Active Adventures wins ‘Supreme Business of the Year’ at Queenstown Business Awards 2023, New Zealand
QUEENSTOWN, NZ., – November 7, 2023
In an amphitheater normally home to sheep shearing demonstrations, a sheepdog delivered the supreme award winner’s announcement envelope, and speeches were punctuated by sheep "baa-ing" in the surrounding fields. The iconic Walter Peak High Country Farm on the shores of Lake Wakatipu created a distinctively ‘kiwi’ (New Zealand) atmosphere for the black-tie awards evening on Saturday night.
"And the winner is..." 'Misty' the sheepdog delivers the winner's announcement on stage at the Queenstown Business Awards 2023. (Photo by Jonny James)
As winner of the Excellence in People & Capability award and a finalist in Excellence in Strategy & Business Solutions, Active Adventures was judged to be the ultimate winner for 2023 — Supreme Business of the Year — at the Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce 2023 Queenstown Business Awards.
“Queenstown is where Active Adventures started and our global HQ, and we are immensely honored to receive this award among our friends and business community who have been our supporters and cheerleaders,” says Wendy van Lieshout, CEO at Active Adventures.
“I truly believe our people give us our edge. These awards are testimony to our incredibly dedicated global team of 140 office staff and guides, who deliver more than 80 trips in 6 continents and 22 countries, through our Active Adventures and Austin Adventures brands. Our people are adventurers themselves and genuinely live and breathe our ‘DNA’ (our values) that steer how we work together to enable us to create distinctive and inspiring small group outdoors active adventures for our guests.”
“Queenstown has only 29,000 permanent residents yet attracts more than 1 million international tourists a year and is arguably the adventure tourism capital of the world! So, being an adventure tourism business ourselves, then judged to be the cream of the crop among our peers is very humbling.”
Judges commented Active Adventures is an “impressive operation...exceeding industry norms significantly, leaving their guests beyond satisfied. [They are] a global business yet take care of every customer individually and personally ensuring that all guests feel their love."
Wendy van Lieshout says of her team, “We have all worked extremely hard these last few years, considering the impact of closed borders and Covid’s impact on tourism. But our team has risen to the challenge and adapted to every curve ball to put us into an even stronger position in the international market, and I’m super proud of them.”
Achievements within the last two years that contributed to the judges’ decisions include:
- Over a third of guests have traveled with Active Adventures more than once.
“Having earned their trust with genuine care for their experience on our expertly guided small group adventures, we have incredibly loyal adventurers who choose to travel with us again for their next destination, wherever in the world that may be,” says Wendy. “We have one guest who has traveled with us 20 times! We might have to create more trips for them!”;
- Acquiring Austin Adventures, a like-minded family-values-based adventure travel business specializing in North American national parks, in 2021 when most tourism businesses were contracting.
"A possibility in the wings pre-Covid, it made even more sense during the pandemic, so our existing USA customer base could continue their adventures within their own country. Buying a company offshore when we couldn’t visit to see what we were buying or meet the people in person, felt somewhat uncomfortable initially. United by complementary trip styles and guest experience philosophies, we chose Austin Adventures because their DNA closely mirrors ours. This has proven to be critical in bringing our teams together and for our joint success and growth. It is both a long-term strategy and a vital short-term fix that provided valuable revenue while global borders around the world were closed. ‘Two brands, one team’ is easy when everyone has common values, and together we can drive further growth and ultimately even better experiences for our guests.”
Members of the Active Adventures team celebrate after being named winners of the Supreme Business of the Year award at the Queenstown Business Awards 2023. (Photo by Jonny James)
2023 Queenstown Business Awards for Active Adventures:
– Winner, Supreme award for Business of the Year, 2023
– Winner, Excellence in People & Capability
– Finalist, Excellence in Strategy & Business Solutions.
This follows success at the same awards in 2021: (winners of Excellence in Strategy & Planning) and 2018 (winners of the then-tourism category).
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About Active Adventures & Austin Adventures:
With over 60 years of combined experience, Active Adventures and Austin Adventures set the standard for inspiring, all-inclusive, small-group adventures in the most breathtaking regions of the world. Their teams across New Zealand, North America, Peru, Nepal and the Netherlands ensure every detail is looked after. Hand-picked guides with a wealth of experience and local knowledge lead the way as guests enjoy exclusive accommodations, top-notch dining and unique activities showcasing the best of each region.
Each of their 80+ trips are crafted to perfection, encouraging guests to not only challenge themselves physically, but also to take a deep dive in the local way of life in every destination. For more information, please visit activeadventures.com and austinadventures.com.
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Media Contacts:
Carol Soundy
Brand and Communications Lead, Active Adventures & Austin Adventures
carol.soundy@activeadventures.com
+64 27 254 6039
Wendy van Lieshout
CEO
Active Adventures & Austin Adventures
+64 21 243 5412