TPDCo to outsource Rio Grande raft management
Published:Friday | January 31, 2020 | 12:15 AM
Rafters want better marketing of the Rio Grande River rides, which they expect to be tackled by the new management of the rafting attraction, if Tourism Product Development Company, TPDCo, follows through on plans to privatise it.
Visitors get charged up to US$90 a head for rafting the scenic route, takings that have served to entice tour operators into the market, including unlicensed rafters that enter the river’s course midstream and undercut the legitimate attraction, according to three persons who spoke to the Financial Gleaner.
While none knew of the specific plans to divest the management of the attraction, they all voiced disappointment at the fall in visitor numbers and the need to reinvigorate the Portland-based attraction.
“It can be better if privatised because there are challenges,” said a member of the Raft Captains Association, who asked not to be named because the president of the group was down river and he was not the approved spokesman.
“Anybody can come and do their own thing. People raft illegally. If a new company can take it over and put things in place, then it can be better,” the rafter said.
The Government continues to divestment non-core attractions with recent examples being Fort Clarence Beach and Puerto Seco Beach.
“The idea of having rafting run by a private entity has always been in the pipeline,” said the rafter. “For a long time,” he added for emphasis.
State agency TPDCo, which currently manages the river tour, has invited proposals from private entities to manage and operate rafting on the Rio Grande. Donna Johnson-Fowler, who is named as the point person on procurement documents, directed the Financial Gleaner to TPDCo’s communication department for comment. None was forthcoming.
The procurement document listed a pre-bid site visit next Wednesday, February 5, including Rafters Rest and Berrydale, two locations connected to rafting on the Rio Grande. Fowler, in redirecting the call, stated that the media was not invited to that event.
Some 60 rafters are licensed by the Government, and the raft association member estimates that an additional 20 are now being trained. He says he now does a trip per week on the river, whereas five years ago, he got three to five trips a week. And the rafters then numbered up to 200.
“It is not really good right now,” he said.
When visitors enter the attraction for raft tours, TPDCo chooses a rafter from a roster. That rafter will earn about $5,500 upwards out of the $13,000 (US$90) tour fee paid per visitor. The rafters get an additional $1,300 in overtime pay, the rafter said.
“We operate in a competitive system now. I believe we have what it takes to produce the best attraction but it needs management,” he said. “The biggest challenge is, we do not advertise the business and it is not marketed properly. If more effort is made in marketing, then it would improve.”