Kiwi adventuring company climbs mountain of setbacks to reopen worldwide

16:37, Apr 26 2022
Adventure Consultants sold its office and five company vehicles to keep the company afloat over the pandemic.
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Adventure Consultants sold its office and five company vehicles to keep the company afloat over the pandemic.

One of the world’s leading mountain guide companies will open back up for business this year after hibernating for 18 months – only surviving the pinch of the Covid pandemic by selling most of its assets.

Operating out of Wānaka, Adventure Consultants is a worldwide mountain guide company with expeditions in New Zealand, Antarctica, the Himalayas, South America and Europe.

But for the last two years it has been impossible to continue offering its tours because of border closures and the loss of most staff members due to Covid-19 redundancies.

Chief executive Guy Cotter said the company had to let go of about 12 staff and sell off most of its assets, including the office and five company vehicles to keep the company afloat.

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“We only had Kiwis as clients through 2020, so that is a very small market for what we do, and so went in to full hibernation in February 2021.”

“There was no point continuing because we couldn't get the client base.”

The company was forced to close down around the world, with just a few expeditions taking place in Europe where restrictions were looser and lifted sooner than in New Zealand.

Adventure Consultants chief executive Guy Cotter says the company didn’t have the client base to keep going during the pandemic.
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Adventure Consultants chief executive Guy Cotter says the company didn’t have the client base to keep going during the pandemic.

Cotter said the biggest problem for his company was the New Zealand border being closed for too long.

“We have been able to go away overseas, but we haven't been able to get back into New Zealand, so we have been stranded.

“There wasn't a lot of government support apart from the wage subsidy. That is disappointing really, because there are a lot of companies unable to open up again in tourism.”

Pre-pandemic, the business, which was established in 1992, was “humming along nicely”, Cotter said.

Adventure Consultants' says it will have fewer departures than before the pandemic, and will focus on “adventurers who are discerning in the style in which they venture”.
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Adventure Consultants' says it will have fewer departures than before the pandemic, and will focus on “adventurers who are discerning in the style in which they venture”.

“We were very busy ... one of the busiest mountain guiding operations all over the world, all that got dashed through Covid.”

Having laid off much of his staff, the company would be starting from scratch, with Cotter adding it could take 18 months to fully train staff for some roles.

However, he remained positive about the company's future now the borders had opened, and New Zealand was linking up with the rest of the world.

The company had already seen an increase in bookings and interest for their expeditions.

“It will be different, in that we will have fewer departures than before, but we are focused on working with adventurers who are discerning in the style in which they venture.

“We are not going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, we will get up and move forward.”

Stuff