Times they are a changin
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. You often hear the media described as the ‘pointy end of the stick’, when things are not going well for the industry or economy, magazines feel it first and when things are going well or simply changing we feel that first as well. Adventure sports people by nature are quite cellular, whether it’s Johnny Backpacker Jones, who simply loves the lifestyle, or the manufacturer who makes Johnny’s backpack, or the wholesaler who ships it or the retailer who sells it. They are all quite singular but we as a magazine have a great overview because we deal with them all and I am happy to say that overview is good!
The Adventure industry is booming, tourism is booming, new companies are starting, new stores opening, new products being developed, outdoor education programmes are full to the brim and above all there is a real positive vibe. The government just pumped a bucket of cash into the industry, organisation like RAL (Ruapehu Alpine lifts) have had a major multimillion dollar facelift, there is just a real move forward feel to adventure/outdoor sports. We didn’t want to be left out of the ‘ new look’ crusade so we have had a re-branding with the new mast head of Adventure, which I am sure you have noticed. We have also expanded our online, digital and social profiles and soon you will start to see some real changes within the pages of the magazine itself.
Organically adventure sport is evolving. The evolution of adventure sport started at one time with small groups of enthusiast’s kayakers, trampers, climber, rafters etc all had their own small isolated communities basically do their own thing. Then as the media grew, those sports got exposure so they became less isolated the whole community started to see adventure sports as ‘doable’. Then companies like Red bull got on the adventure sports bandwagon and made those sports not only a lot more apparent but also ‘cool’. As adventure sports grew and became more mainstream, plus the added fold over of the growth of adventure tourism, there became real money to be made in the products being used; from kayaks to beanies, from bikes to jackets whole industries started to spring up to cater for the growth. Day Two Ltd would have been on to the first to see that a segment of adventure sports did not have to just wear woolly jumpers and yellow buoyance aids and added fashion, quality and a fun aspect to kayaking. It was not just a change in product but it was reflective of a change in attitude. From there a plethora of companies started to cater to those doing more extreme sports. As more effort was put into design and the quality a natural progression was that adventure clothing – footwear etc would find its way into everyday use to the point now that some of the major manufactures, whilst still keeping the quality and the design concept ‘outdoor’ have moved into retailing into a urban environment.
As the adventure industry evolves so we as the mouthpiece of that industry need to evolve as well. You can’t always get away to the back of beyond, you can’t always get time to do the mega ‘into the wild’ trip, most of the time we are stuck in an urban setting. So in the next issue there will be a 16 page URBAN segment to the magazine looking at what you can do, where you can go, what you can wear, nutrition what’s new, what’s interesting and what’s relevant in a more urban setting it will be simply called URBAN ADVENTURE.
As always enjoy this our winter issue – if you have not already following us on-line please do so and we can keep you up-to-date between issues so you can sure you are part of the Adventure Evolution. Steve and the team at Adventure Magazine