The day Dennis Oliphant graduated from the University of Oregon in the late 1970s, he packed up his Volkswagen station wagon and headed for Bend. When he got here, he was in charge of starting a recreation program at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain. At that time, Oliphant admits, he didn’t know much about rafting, but he and and another employee bought some rafts and paddles and started taking people on the river. That summer they ran 4,000 people down the river. It was then that Oliphant, his friend and cousin, decided that they could do the same job on their own. In 1978, Sun Country Tours was born.

Despite wildfires, river debris and national slacks in tourism over the past few decades, Sun Country Tours has survived and this year celebrates its 25th year of business in Central Oregon. The white-water outfitter has found its niche providing high-quality, family-oriented and affordable rafting trips on the Deschutes, McKenzie and North Umpqua rivers.

What are the biggest changes you have seen in whitewater rafting in the last 25 years?

What’s changed is we’ve shifted to a higher-quality experience. We’ve made a transition from mom and pop, to a higher quality. The rafting equipment has changed so drastically, it’s easier to navigate in much harder water in a much safer manner. Original boats were thin and would fold and bend; now rafts are self-bailing and really made for safety.

Across the country there was a slowdown in tourism after Sept. 11. How did it affect your business?

It affected really everyone in our industry regardless of offering short trips or whether it was 21-day Grand Canyon trips. Those in our industry who did international travel got wiped out. For a variety of reasons, we saw a decline afterward because of the economy and not as much disposable money. There was also a reluctance to travel. The return to family values and simpler vacations has helped. I think that our industry, in general, is really well suited right now for a strong rebound. Vacations will always be important, but right now people are a little tight with their purse strings.

How has the popularity of white-water rafting and new companies coming into Central Oregon affected your business? Are the limited number of river permits a natural barrier to competition?

We sincerely don’t look at other businesses doing the things we do as competition. It is a small industry and we all benefit by our individual efforts. If I market rafting in Central Oregon, it is going to benefit other people, that is an approach I took a long time ago. Yet there are, in many cases, a limited number of permits allocated. Some rivers allow a lot, some allow a few, so in many cases throughout the West there aren’t opportunities for new permits to be issued, but continually businesses are changing hands and new blood continues to come into our industry.

Who do you market to and who are your customers?

We really concentrate on Central Oregon. Its really tough for us to target the person who might be coming to Central Oregon and if they are, are they inclined to want to raft. We found it is a far better use of our marketing dollars to market once people are in the area. We have a strong relationship with local hotels and resorts, we have cooperative marketing campaigns with them. We have a high rate of return customers. Our number one marketing source is really word of mouth. We’ve been in the business so many years that it is a luxury we’ve earned and built on.

You have an office in Sunriver and in Bend, what is the difference in operations?

We’ve been in Sunriver since 1978, in Bend since 1995. Bend is the headquarter office, all administrative things happen here. In Sunriver there is a retail store and people meet for trips, but (Bend) is where all the reservations and equipment are dispatched out. Our Bend percentage is growing each and every year, partly because Bend is growing in residents but also stronger presence of resort-based visitors in Bend.

How much has your fleet increased over the years?

We haven’t had an increase in the number we run down to the river since 1990 because of regulations. Fleet size hasn’t gotten bigger it’s gotten better. We have about 35 boats.

Does more of your revenue come in mostly from boat trips or from selling photo packages and T-shirts?

(Photos and T-shirts) are our growth area. We can’t run more people (down the river) and like most of the industry we have to hold prices to keep numbers to that amount, so we add on dollars in terms of retail souvenirs items. Still, the lion-share of revenue is from rafting trips but we see and ever increasing importance to build those retail and photo dollars.

How many staff members do you have? What is the average pay for river guides?

Seventy-five full-time seasonal employees and then it goes down to three employees in the winter. Guides will make an average of $100 a day plus tips. We have a system pay for performance, the higher the skills and more credentials like first aid or river rescue, the more they make.

How many trips were taken this year compared to last year?

It’s been really stable since the late 1990s, the number of people we run, a lot of that is by design. We try to figure out in advance that we only run so many people, how much we need to spend on marketing. In the late 1990s we were spending nothing on marketing really, we had the luxury of returning folks. Those days are now gone. It’s just tougher to get people in the door more time and money to ensure same amount of people each year.

You have been doing this for 25 years, do you think you will continue to do it for another 25?

I really honestly say I have no idea how long I am going to keep doing this, and I think about it quite often. I would hope it would stay in the family. This is one of those industries that really needs that longevity. There is a lot of history in outfitting, to lose that sense of where we’ve been is really sad. It’s like a lot of industries that have lost their roots. This isn’t one that should loose it’s roots. I haven’t got an exit strategy at this point.