| 3 TOURISM Driftwood Eco Tours T T Richard Loader ‘Quite a journey’ for award finalists Will Gerard, farm manager at Port Ligar farms engages with clients on the Marlborough Sounds tour. Close your eyes, and imagine the thrill of visiting high country stations in Marlborough or Canterbury, staying in shearers quarters and sharing a hearty meal with the owners, while enthralled by stories of the land’s heritage, or traversing backcountry roads in the South Island’s West Coast and visiting gems less known to the wider public. That and so much more is what Driftwood Eco Tours has to offer its customers passionate about discovering the oft-unseen New Zealand, traversing the roads and rivers by four-wheel drive vehicles with like-minded people, and engaging with the colourful and knowledgeable locals within each region. Affirming its unique place in the South Island’s tourism industry, Driftwood Eco Tours was named Finalist in the Community Engagement category at the 2022 Tourism Industry Awards. Rose Parson, who founded the business with her husband Will in 2004, says entering the awards was a way of acknowledging the hospitality and quality of service given by all their rural tourism partners. “That’s the high-country station owners, all sorts of rural accommodation providers, the local guides and story tellers, and the charter boat operators working out of The Sounds. Engaging with all these people are what our customers absolutely love about our tours.” Will and Rose felt both very humbled and surprised to be named Finalist, saying they didn’t feel particularly extraordinary. Rose says one of the unexpected outcomes of going through the award process was that it helped to define what made Driftwood Eco Tours a different kind of tourism offering. “It was quite a journey for us. We started with a hundred photos and could only enter so many, but that process really spoke the story of our business. “It really defined the value and power of the connections of people, which we may not have fully realised previously. It is those connections that our customers relate to and also makes it a very enjoyable business to work in.” Besides Will and Rose, the Driftwood Eco team radiates out to embrace all the people who make the business what it is, with everyone playing a key role in the customer experience. There are close team members who work in the business week by week, and the valued guides and entertaining story tellers who work through the seasons. From there you have the people who clean the vehicles, prepare the bacon and egg pies, and do all those behind the scenes but invaluable wonderful work. Being Finalist is apt recognition of the collective effort of many — it is a community engagement. “We felt this was a chance to acknowledge their hard work and the care they put into presenting their stories or products to our clients, which makes the travel experience really meaningful,” says Rose. Based in Kaikoura, the majority of tours depart from Blenheim or Christchurch, with a few in other centres including Kaikoura. “We operate throughout the Top of the South Island and off-shore islands, we include the Marlborough Sounds particularly, Marlborough and Canterbury high country, and Chatham Islands. “The West Coast is a new area of operation which has been amazing. We attract the mature Kiwi-traveller who may already have done a lot of travelling in their lives. “They are people with extraordinary and interesting backgrounds. They are very fun people to work with and they have been loyal customers through the thick and thin of recent times. “The sort of people who are interested in our tours are also a big part of why we have been successful.” Having been Rose and Will’s passion for twenty years, Driftwood Eco Tours is now on the market. “We would like to see it carry on, as we think that it is the way of the future for tourism.” Terry Savage shares his local knowledge with clients on the tour to D’Urville Island. S u s t a i n a b l e T r a v e l S i n c e 2 0 0 4 w w w . d r i f t w o o d e c o t o u r s . c o . n z Proud suppliers to Driftwood Eco Tours Websites & Digital Marketing helping you grow your business From beautiful websites to high impact Google and social media marketing campaigns, we make your brand stand out. 0800 999 549 | innovatedigital.nz
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