This is the fourth and shortest zip-line in the canopy course. Its cable’s length is about 120 meters, and its intention is also to help align the canopy course to the canopy’s exit.
Platform 6
The canopy course’s fifth cable is also another short one measuring 33 meters in length. This platform is the second designated platform that will allow customers to exit the course and take the Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo South station, which is at a walking distance.
Platform 7
The sixth zip-line is approximately 240 meters in length, and will lead to platform 7, which is the last platform before the canopy course exit.
8) Canopy course exit
The seventh zip-line leads to the exit of the canopy course. This is also the longest of all the cables since it will be 1.2 kilometres in length. The total cable distance covered at the end of the canopy course will be 3.96 kilometres, and the duration of the whole course is estimated between one hour and a half to 2 hours at an enjoyable pace.
Tour services to neighbouring sites
One of the many advantages of locating in the Maokong area is the large number of unexplored sites through out the whole area. This also represents an area of opportunity because currently there is only one governmental visitor centre in the area, and no competing tour companies. However, there are many sites that most tourists miss because of the lack of awareness and available information. Today, most people associate the Maokong area mainly with teahouses and tea plantations. This could not be farther from the truth. In the following table (table 4) we will list the sites that are close by to each of the canopy platforms, and for which we will offer tour services. Tour services can be selected independently, or as a package in combination with the canopy course tour.
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Tourist Sites of Interest by area
Table 4 – Tourist sites of interest by area
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The Canopy Course Route15
Illustration 3 – Conceptual Canopy Course Route
15 For illustrative purposes only, overlay of the canopy route, platforms and legend using the Maokong Gondola Route Map. All rights are property of TRTC. The TRTC Maokong Gondola route map is non‐privileged information publicly available at
http://web.trtc.com.tw/img/gondola/GondolaDME9607.pdf
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Pricing The Canopy Course Route & Pricing
Canopy Taiwan will follow industry practices and charge a standard price that will cover the costs for safety equipment usage and the cost for zip-lining through the full canopy course one time, guided by specialized guides. The duration of the canopy course tour considering the total length of the circuit will be approximately two hours.
To determine the correct price for the canopy it was necessary to consider various factors. The first factor was the maximum price that the main market segment would be willing to pay.
According to the customer profile built from Tien-Chich Hsieh’s doctoral level dissertation, approximately 30% of adventure sports enthusiasts spend less than NT$10,000 or less than US$307 on recreational activities. A reasonable assumption would be to aim to obtain ten to 15 percent of this value. To help further define adequate pricing, benchmarking was
conducted on prices charged in Costa Rica for equivalent canopy courses. The reason why Costa Rican canopy course prices were used for benchmarking is that they are generally considered the most competitive courses in the world. Benchmarking results are shown in table 5, shown next:
Table 5 – Benchmarked prices for Costa Rican Canopy Courses
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Benchmarking results indicate that prices charged by an equivalent canopy course with a two hours tour duration is US$35. This price is also in agreement with our initial assumption of obtaining approximately 10 to 15 percent of the NT$10,000 (US$307) of expenditures allocated by adventure sport participants. After conducting a price sensitivity analysis (Appendix I) at various possible prices, it was found that a price of NT$1,100 or US$35 would yield revenues of approximately $55,440 a month assuming maximum operational capacity with three tour groups leaving every half an hour for the first year of operation (refer to Appendix H). Finally, after completing the business’ incremental earnings forecast, we simulated the effects of various possible prices on the expected net income. Once again, pricing the service at US$35 resulted in a positive net income when using a sales forecast that considers a very conservative 10% penetration of the target market.
The course is completed going through seven strategically located interconnecting platforms between the starting platform and the ending platform, with a total cable length of 3.96 kilometres (refer to table 2). Should visitors wish so, they have the option of terminating their tour without reaching the canopy exit at Taipei Zoo level by exiting at platforms 3 and 6 (P3 and P6) of the canopy course. These platforms are located close to gondola stations so that visitors can take gondola rides up or down at their discretion, but without any partial reimbursements from the full amount paid for the service. This practice is an industry standard performed at all canopy courses.
Memberships
Our market research has yielded information supporting that a sizeable proportion of the target market is characterized by having a greater skill level, which in turn translates in a desire for a higher engagement of the activity. Put simply, these customers like to perform their adventure sports more than six times a month. Customers included in this bracket are more likely to spend higher amounts of money (over NT$100,000) in purchasing their own equipment, so there is an opportunity to offer them access the canopy course without offering them safety equipment and guides. This can be achieved by offering them yearly
memberships priced at NT$9,900 or US$310. The membership would grant them access to
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using the canopy course facilities year round provided they bring their own equipment, and without access to guides.
Tour Offering to nearby Sites
Pricing for available tours has been classified in three categories, according to the time the tour will last. The majority of the tours are short, with an average tour time of fifty-five minutes, and all are accessible using the existing transportation infrastructure and/or hiking trails in the area. Tours will have two main purposes. Firstly, they will act as a complement for canopy course tours. Our secondary market research shows that adventure tourists actively seek for thrilling experiences, but they also expect this experience to be rich in culture
specific to the area they’re visiting, therefore these trips will fulfil these customers’ needs.
A secondary objective of the tours is to offer services to domestic and international tourists in the area. Information obtained from the EICP (Eastern Integrated Consumer Profile) database indicates that there is favourable acceptance and consumer behaviour attitudes towards tea related culture in Taipei’s aging population, as well as a large enough younger segment seeking for entertainment alternatives. Since the Maokong area is already rich in tea culture, plantations, temples and natural attraction, these customers will appreciate us offering these activities.
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List of Tour Destinations, Duration and Prices
Table 6 – List of Tour Destinations, Duration and Prices
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Frameworks for Internal and External Situational Analysis