Innovation,
Trade and Rural Development
Tourism, Culture and Recreation
November 7, 2007
Young Entrepreneur Flying High with
New Business at Marble Mountain
It�s a cross between parachuting and flying, and the Provincial
Government is helping a new company provide that experience in
Newfoundland and Labrador. Marble Zip Tours Inc. has received a term
loan of $128,000 from the province�s Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise
(SME) Fund to help build the zipline harness tours which will provide
tree-height tours of Marble Mountain.
Marble Mountain Zip Tours was founded by Martin Flynn, a young
entrepreneur and graduate of the Adventure Tourism Program at the
College of the North Atlantic.
"Mr. Flynn is taking an idea he has seen work in Western Canada and
is using it in an innovative way in Newfoundland and Labrador," said the
Honourable Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development. "It's this kind of entrepreneurial spirit and creative
thinking in which our government wants to invest to ensure we diversify
our economy and grow industry sectors, including tourism."
With zipline tours (sometimes called canopy tours) participants wear
a harness which is attached to a steel cable strung between platforms on
trees or towers. Participants zip along between the platforms at
anywhere from 20- to 200-feet above the ground, flying at a height
usually reserved for birds and monkeys. Zipline tours are offered in
Costa Rica and other countries with jungles or rainforests, and at
Whistler Mountain in Canada.
Construction of the facility will take place in the spring of 2008.
The zip line will cross Steady Brook Gorge at nearly 200 feet above the
ground. Tours will take approximately two hours and will be suitable for
children and adults.
The Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Tourism, Culture and
Recreation, said he is pleased to see another tourist attraction on the
west coast.
"Any time we can provide another tourism experience for travellers to
consider, we are making the whole Marble Mountain package more
attractive to a wider range of potential visitors," said Minister
Jackman. "I have no doubt this particular activity will appeal to both
residents and tourists alike."
"Marble Mountain attracts 75,000 people during the ski season and
another 100,000 tourists visit Gros Morne National Park, which is just
an hour�s drive away, during the summer months," said Martin Flynn,
president of Marble Zip Tours. "That is more than enough potential
customers to run our facility which will be able to accommodate 100
people a day and provide an experience that is not available anywhere
else in eastern Canada."
The Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development�s Small-
and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Fund is a $30 million program spread
over six years to provide term loans and equity investments to small-
and medium-sized businesses in strategic growth sectors, and is a
component of the province�s Comprehensive Regional Diversification
Strategy. Special emphasis is placed on value-added manufacturing,
information technology, aquaculture, bio-technology, marine services,
agrifoods and tourism, where local competitive impact is not an issue.
The fund also targets businesses which have export potential and need
assistance to enter or expand in external markets.
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