THE name Chukka Caribbean Adventures remains a testament to founder Danny Melville’s original intent when he started the company back in 1983.

A chukka is a period of play in a polo match lasting between six and seven and a half minutes. So, it was Melville’s affinity with the equestrian sport and familiarity with Llandovery, St Ann, that would prompt him to create holiday packages for tourists that included renting villas on the seaside property and horseback riding. It also served as a respite for polo players who travelled from abroad to Jamaica for matches.

Given the property’s location, it was aptly named Chukka Cove.

Chronicling the early days of Chukka, the founder recently penned the following: “In the early years of Chukka Cove we promoted polo tournaments and horse shows, inviting riders and [polo] players from overseas to compete while enjoying all our beautiful island has to offer. We provided riding lessons and trail rides to locals and visitors…We hosted celebrities, international trainers, and some of the world’s best riders and polo players at the time.”

But despite the fanfare at Chukka Cove, the business model did not prove as commercially viable as expected and did not translate to bottom line gains. According to Melville’s son, Marc, who is currently the CEO of Chukka Caribbean Adventures, though the business format was more popular in Europe and North America, it didn’t gain much traction in Jamaica at the time.

“It was a tourism-related project but it never got the volumes because it was just too specialised,” he explained to Jamaica Observer.

Still, it was a very modest activity that proved to be the saving grace of Chukka Cove and contributed to the turnaround in the company’s fortunes.

“It was the beach ride, which included swimming your horse in the beautiful Caribbean Sea, that emerged as the most popular activity by far. Riding a horse along the deserted beach has forever been a romantic island experience — it’s a quintessential Caribbean poster image. Add to that the excitement of actually steering your animal in to the sea to swim, and we had a winner,” Danny recounted.

With polo players and other tourists willing to pay for the activity, the buisnessman decided to package the idea for hotels and cruise ships. His first pitch then was to the Ocho Rios-based Americana Hotel, now known as Moon Palace. Back then the family devised a modest projection targeting 20 tourists per day to remain profitable.

“We were the first to ever do this commercially,” Marc shared, speaking of the horseback riding. “It wasn’t intended to be that; it was intended to be something else, and as a result of some great miscalculations we ended up with this business.”

Over time that first Chukka operation grew to include a ‘mountain to sea’ biking tour from Mount Zion, shoreline safari tours, and river tubing on the White River — each tour incorporating pit stops at community businesses to introduce the tourists to the authentic Jamaica experience, Marc explained.

Expansion in Jamaica

The company would realise growth when family friend to the Melvilles and businessman John Byles, the deputy chairman of Chukka Caribbean Adventures, approached them with a proposition.

“So John came to us. He had a polo field and horses. He came and saw what we were doing and he said he would like to do something similar down in the west,” Marc recounted.

“We went and took a look. We went from a look, to a handshake, to starting a business without thinking twice,” he added.

That gentleman’s agreement was the seed that flourished into the Hanover-based Chukka Ocean Outpost at Sandy Bay, known then as Chukka Blue.

“During this process there was a German couple who owned a business called Jeep Safari Tours Limited. [The wife] was lookin to migrate and she put up the business for sale, and my brothers and I bought it,” Marc told Business Observer, adding that the acquisiton was financed through a small deposit and a “vendor mortgage”.

The acquisition of that business resulted in Chukka expanding its footprint in the parish of St Ann, and with it came new offerings for its customers. Combining all these various elements and locations, Chukka had transitoned from a company known for equestrian activities to nature adventures. Soon the company would replicate the model in Falmouth, Trelawny, creating Chukka Good Hope.

Since then, the company has added managing the sales and marketing of the Appleton Rum Tour in St Elizabeth on behalf of Campari, and operating the zipline at YS Falls in the same parish.

Caribbean assets

With the name Chukka Caribbean Adventures the company has expanded beyond the borders of Jamaica and now manages nature adventure parks in Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, and Barbados. Such undertakings would not have been possible without leveraging the relationships it enjoys with cruise ship operators, which have provided the majority of its patrons over the years.

“It really [started] on the recommendation of cruise executives. The cruise executives would say, ‘We love what you’re doing for us in Jamaica. We have an opportunity for you in Belize where we’d like to see the industry develop a little faster. Would you be interested?’ ” Marc explained.

“The conversation always starts with a new port or a cruise line inviting us to come and have a look because they see a deficiency in the offerings. Then once that happens, we run down there to see what natural assets they have and see if it fits our business model. Then once we have located and all these things, we look at proximity to the market,” he added.

At the heart of that development process, the CEO said, is a consultative process that takes into consideration the best interest of locals, visitors, and cruise ship passengers.

“People want to do more for less. We find in our business that they don’t want to drive more than 45 minutes from the epicentre of tourism. They like things that are family-oriented. They like water-related activities because they are in the Caribbean. They want things that are good value for money and they want things that are authentic,” the younger Melville pointed out, adding that these factors ultimately determine the final product.

Additionally, the development process must not be deleterious to the environment but rather enhance the attractions’ natural beauty.

According to Marc, Chukka Caribbean Adventures continues to survey the region, along with its partners, for even more expansion opportunities. In fact, just last year the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and the Ministry of Tourism and Investments for a public-private partnership to develop, manage, and operate a new eco-adventure attraction at Fort Barrington in that country.

The growth of the company into a regional brand would not have been possible without financing. In this regard, Marc pointed out that in the early days Pan Caribbean Bank (now Sagicor Investments Limited) played a crtitical role in supporting a business model that other traditional institutions would not have taken a chance on. In recent years, Chukka Caribbean Adventures has also received the support and expertise of Portland Holdings and PanJamaica Investments. And just last year Sygnus Deneb Investments invested US$4 million in the company.

Moreover, Marc also commended Deputy Chairman Byles for his investment and support in managing the business up to the present time. And the success of the company, he said, would not be possible without the contributions of its 1,000 plus team members.