SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Oct. 17, 2018—SAM (Ski Area Management) magazine’s sister publication Adventure Park Insider has launched the 3^rdannual State of the Industry survey. This annual effort collects data about summer and aerial adventure operations to help operators benchmark their businesses and inform decisions regarding capital improvements, staffing, marketing, and more.  

For this edition, Adventure Park Insider has collaborated with the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) to customize the survey to better address the different sectors of the industry—mountain resorts, aerial parks, zip lines and tours, experiential and educational programs, college programs, and kids camps among them. The changes will make the survey easier and less time-consuming to complete. Adventure Park Insider will present preliminary results during a session at the upcoming ACCT conference in Denver, Feb. 7-10, 2019, and in the magazine's winter edition. 

ACCT, SAM, and Adventure Park Insider strongly encourage mountain resort operators with applicable summer operations to participate in this industry-wide effort. Greater participation will increase the value and precision of the data, and provide a clearer overview of the entire aerial adventure industry. 

“’If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it’—it’s an old adage that applies to our constantly changing and evolving business,” said Adventure Park Insider and SAM publisher Olivia Rowan. “Operators have to manage for improvement, and to do so they need to measure to see what is getting better and what isn’t. This survey creates a great benchmark for any ski area with aerial adventure operations to evaluate their progress.”