We’re incredibly proud to share some exciting news: Akaroa Dolphins has been awarded Qualmark Gold....AGAIN...but this time we achieved 'Best Practice' across all categories.

For our team, this recognition means much more than a badge. It reflects the work that happens behind the scenes every day to create exceptional experiences for our guests, protect the marine environment we call home, support our team and community, and continually look for ways to improve.

After a comprehensive Qualmark assessment, Akaroa Dolphins achieved Best Practice across the criteria assessed, recognising the strength of our approach to business management, health and safety, environmental sustainability, our people, and our connection with the community and culture of Banks Peninsula.

What is Qualmark Gold?

Qualmark is New Zealand tourism’s official quality assurance organisation. Its Sustainable Tourism Business Awards assess tourism businesses against a range of standards that consider the business as a whole ~ not simply the experience visitors see on the day.

The awards recognise businesses at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels.

Bronze recognises businesses meeting the expected standards of professionalism, customer focus and awareness of their environmental impact.

Silver recognises sophisticated tourism businesses that consistently exceed visitor expectations and demonstrate a genuine commitment to continually improving their economic, social and environmental performance.

Gold is the highest level of recognition. It identifies the best sustainable tourism businesses in New Zealand ~ businesses delivering exceptional customer experiences while leading the way in creating a more sustainable, world-class visitor industry.

Being awarded Gold is therefore a wonderful acknowledgement of the way we strive to operate at Akaroa Dolphins.

More than a beautiful day on the water

When you join us on Akaroa Harbour, you experience the spectacular scenery and the chance to encounter some of New Zealand’s most special marine wildlife, including the endangered Hector’s dolphin.

But delivering that experience responsibly involves a lot more than what happens during your time on the water.

Our Qualmark review looked at the systems, people and values behind the experience ~ from how we manage health and safety and train our team, to how we monitor our environmental impact, support our staff, work with our local community and continually listen to our guests.

We were particularly proud to have our commitment to conservation and responsible wildlife tourism recognised.

As a SMART operator and member of the Akaroa Marine Protection Society, conservation is deeply connected to what we do. We support marine research and education, participate in ocean clean-ups and local conservation initiatives, and contribute to work protecting Hector’s dolphins and the wider marine environment.

Our conservation work has also recently been recognised internationally, including being featured by National Geographic for our work helping protect Hector’s dolphins and raise awareness of the incredible marine environment around Akaroa.

Putting people at the heart of our business

One of the things we’re particularly proud of is our team.

Akaroa Dolphins is a family business with more than two decades of history, and we’re currently moving through an exciting generational transition. That means preserving the knowledge and values that have shaped the business while also looking ahead to its future.

Our Qualmark review recognised the strength of our people-focused approach, including ongoing training, cross-training across different roles, staff feedback, wellbeing initiatives and a strong team culture.

Around 80% of our staff have been with Akaroa Dolphins for more than three years ~ something particularly meaningful in a seasonal and specialist marine tourism environment.

We believe that looking after our people is an important part of looking after our guests. A confident, supported and knowledgeable team is what allows us to deliver the warm, personal hospitality that we want every visitor to experience.

Safety is part of everything we do

Operating vessels in a marine environment comes with responsibility.

Our health and safety systems are continually reviewed and improved, with our team actively involved in identifying risks, reviewing incidents, updating procedures and undertaking regular training.

Our Qualmark assessment recognised Best Practice across the health and safety criteria assessed, including leadership, risk management, emergency preparedness, investigation and improvement, worker participation and wellbeing.

Importantly, this isn't something we see as a box to tick. We believe safety is an ongoing process of learning, listening and improving.

When something happens ~ whether it's an incident on the water, a change in our operating environment or something we learn from elsewhere in the industry ~ we take the opportunity to ask what we can do better.

That approach was particularly important during our move from Akaroa Wharf to Dalys Jetty, where changes to our operating environment required us to review procedures, training, risk assessments and visitor communications.

We're continually working to reduce our environmental footprint...

Over the past year, we've added two electric vehicles to our fleet, meaning approximately half of our vehicle fleet is now electric. We monitor electricity, fuel, oil, water and waste use, and we weigh our waste each week to help us understand where we can improve.

We've also made deliberate choices to reduce unnecessary waste ~ including removing single-use plastic water bottles, bags, straws and mints from our operation.

Our sustainable procurement approach looks beyond simply what a product costs. We consider things such as packaging, product origin, working conditions, ethics, environmental impact, repairability, reuse and recycling when assessing suppliers.

And whenever possible, we choose to support local businesses. Our supplier monitoring recorded 84% local spend in our 2022 financial year, providing a baseline that we're continuing to monitor.

We're also currently progressing our B Corp recertification, continuing our work to measure and improve our impact across the business.

Connected to our community

Akaroa Dolphins is incredibly fortunate to operate in a community with such a strong sense of place, history and connection to the environment.

Our relationship with the local community is an important part of who we are.

We support local schools, conservation projects, sports groups, educational initiatives, tourism students, exchange students and local events. Our team has also been involved in planting and regeneration projects, predator trapping and other conservation activities around Banks Peninsula.

We're continuing to strengthen relationships with local rūnanga through respectful engagement and shared interest in environmental and community priorities.

We also believe that being a tourism operator gives us an opportunity to help visitors understand and appreciate the place they're visiting ~ from learning about Hector's dolphins and the marine environment to encouraging responsible visitor behaviour and sharing local stories.

We're not finished yet
Perhaps one of the most valuable parts of the Qualmark process is that it isn't simply about receiving an award.

The assessment also identified opportunities for us to keep improving.

That's something we welcome.

We're looking at ways to make our sustainability work more visible to our guests, continue strengthening accessibility, develop our team's wellbeing framework, improve how we measure our environmental impact and capture our community contribution.

We're also continuing to think carefully about the future of Akaroa Dolphins as the next generation becomes more involved in leading the business.

Gold doesn't mean we've reached the end of the journey. It means we're on the right track ~ and that the systems, values and practices we've worked hard to build are being recognised.

A HUGE Thank You!

Most importantly, this achievement belongs to our team.

To the people who skipper our vessels, guide our guests, welcome visitors, maintain our boats, manage our bookings, look after our operations and work behind the scenes ~ thank you.

Thank you to the generations of our family who have built Akaroa Dolphins over more than 22 years, to the team members who have shared their knowledge along the way, and to the many local partners, suppliers, conservation organisations and community groups who help make what we do possible.

And to every guest who has joined us on Akaroa Harbour, left us a review, recommended us to a friend or simply shared in our passion for this extraordinary place ~ thank you for being part of our journey.

We're incredibly proud to be Qualmark Gold and to be recognised among New Zealand's leading sustainable tourism businesses.

But our commitment remains the same: to give you an unforgettable experience on Akaroa Harbour while caring for the wildlife, environment, people and community that make this place so special.

We can't wait to welcome you aboard.