KEEPING YOUR CUSTOMERS SAFE IN THE OUTDOORS

A guide for businesses

Talking about safety…the AdventureSmart way!

AdventureSmart can help you engage your customers with the information they need to enjoy the outdoors safely.  AdventureSmart is here to help you keep your customers safe and comfortable in the outdoors, so they return to regale their friends with wonderful stories of their great adventures.

  • AdventureSmart is a campaign that is delivered by the many partner organisations to provide all the essential information needed for people to get outdoors, confident that they have prepared for a great day.
  • AdventureSmart messages are developed by experts from leading safety and sporting organisations

Thousands of people set off for an adventure in the great outdoors every day. Some choose strenuous sports such as rock climbing or coasteering, others take a less extreme approach such as walking, cycling or simply playing on the beach with the family. The majority will have a fantastic time and will take home treasured memories; for a few their day will be marred by discomfort, brushes with danger or accidents and some will have to be helped by rescue and emergency services.  Many of these incidents could have been easily avoided; with a little preparation, everyone can help to ensure that their adventure is a treasured memory, not a nightmare.

We have created this toolkit to make it easy for you to help promote the Adventure Smart messages to your customers.  We have provided a suite of resources and ideas ready for you to use, so please read on, get busy and let’s get people out enjoying our coast and countryside!

By working with AdventureSmart you are supporting our Mountain Rescue teams, by working together we can reduce the number of avoidable incidents that the rescue and emergency services deal with each year.

BE ADVENTURESMART

Make your good day better

AdventureSmart provides a narrative to guide conversations about safety.

By promoting the AdventureSmart messages you can be sure that you are providing agreed, good practice, based on the latest behavioural science.

Working with the ASUK messages

If your customers are aware of the importance of being prepared for their outdoor adventures prior to their visit, the more likely they are to set off kitted up and in the know to stay safe.

From the start, when people start to think about and research their activity, through their booking process and repeatedly through their visit we want people to keep coming across AdventureSmart messages.

Your connections with your customers play an important part in this communication.

It’s not about scaring people or giving instructions, it’s about gently reminding people that there are simple things they can do to ensure that they have a more enjoyable (and safer) day.

The best starting point for communications around outdoor safety is the AdventureSmart 3 questions;

Ask yourself 3 questions before you set off:

– Am I confident I have the KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS for the day?

– Do I know what the WEATHER will be like?

– Do I have the right GEAR?

These questions are a useful reminder for even the most experienced. AdventureSmart is a one-stop shop providing comprehensive answers to these questions. AdventureSmart messages cover a wide range of outdoor activities; follow the links below to find out more:

Making your customer’s good day better

Being adventure smart isn’t just about staying safe, it’s about enjoying a day’s walking without getting cold, wet and scared, or setting out on the water knowing you have the knowledge and skills to embrace the conditions. By being clever in how you provide safety information you can increase the chance of your customers having a really enjoyable visit and heading home eager to return. It’s not about lecturing or providing a list of do’s and don’ts, it’s about simply providing some gentle prompts to nudge people to consider their safety.

Make safety messaging part of your regular communications with your guests/customers

Touchpoints

Where – Think about your touchpoints with your guests and the opportunities they offer

• Marketing & promotional materials
• Arrival – reception & public areas
• Socials, blogs, vlogs, newsletters
• In-room information
• Booking forms & payment confirmation
• Menus
• Pre-arrival mailings
• Conversations with staff

Opportunities

How & When – Consider how and when you might be able to encourage your guests to think about safety when planning their day.

Hospitality
• add AdventureSmart messages to your booking confirmation and in-room information
• display posters or run the AdventureSmart videos in reception areas
• use AdventureSmart.UK as a source of content for your newsletters, vlogs and blogs
• on your menus add a link to the weather forecast or print and place the daily forecast on your breakfast tables; you can use the AdventureSmart QR code in this way too

Retail
• add a leaflet to your bags
• put a website link on the bottom of your receipts
• display the AdventureSmart QR code at your point of sale

Ask yourself 3 questions before you set off:

– Am I confident I have the KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS for the day?

– Do I know what the WEATHER will be like?

– Do I have the right GEAR?

What to say!

The AdventureSmart three questions are an ideal starting point, use them to encourage people to plan to ensure they stay safe and
comfortable. Use AdventureSmart.uk to get ideas on how to give more detailed safety information. Feel free to lift content directly from AdventureSmart.uk, it’s been designed to make it easy to use; all we ask is that you comply with the AdventureSmart Communication & Brand Guidelines.

Alternatively, you can simply link to AdventureSmart.uk; a one-stop shop for the answers to all their outdoor safety queries. The QR code link to AdventureSmart.UK is an easy and effective way to link.

Your Socials

Do you find yourself wondering what your social media topic of the day should be?  Our key messages might just help you along.

For example, it’s not long in the UK before the conversation turns to the weather! If the forecast for the weekend looks great and you are offering a special weekend deal, then you might tweet;

Your Business

Seen the forecast? Pack your suncream and walking boots and head to the hills this weekend! We’re offering a warm welcome and magnificent countryside in our last-minute offer! #beadventuresmart

Your Business

Do you fancy exploring our wonderful coastline from the sea – then sea kayaking is for you! Stay with us this weekend and let the experts @yourbusiness show you the way #BeAdventureSmart

The AdventureSmart messages have been designed to take the effort out of providing safety advice via your socials.  There are lots of AdventureSmart films and posters for you to download and share, so whether your social media channel of choice is Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat, take a look and get posting!

HASHTAG! Don’t forget to include #BeAdventureSmart

Your website

It’s a well-known fact that safety information is often dull and most people are unlikely to click on a tab with safety in the title, all the more reason to get creative!  You know your customers better than anyone and will be able to find new ways to weave the AdventureSmart messages into your narrative.

By embedding advice into your general content rather than presenting stand-alone safety messaging you can begin to encourage people to consider what they need to do to have a great day. You can take content directly from AdventureSmart.UK and include it in your site, or embed some of our videos and graphics; take a look, download and embed.

Why not a link to our suggestions for core kit and optional extras to keep you safe and comfortable in your ‘Things to do in the area’.

Talk the talk

With the right knowledge and understanding you and your staff are one conversation away from ensuring that your guests have a fantastic and safe day out….you might even save a life!

AdventureSmart can help your staff include some simple ‘good practice’ safety information in their conversations with guests. They need to know the right information to give and the best way to say it. AdventureSmart can give your staff the confidence to say “if you are going to do that, you need to…” It’s all about being positive, not scary.

Discuss AdventureSmart at your staff meetings and give them the time to get familiar with the website and the messages, so that they can be confident that they are giving good advice. Ask your staff to put together their top 3 safety-related questions they have been asked that month and discuss what the AdventureSmart answers would be. The questions are likely to vary from month to month, so over time your staff will become proficient in providing the expert advice required to help your guests stay safe.

The conversation you and your staff have with your guests about their plans for the day can be powerfully influential, we’ve put together some tips for talking about safety without scaring people witless or boring them to death!

Always use the AdventureSmart 3 questions when chatting to customers about their plans for the day. Ask them:

Do they have the knowledge and skills for the activities they are planning?
If they plan to enjoy time on or near water do they know about cold water shock – even strong swimmers can be caught out. If they are heading for a summit are they fit enough, do they know how to read a map (and do they know that they should carry one and know how to read it?)

Do they know what the weather will be like?
They will need to know the forecast for the full-time they expect to be out and also aware of how different the weather may be on the summits compared to the carpark.

Do they have the right gear?
For those planning some paddleboarding it is essential they have a correctly fitting buoyancy aid as well as a correctly attached leash. For those heading off walking they need to carry warm layers & a waterproof – our UK weather is notoriously changeable.

Always encourage customers to visit www.adventuresmart.uk;
make sure the QR code is easily accessible, it could be on your noticeboard, or on your menus…?

The right advice will vary with seasons, weather, location and activity,
so the time your staff spend considering the relevant messages for your guests is time well spent. A quick discussion at your staff meetings is a good way to remind people of pertinent safety issues, for example, suggesting carrying a torch in autumn, or the impact wind speed can have on people’s rate of progress on a route.

Make sure you and your staff are familiar with reputable and trusted sources of information
about where to go and what to do. The Lake District National Park Authority and National Trust are always good choices (and are also AdventureSmart partners!).

Working with the ASUK assets

AdventureSmart.uk has all the safety information your customers might need in one place! You can link to the home page or to specific
topic pages. Whatever their chosen activity there are activity-specific messages and gear lists developed in partnership with the
leading safety and sporting organisations.

There are a number of ready-made AdventureSmart assets i.e. films, posters, key messages etc for you to use. They are designed to
make it easy for you to use in your digital content, socials and print.

Leaflets

Developed in partnership with leading experts. Topics include hillwalking and openwater swimming

AdventureSmart logos

Available in a variety of different formats and colourways.

In addition to the general UK logos, each AdventureSmart region has its own logo

Films

Films based on both generic AdventureSmart messages and information specific to activities such as mountain biking or stand-up paddleboarding.

Use the embed codes to easily add them to your online content or download them to play on your TV screens in public areas and/or rooms

QR Codes

These downloadable codes are an easy way to provide a link to AdventureSmart.UK

Posters

Download them, print them and pop them up in a prominent place for all to see. Alternatively, you can include them in newsletters or share them via your socials

Branding

Whether you are using the messages, logos, films, QR codes or posters, all we ask is that you comply with the AdventureSmart Communications & Brand Guidelines. AdventureSmart branding is designed to sit comfortably alongside your own brand. You can incorporate the messaging into your content so that it’s in your tone or refer directly to the campaign to make the most of the strong AdventureSmart brand to provide your customers with confidence that the information provided has been developed by the leading experts in outdoor safety in the UK & Ireland.

Imagery

The choice of images used to support the AdventureSmart UK messages is an important factor in their effective communication; if a picture speaks a thousand words, a good picture speaks thousands more!

Images need to be; – High quality – Engaging – Dynamic – Not cliched

All images featuring people must show good safety practices in accordance with the key messages, with the appropriate kit for the activity/conditions shown.

If possible use images showing people enjoying their activities to help connect people with landscapes.

Try to use images with models who are representative of your customers. Avoid images which look like stock photography with set-up poses and scenery.

If you are struggling to find the right images, then give us a shout, and we should be able to find some for you.

Joining the AdventureSmart campaign

You can begin using the AdventureSmart messages and resources right now, there’s nothing to stop you from reading this toolkit and starting work. However, over 100 organisations and businesses have gone one step further and become official AdventureSmart partners.

As a partner you get;

  •  your logo and a link to your website from www.adventuresmart.uk/partners/
  •  an invitation to join the AdventureSmart Basecamp online forum where our partners share their ideas and news
  •  the opportunity to become involved in AdventureSmart projects throughout the UK & Ireland
  •  a hotline to the AdventureSmart Campaign team who are happy to offer help and advice on all things ‘outdoor safety’.

All AdventureSmart partners sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which outlines the campaign vision, mission and core aims.
In signing the MOU our partners agree to work towards the
AdventureSmart objectives.

If you are interested in becoming an AdventureSmart partner contact Paul Donovan (escape.routes@btinternet.com)

Every year our volunteer emergency services (Mountain Rescue and RNLI) respond to many incidents that could have been avoided if the people involved had put a little time and effort into planning their day. Many of the people rescued were simply unaware of the risks they were taking and therefore unable to take action in order to stay safe.

Rescue teams frequently undertake rescues in the most challenging of conditions putting their teams at risk. By sharing the AdventureSmart messages you have the potential to reduce incidents thereby potentially saving lives of both the people who are rescued and the rescuers.

So for everyone who encourages people to #BeAdventureSmart we say, thank you!

CASE STUDIES

Parkdean Resorts

Hooked On Granite Ltd t/a Joe Browns and The Climbers Shop

With a combined history of over 120 years, our established climbing and technical outdoor equipment shops are a key stop-off for visitors to Ambleside, Llanberis and Capel Curig.

During the covid pandemic, we saw a large influx of new customers accessing the outdoors for the first time, whose route into choosing their outdoor adventures was informed via social media rather than the more traditional school, university or club route. The questions we were being asked changed, as did the acceptance of our advice for example; when we highlighted the mountain weather forecast posted daily in our shops, this was greeted with surprise and sometimes disbelief that the weather may be different on the hilltops than in the valleys.

Through our established relationships with our local Mountain Rescue Teams, and indeed, our own staff members who are MRT volunteers it was clear the number of call-outs was increasing rapidly, so we asked ourselves the question – what can we do to help?  Our answer came in the form of a small double business card asking the 3 key AdventureSmart questions, providing a basic kit list and offering website addresses for the Mountain Weather Information Service, the Country Code and the sister website to our online shop; The Joe Brown Outdoor Academy, offering a wealth of free advice online. Above all, they are designed to encourage our customers to stay safe and have fun.

Printed on recycled paper with bio-degradable inks they offer an environmentally friendly way of encouraging people to take a breath and think before heading out into what can be a hostile environment. The outdoor environment is beneficial to all of us in so many ways but demands respect by its very nature.

We have the cards available at each till point and have placed them with local accommodation providers and cafés to leave on tables or add to welcome packs. The idea is that they become an unobtrusive point of discussion over breakfast or a coffee……and perhaps a gentle advert for our fabulous, specialist shops who offer just that little bit more than great gear.

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