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Chapter 10 of 30 · 2 min read

Outdoor Adventure Camp Budget and Break-Even Example

Build the budget around the approved activity, group size, guides, transport and equipment. Test lower bookings and changed routes. Use the fictional example as a calculation guide, then replace costs with quotes for your actual outdoor program.

This fictional example is a four-day local outdoor camp with daily trips and up to twelve participants. It is not a remote expedition. The qualified operating plan, permit, transport, and participant mix must support the stated capacity.

Fixed costs

Item Fictional cost
Qualified leaders and camp-care work, including preparation $3,600
Transport commitment $1,000
Permits and allocated insurance $600
Administration $400
Total fixed costs $5,600

Cost per participant

Item Fictional cost
Food $60
Equipment hire or use allocation $70
Payment and individual booking costs $20
Drinking-water logistics and consumable supplies $15
Total variable cost $165

At a $745 fee, contribution is $580. Break-even is $5,600 ÷ $580 = 9.66, rounded up to ten paid places.

Paid places Revenue Total modeled cost Operating result
8 $5,960 $6,920 −$960
10 $7,450 $7,250 $200
12 $8,940 $7,580 $1,360

The ten-person result has little room for extra costs. A $700 unplanned transport charge turns it into a $500 loss. Do not answer that problem by skipping qualified cover or pushing ahead in unsafe conditions.

A remote or residential trip needs a different model with food, nights, communications, support, rescue logistics, and other relevant costs. Do not reuse this local day-trip budget unchanged.

Your task: Price the fallback day and the cancelled day as well as the ideal day.

Put this chapter to work

Optional · Putting your plan into practice

Using Bookify for this goal

This part starts with your own planning and judgement. Use the guide and its worksheets to work through it with your team.

When you are ready to put your camp plan into a booking system, you can explore a sample camp in Bookify or see what the software can help you do.