SWOT Analysis
(Created by Jon Broughton)
Overview
The climbing industry as a whole is relatively healthy. While there are some reasonably significant threats to the industry at the moment such as gym climbing becoming more popular and some decreases in participants, these are only likely to shrink the industry slightly since many new young participants are coming into the scene and some great opportunities exist, some of which are already starting to be seized by a few observant businesses.
Strengths
· The climbing industry is very fortunate to have so many new young participants. New young climbers represent the next generation and without a steady flow of new younger clients any industry would struggle and potentially eventually die out. In the 2012 outdoor recreation participation report, it was found that 20% of people who participated in climbing were first time participants with a median age of 19. While certainly not all of these participants will become long term participants who climb every year it is safe to say that with such a large number of first time participants with so many young people that the climbing industry is not likely to suffer from the aging of its target market.
· Highly personalized product offerings are important in the climbing industry, without the ability to easily customize a business’s offering the industry would not be where it is today. Since climbing is an activity that is relatively easy to participate in without the need to hire a guide or instructor once you have the necessary knowledge, the industry must offer a large range of instructive courses to get clients who might otherwise just go out climbing on their own. The variety in courses means that anyone of any level of skill and knowledge can be a customer and get something out of a course.
· The outdoor rock climbing industry has become very efficient at minimizing operation costs. The climbing industry’s most important asset is their guides/instructors and they therefore sell what is of value to clients and nothing more. Packaging of accommodations, food, and other extras is generally not present in the climbing industry because it is unnecessary and would yield less total profit by increasing operating expenses. Even transportation and gear are only sometimes included depending on the company in question. By having such low operating costs and still charging a decent price for a guide’s services and expertise the industry has managed to make its net profits unusually close to its revenues itself.
Weaknesses
· Climbing itself has been at a relative standstill since sport climbing became next big thing. The industry itself is also at a standstill which will not be profitable in the long run. The industry needs to make more efforts to adapt and grow in the ever changing market place. Climbing itself has seen little development in the recent past and since the progression of the industry has always followed the progression of the sport itself we find the industry not knowing where to go from here. While there are many opportunities for the climbing industry to grow and progress (outlined below) the businesses in the industry need to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.
· A generally inevitable weakness of the climbing industry is that business owners are not in control of where their operations occur. The fact that land owners often have disputes about climbing access is a serious weakness for the industry especially because it is generally outside of their control. The only actions that can be taken to manage this weakness are to develop good relations with land owners and to be a role model for other climbers who also use the land.
· The climbing season is a relatively small one once you consider the fact that no one is willing to go climbing in poor weather conditions. The short season and weather dependence make it nearly impossible to run a business which only offers rock climbing based activities. This being said the weakness is that climbing businesses generally must offer other activities which can take away from the identity of a business as a climbing business if they offer too many alternate or unrelated adventure options to climbing. The weakness is that the season is short and the complications come with the short season and weather dependence.
Opportunities
· The indoor climbing industry has proved that a higher percentage of female climbers can be achieved. Since the indoor climbing industry has 35% female climbers and the outdoor industry 27% we should ask ourselves why this might be. I would suggest that indoor climbing is less intimidating and that this is the likely reason females are more likely to participate in indoor climbing. If intimidation is the limiting factor for female climbers to participate in outdoor climbing I would say that developing less intimidating climbing opportunities could result in new clientele for the climbing industry. Skaha Rock Adventure for example has already sensed this opportunity and has a ladies day geared specifically toward women.
· An increase in indoor climbing’s popularity has allowed for a greater total of climbing participants since indoor climbing is so accessible and the perceived risk is lower. The shift towards indoor climbing has taken along with it some participants who might instead participate in the outdoor section of the industry. This is an opportunity because gym climbing is limited in what it can offer (bouldering, top rope, lead) and outdoor climbing has plenty of new opportunities to offer gym climbers (Trad, multi pitch, real rock itself, aid, etc.). Marketing outdoor climbing courses to gym climbers as a method of developing their skills further is beginning to be more and more common since the gym is no longer a place where just pre-existing climbers go on a lousy day, it is the home of many potential new clients for the outdoor climbing industry.
· An opportunity that the industry unfortunately has little control over is the fact that sport climbing is being considered as a potential activity in the 2020 Olympics. While it seems unlikely to succeed in becoming an Olympic sport the growth of the IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) in the recent years is resulting in slowly making climbing a more publicly recognized sport which could eventually land climbing in the Olympics which would result in new interest in the sport and cause participation numbers to increase significantly.
Threats
· The decrease in the number of climbing outings per person is a threat because if it continues it will cause the industry to reduce its size which would represent less business for businesses in the industry potentially eliminating some businesses. Along with this threat the number of climbing participants is also decreasing however at a much slower rate and is not cause for serious concern at the moment. The industry must work to maintain its current client base and promote multiple outings per year to counteract these trends and overcome this threat.
· While climbing gyms were listed as an opportunity they are equally a threat since they are indirect competition and are a growing industry. The growth of gyms threatens outdoor businesses because they can operate at any time, are very user friendly, and are accessible to large numbers of people in the cities they are located in. Gym climbing represents a threat just as much as an opportunity.
· The constant threat of access disputes will always exist. If the industry were to see another growth period such as in the 80s sport climbing boom crags would quickly become overcrowded and access issues would affect the whole industry. While such a burst in popularity seems unlikely at the moment if the industry is to survive it must always be growing or shrinking and never truly at a standstill and unfortunately to grow could cause issues with access and have a negative impact on the industry.