August 17, 2024

It’s been more than 10 years since our original Waiheke site first achieved accreditation by New Zealand’s national tourism rating agency, Qualmark.  Since its inception in 1993, Qualmark has been New Zealand tourism’s official quality assurance organisation, providing consumers and the offshore travel trade with a trusted guide to quality travel experiences in New Zealand.

In 2014 we first became an ‘Endorsed Visitor Activity’ and were simultaneously awarded a silver tier at what was then called Enviromark. In 2017 this was upgraded to a gold Enviromark award, which we’ve maintained at each subsequent audit.  In 2021 we were honoured to become one of only 12 New Zealand businesses to be adjudged to meet the exacting criteria of a then new accolade, the prestigious 100% Pure New Zealand award.

In the decade since we first received certification much has changed, including the basis on which Qualmark’s ratings are decided.   While quality, customer care and safety remain decisive pillars of the evaluation criteria, sustainability has now joined these, and ranks with equal importance.  Today, Qualmark operates under a framework recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and businesses are awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold award depending on their performance against the Sustainable Tourism Business criterion. The GSTC was founded by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, the United Nations Environment Program, the Rainforest Alliance and over 30 other organisations. In their own words ‘Qualmark looks to recognise businesses that are delivering a holistically sustainable experience’.

Our new Kaikōura location recently underwent their first audit and evaluation against the latest Sustainable Tourism Business benchmarks.   Qualmark’s auditor was the highly experienced, and extremely thorough, Peter Clinton-Baker.  Peter’s been auditing Kaikōura’s tourism business for years and is a reliable, and much respected, part of the wider tourism establishment.  His report, we knew, would go to Qualmark’s Auckland HQ where it would be examined and cross-checked before a determination was made.   We thus awaited the report with a mixture of both trepidation and excitement.

There was jubilation when the report finally landed.  Only 7-months into operation and our fledgling site had already achieved a Gold Sustainable Tourism Business Award.

According to Qualmark, ‘A Gold business is a best-in-class sustainable tourism business’ they go on to say ‘delivering exceptional customer experiences, as an integral part of everything they do’.  High praise indeed for a new operation but not one that surprises us as our Kaikōura team, under the leadership of General Manager Nick Chapman, have a tendency to set high standards in everything they do.

For our guests, a Qualmark Gold award means they’re visiting an operator or operation with a light environmental footprint. It’s also proof that our clearly articulated social, environmental and regenerative tourism targets are being met. When visiting EcoZip our guests are not just having fun, though they undoubtedly do, they’re playing an active part in our intention to leave a positive, lasting legacy in the communities in which we operate.