Ziptrek Ecotours is flying high after almost four years in business and over a quarter of a million zips successfully completed.
The established eco company, which operates an exhilarating zipline tour from the top of Queenstown’s Bobs Peak, has picked up many prestigious environmental and business awards over the years and been recognised worldwide as a must-do activity in Queenstown.
Ziptrek Ecotours won the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Business Award in 2010 and in 2012 won the Chamber’s award in the ‘Tourism, Activities and Events’ category. In 2011 it received a Fairfax Media Sustainable 60 Award and is also the only New Zealand zipline tour to be awarded the much sought-after Qualmark Enviro Gold standard for its commitment to sustainability and the environment.
The company’s experienced guides have completed more than 264,000 zips through the forest canopy on gravity fed ziplines, giving a large number of guests the opportunity to soak up stunning panoramic lake and mountain views of Queenstown and its surroundings. Between ziplines, guests step on and off a series of architecturally-designed, beautifully constructed aerial launch platforms where the experienced guides deliver an interpretive talk with a strong ecological focus before “zipping” to the next tree platform.
Since Ziptrek’s inception it has welcomed an array of celebrities and international media gaining the company worldwide recognition as a fun adrenalin activity with an environmental ethos.
Ziptrek Ecotours Sales & Marketing Manager Nicky Busst said the company’s proven sustainable business practice gives them an important point of difference in the competitive tourism marketplace.
“As well as providing a safe adventure activity accessible for all, we have a strong environmental ethic and our business philosophy is to drive eco-initiatives and support sustainable practice within the local community and further afield,” said Mrs Busst.
“Our staff are passionate about sustainability and educating our guests during the tours. Not only do our guests have the thrill and exhilaration of the ziplines, but they’re introduced to the native beech forest and what we’re doing with our regeneration projects. The feedback is phenomenal.”
The sustainable company has demonstrated its commitment to its immediate environment by planting more than 2,500 native saplings on Bobs Peak to ensure future regeneration. Recently the company also installed facilities to collect rainwater which it then uses to water the plants and vegetation on site.
It also contributes regularly to the local community, raising significant amounts of money for charities and local projects, such as the Queenstown Trails Trust, Youth Booth, Kiwi Birdlife Park and Wakatipu Search and Rescue.
Ziptrek Ecotours is also district sponsor for the Paper4trees initiative, which educates schools about recycling and provides them with the opportunity to exchange their recycling for native trees. Since its involvement, more than 760 cubic meters of recycling has been saved from a trip to the landfill in exchange for 380 native trees planted in the wider local community.
In the last 12 months the company has also expanded its tree house information boards highlighting additional key environmental messages.
As New Zealand’s original zipline tour, Ziptrek Ecotours has gone from strength to strength, growing its daily visitor numbers, developing team-building programmes for domestic and international incentive-orientated businesses, translating its brochures for foreign visitors and creating a mobile friendly version of its website.
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