas about the hows of staying on the cutting edge of adventure.
Operators Derek French and Chief Andrew Pakoa Kalpolep started small. But after four years they're talking about franchising. French and Chief (as Kalpolep prefers to be called) put it down to target marketing. French said: "We don't profess to do everything. Our focus is river and ocean kayaking. "We've concentrated our marketing on a specific activity - that we're an island-based kayaking company. The interesting thing is that anyone can do it, either fully guided or self-paddled." Chief and French are looking at branding Cutting Edge (www.cuttedge.net) in a way that's clear and attractive. American company, Colo-rado Group, an adventure apparel ware, has approached Cutting Edge for co-branding. Smiths Chips and Lays have also collaborated with Cutting Edge in branding. French and Chief believe these brand name companies are looking at adventure as being their future promotional tool. They're looking lesser at five-star resorts, (win a trip to Bali, or the Sheraton, for example) and more at low key operations (it's win a trip to Vanuatu with Cutting Edge or some other adventure operation), French says.
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Cutting Edge started in 1996. The Anglophone/ni-Vanuatu partners met in 1994 during a Federation Council of Chiefs conference, of which Chief is president. Their six-kayak fleet has grown to 36 and they're currently building bungalows. Eventually there'll be 16 bungalows, an investment of some A$1million, on an area called Earu, along Eratap Lagoon. Cutting Edge package includes seven or 10-day adventure trips around Efate; camping, diving, fishing, trekking, wild pig hunting, custom village visits and exploring World War II relics. Shorter two, three and five-day excursions are also available. "We've done relatively well because we've stuck to what we set out to do. We focussed on Cutting Edge, getting the name out, and getting people to identify with the brand. And once we've done that, it'll be like going into a store and seeing Coke Cola. "Having a product line of different kayaking adventures has helped a great deal." Ross Corbett, of Tourism Resource Consultants, New Zealand, notes that "at the end of the day, there needs to be a good product with a clear market image. Honesty with marketing, making sure that the images are in-line with what gets delivered, is very important. "We see that operators who start with one clear product and make it the best available at the destination will often have a leading edge over others." Corbett was a participant at the 3rd biennial South Pacific Tourism Conference last September in Vanuatu.
French and Chief admit the company needs restructuring. The company has grown quickly, piling pressure on the business partners who have had to juggle the administrative and marketing work. Franchising is the next step. Interested parties wanting to set up kayaking operations in the Pacific under the Cutting Edge label have approached the soft adventure company. That was the initial idea, to ultimately market the Cutting Edge label regionally with the Vanuatu-based company steering the regional branding. Mid last year Cutting Edge bought out a kayaking operation whose focus was river tours.
Cutting Edge is also looking into expanding its day trips to include possibly a combination of kayaking and soft trekking. The objective is to grow the kayaking industry in Vanuatu.
French said: "The Pacific needs to wake up to the realities that the region could become the playground of the world. People are looking for alternate experiences and the Pacific holds everything. Island nations need to be cautious with investment. There's a history in the Pacific of island people being taken for a ride as such.
"There aren't many people around the world that are sincere in what they do in business, and the islands need sincere investment."
