Tourism with a sustainable focus
Trent Yeo believes tourism has the power to transform people’s thinking.
In 2009, he started New Zealand’s first zipline tour, Ziptrek Ecotours in Queenstown, intending it to be fun and educational but also to be a role model for business success while being sustainably focused.
‘‘The idea that tourism businesses can be successful and be good citizens isn’t a disconnected thing,’’ he says.
To reduce carbon emissions from transport, he established Ziptrek in central Queenstown, and used the existing Skyline gondola for access to the gravity-based activity.
Treehouses were hand-built within the existing wilding pine structures, using locally sourced macrocarpa and logs from the site.
Solar panels high in the canopy provide the small amount of onsite power required.
The company’s small fleet of work vehicles is being replaced with EVs, uniforms are made from organic cotton, and stationery includes recycled paper and vegetable-based inks.
Three years ago, Yeo began annual carbon measurements, and Ziptrek became Queenstown’s first certified zero-carbon tourism business.
In the last year, each guest produced an estimated carbon dioxide equivalent of 1.33 kilograms – a minimal amount when you consider that a single traveller flying from Auckland to Queenstown produces about 200 times more.
The company purchases carbon credits that support the regeneration of native forest in Golden Bay to offset the small amount it does produce.
Yeo believes many people feel disempowered by the environmental challenges we face. ‘‘We want to show people how a zero carbon business can operate within its community and be economically viable.’’
Ziptrek recently produced a sixpart video series to demystify its climate action in business, and has supported the environment by planting almost 6000 trees so far.
‘‘My aim is really to try to leave the Earth in a better state than when I arrived within it. It is simple, but sometimes I like to keep things simple,’’ Yeo says.