Ex-travel broker revivesmum’s treasure hunt business

A Palmerston North woman has traded in a career helping people plot their dream holiday to revive a family venture offering businesses memorable experiences closer to home.

When the borders closed and international travel ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, it hit Sophie Shaw hard.

‘‘Since I was a travel broker there was no guaranteed income. What you sell is what you make.’’

With no indication when the world might return to normal and the Covid-19 wage subsidy exhausted Shaw had to find a new way to make a living, so she decided to rekindle her mother’s old business.

Nicola Quinn started The Treasure Hunt Company in 2007 and between the ages of 16 and 19 Shaw helped hermumplan and run events part-time.

They created elaborate scavenger hunts around Palmerston North, offering a series of tasks and items to track down.

Quinn was often hired for birthday or Christmas parties, but also provided a popular service devising tailored teambuilding days for businesses.

‘‘Mymumeven branched out and did an ice sculpting workshop [for a company] once.’’

The Treasure Hunt Company did well, but Quinn closed it when she moved out of town and joined her husband’s business in 2012.

Shaw said she and hermumdiscussed her restarting the venture at the start of the pandemic, but she wasn’t ready to give up on her travel career at that point.

She lived off the emergency wage subsidy, hoping for relief for her crippled industry. But as the months dragged on Shaw began reviewing her options and started fleshing out plans for The Treasure Hunt Company’s return in November.

‘‘We still had all the records from when the [company was last active], so it was relatively easy to get it going again.’’

Shaw said she even received a couple of bookings from old clients almost straight after she reactivated the company’s Facebook page and website.

Now she has taken the plunge, Shaw doesn’t think she will book a return ticket to her previous career.

‘‘I love it. I’ve always enjoyed this kind of thing.

‘‘And it feels good to be supporting local businesses and getting people out in the city after everything that’s happened this year.’’

Sophie Shaw had to ditch her career as a travel broker due to the pandemic and has revived her mum’s team-building event business, The Treasure Hunt Company.