Adrenalin Forest is a fun, challenging experience that takes adventure to new heights – literally!
This high ropes obstacle course, based at TECT Park (formerly TECT All Terrain Park), was a concept developed in the early 1990s by a retired army officer, inspired by his extensive use of army training courses.
It has since been popularised for everyday adventurers, with an estimated 6000 parks around the world.
We found out more about this popular local attraction – a great place to hang out this summer!
Tell us a bit about Adrenalin Forest – who started the business and why did they start it?
The concept was first brought to New Zealand in 2006 by Jean Caillabet, a French citizen, with his first park opening in Christchurch. After a lot of hard work, fine tuning and development Jean opened his second park in Wellington in 2010 and then in Bay of Plenty in 2011.
Adrenalin Forest Auckland opened in December 2019, before being forced to close for the winter due to COVID-19. The Auckland park has since park reopened for business.
Why come to the Bay of Plenty?
Initially it was due to the TECT All Terrain Park, with good trees and the ease of working with council to get set up. Location was a concern initially due to the distance from Tauranga and Rotorua, but has turned out to be fine as we now draw people from within a two-hour radius.
Any challenges in setting up here?
Timing was great with the development of the TECT All Terrain Park as they wanted activities such as ourselves. Due to the location though we needed to go completely off grid with solar power, satellite internet and communications, and a DOC camp-style toilet.
Who does Adrenalin Forest cater for?
Everyone! Adrenalin Forest’s clients include school groups, holiday programmes, youth organisations, New Zealand Defence Force groups, sports teams and corporate groups. Our weekends consist mainly of Kiwi families, birthday parties, groups of friends etc.
We have a broad range of customers, and even prior to COVID-19 had approximately an 80% domestic market.
What are some of the challenges COVID-19 has thrown your way and what have been some of the advantages of this unusual year?
The Level 4 lockdown period caused us to lose bookings for upwards of 2000-plus participants, meaning a significant loss for our winter period (across three parks).
Luckily, due to the nature of our operations, we have the ability to adapt to different alert level restrictions. This meant we were able to open for private groups from Alert Level 3 onwards, as well as adapt to Level 2 restrictions. Having a largely domestic market has enabled us to get back up and running quickly once restrictions were lifted.
Due to a lot of school camps being cancelled, Adrenalin Forest has been a popular day trip for schools and other groups. The local support with our regional promotions has fantastic, however we are still noticing quiet afternoons due to the lack of tourism during weekdays.
What makes Adrenalin Forest unique business?
Our CLiC-IT system allows customers an ‘experience at heights’ with the freedom to go at their own pace, and choose their own progression of challenge.
CLiC-IT provides constant protection and eliminates the risks of accidental unhooking. This equipment is extremely simple to use and CLiC-IT leaves the user totally free to decide how to move, so our customers can stay safe without needing a guide to support them through the course.
We can cater to 100-plus participants at a time which is a huge appeal for large groups, especially schools. We are an affordable option with six levels ranging from 2m to 20m. This enables us to cater to a broad range of ages, abilities and confidence levels.
