Sustainability at Trips & Tramps means developing a socially and financially sound business that owners Kate and Steve can be proud of. This provides motivation to continuously look for new opportunities in the business, with sustainability underpinning everything they do. Transport is a major aspect of sustainability at Trips & Tramps. Kate and Steve assessed the whole schedule to identify how van usage could be economised. “We’ve really looked at our time-tabling ... to get the maximum loadings in the van without compromising the guests’ enjoyment”, says Kate. The owners and staff at Trips & Tramps are very community-minded and this represents a powerful selling point for the business. This raises the profile of their brand in the market place. Products for the business are purchased locally where possible and staff are involved in many local community and conservation projects.

The natural environment in which the business operates is critical to its success, so Kate and Steve feel inspired to do as much as they can to ensure its ongoing vitality. The implementation of sustainable business practices has therefore taken a significant amount of time, but this has enhanced their ability to plan for business success, Kate explains. “We’ve written more down, so the planning is really important – it gives us a direction and we are being proactive rather than reactive in everything that we do”, Kate says. 

Background 

Trips & Tramps runs small group overland tours in Milford Sound and guided walks in Fiordland National Park. Owner-operators Kate and Steve employ two full time drivers plus casual staff as required throughout the year. The business has been operating for approximately 20 years and is based in Te Anau. Their main market is the international Free Independent Traveller (FIT), which tends to be predominantly English-speaking with a small Japanese market for their guided walks product.  

Kate and Steve consider great staff to be central to their success, so local guides are hired who are passionate about the local area and have spent time recreating in it. They believe that competition has an effect on their business, which has prompted them to focus on sustainability and use that as one of their points of difference.

What sustainability means at Trips & Tramps

For Kate and Steve, sustainability is about reducing their use of energy resources, such as fuel. It also means developing a socially and financially sound business they can be proud of. This motivates them to continuously look for new opportunities in the business, with sustainability at the forefront of their thinking. They ensure that this underpins everything they do.

Motivations to pursue sustainability

The natural environment in which Trips & Tramps operates in is critical to the success of Steve and Kate’s business, so they feel inspired to do as much as they can to ensure its ongoing vitality. “The social and environmental responsibility that we have to our area ... contributes to keeping New Zealand ... a desirable tourism destination”, Kate explains.

Sustainability in action

Despite the fact they felt everything they were doing was sustainable, their involvement in the Sustainable Tourism Charter helped Kate and Steve formulate a plan going forward. They now refer to this plan and know that it helps them implement sustainability initiatives in a timely and accountable way. Their plan has also motivated them to investigate actions outside the scope of the original sustainability plan. Kate explains that “gaining the Qualmark gives increased professionalism to our business and recognition of the standard that we operate to”.

Kate and Steve oversaw the design of a new depot for their business. The whole building was designed with energy efficiency in mind with the office featuring the maximum insulation available and double-glazed windows. This has helped reduce energy use in the business.

Transport and the impacts associated with it, are a major aspect of sustainability at Trips & Tramps. Kate and Steve assessed the whole schedule to identify how usage of the vans could be economised. “We’ve really looked at our time-tabling ... to get the maximum loadings in the van without compromising the guests’ enjoyment”, says Kate. These efforts have met with a positive response from clients. Trips & Tramps are also trained in fuel efficient driving techniques to further economise fuel used by the business.

The business utilises a specially designed wash bay that manages all grey water in a manner which ensures none ends up in the storm water system. When washing the outside of the vans, Trips & Tramps staff are careful to use only what is necessary and avoid run-off in order to minimise use.

Kate explains that they are very community-minded and that this represents a powerful selling point for Trips & Tramps. Their staff share this passion for the local community, which further increases the profile of their brand in the market place. Products for the business are purchased locally where possible and staff are involved in many local community and conservation projects.

One of the projects supported by this business is a stoat trapping programme in the Cleddau Valley on the Milford Road. Kate and Steve actively encourage their staff to join Department of Conservation (DOC) projects such as these on their days off. They believe this benefits the business as their staff improve their knowledge of the National Park and the natural areas surrounding it.  In addition to this, Steve was recently awarded the 2009 DOC Individual Conservation Award, as well as the Destination Fiordland Tourism Personality of the Year Award. Such public recognition has the added bonus of increasing the profile of the business through positive media coverage.

Kate and Steve have also begun making improvements in their supply chain. They use local suppliers and purchase in bulk whenever possible. The business uses Office Max now, who indicate which of their products have environmental practices in place. Kate explains that using this as a guide has made their job much easier.

Challenges involved in seeking sustainability

The implementation of sustainable business practices has taken a significant amount of time, but this process has also enhanced their ability to plan for business success, Kate explains. “We’ve written more down, so the planning is really important – it gives us a direction and we are being proactive rather than reactive in everything that we do”, Kate says. 

Transport is a major factor in sustainability-thinking at Trips & Trips, but by focusing upon this area Kate and Steve have found they have reduced fuel use, saved money and demonstrated they are serious about sustainability. 

Advice for other businesses

Kate can’t over-emphasise the importance of planning; “find something that you have a passion for. It’s not much use trying to be sustainable if you don’t really give a toss about the environment that you operate in!” 

Their partnership with Real Journeys has also proved invaluable for Trips & Tramps. The bigger company provides mentoring support and by allowing access to their resources, saves Kate and Steve time and money as well. Having the opportunity to refer to the professional staff within Real Journeys has given Kate and Steve a real advantage as they continue to develop their business.

Assistance available

Kate and Steve found the Sustainable Tourism Charter delivered through Venture Southland key to the development of their business. In particular, attending seminars and adding to their knowledge was of great value. It also prompted them to make a written plan of where they were, and where they wanted there business to go. As Kate says, “this was probably one of the reasons we joined the Sustainable Tourism Charter ... it gave us some direction. It allowed us to work to a plan and how we were going to move forward in the business”.

Online resources proved to be another useful source of assistance. Kate says it’s amazing what can be found on the internet and that they came across numerous fuel saving tips online. 

Thank you to Sustainable Tourism South for providing this information.