Page 26 - October 2020

Inspire, Explore,

Experience

The go-to place for extreme and adventure sports, Extreme
International has been operating for over 25 years and is a uniquely
positioned brand that lives at the nexus of sports, lifestyle and

entertainment. Here, RLI speaks with Al Gosling, Founder and
CEO of Extreme International and Ben Barker, Managing Director
of Extreme Destinations at Extreme International as they discuss the
company and its position in the new world in which we find ourselves. AL GOSLING BEN BARKER

eadquartered in London, with bases in the Middle In spite of Covid-19 and all the disruption it has brought to major project Extreme have been involved in is the Neom really clear picture of what the vision and the goals are of
East, central Europe and the Indian Ocean, Al industries and businesses, Extreme International has dealt with project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where they have the stakeholders of that project or destination, to make sure
Gosling founded Extreme International originally the period very well and is coming through it in good shape. “At worked on all the adventure and extreme sports and had a they are achievable and realistic in terms of what we can
Has a media business. The Extreme Sports Channel the moment we have our media and destination businesses in hand in all the business planning, feasibility and design work. provide as a brand. From here we work with the topography,
was launched into 68 countries and around 100 million homes a great position while our events business has slowed massively So is the company considering work in any new markets the location, site, masterplan, whether it is an indoor or an
before the brand was developed beyond media. it is still moving along,” explains Al Gosling, Founder and CEO and which markets have the two of you excited for the future? outdoor destination and then really just delivering it from the
Today the company runs three different divisions, the first is the of Extreme International. “Despite the on-set of Covid-19, our “Actually the Caribbean has been an interesting one from an ground up with a blank canvas.”
media, marketing and licensing division, which is headed up by Ryan main objective has not changed from an overall perspective. overall perspective. Otherwise we’re working in most territories The company recently partnered with a new social media
Maxwell and is made up of a media network which incorporates Our key drive is to inspire people to explore and to experience. across Europe; meanwhile in Asia some initial conversations are application called Outbound and Al Gosling explains that this
a plethora of either direct to consumer or digital media sites or We want to entertain people and this key brand promise taking place. China continues to elude us, but we are still looking is one of their marketing campaign initiatives, and that the
Facebook, TikTok and Instagram pages. The second division in the remains and it is never going to change”, he continues. for the right partner and the right project,” explains Gosling. partners they look for globally are ones that they can develop
business is Extreme Events which is headed up by James Cooke- In the UK, the company is heavily involved in the large 50-acre “I think some of the European countries, particularly the exciting and entertaining offers with that their 20 million
Priest and is focused on delivering global events. The final division is development near to the centre of Sheffield in collaboration with Eastern European countries are exciting prospects as they’re strong communities will be interested in. They are interested
Extreme Destinations: Parks, Resorts, Accommodation and Hotels Sheffield City Council. The project is a large sports and leisure growing and expanding. Obviously now everybody is facing in good people who understand the brand, value the brand
which is headed by Ben Barker and this itself is broken into three entertainment development that they have been working on tough times but it is certainly an area that we were looking at and value what Extreme International can bring to the table.
sections, the first is developing indoor and outdoor adventure for a long time in partnership with Sheffield council that is really pre-Covid-19 and trying to get involved in, particularly across As the interview draws to a close, we ask Al how he is feeling
parks, the second is what they call the Extreme Collection, so coming to fruition now in terms of the sports activities and Georgia and further east as well,” explains Ben Barker, Managing about the next 12 months and he explains that he and Ben are
this is the accommodation arm incorporating tents, treehouses, accommodation. Director of Extreme Destinations at Extreme International. both very positive and really buoyant overall at the moment.
lodges etc and the final section of this division is split into Extreme A key market for the company is the Middle East; it had So Ben, how do you go about developing these new “I think the whole team are in great shape and while it is
Consultancy, which involves work with governments and tourism been expected that a lot of its projects in this market would destinations to maintain your niche position in the market? a hard time and it’s going to get harder for a lot of people,
authorities to deliver either national or regional business plans or either come to a standstill or be delayed due to Covid-19, “A lot of research goes into any strategy or destination from our perspective we have a great team and a great
master planning strategies in many countries around the world. but it appears it has had the opposite effect. In particular a development. What we want is to understand and get a brand,” Gosling concludes.

“Our key drive is to inspire
people to explore and to
experience. We want to
entertain people and this key
brand promise remains and it
is never going to change”