Canopy Tours is an incredible experience in Rotorua. There are many reasons why you should give it a go, or come back to experience it again! Here are a few reasons why you should choose Canopy Tours for your next adventure.
We don’t want to be the busiest zipline business
We started out with humble beginnings in 2012. Co-founder James Fitzgerald knocked on campervan doors begging backpackers to come on the zipline in Rotorua. Now we have zipped over 250,000 visitors through our tours. I would like to say we have zipped the most people in the country. But, to be honest, I don’t know, and that accolade doesn’t bother us. In fact, we could run our tours closer together and get more clients through our doors. But, that is not why we are here. The experience wouldn’t feel as special with lots of people zooming around the forest at the same time.
We are here to make people feel valued, to take them into the wilderness and allow them to forget about their lives and connect with those around them. Most other zipline experiences in New Zealand journey through farmland, a public area, or a busy parking lot. For us it’s different, we are located in such a special place and we want you to get the full experience. On our tours, you will head into an ancient native New Zealand forest. Your small group of 10 (and your guides) will be the only ones you see while in the forest. It’s like ziplining through a pre-historic land accompanied by your loved ones and two kick-arse kiwi guides.
The Crew
Our sophistication as a business is tied up a lot in our team culture. We strive to create a culture our customers feel, and we do that by working on the team’s emotions and our overall purpose as a business. To some people it may sound corny, but for us, I think it’s a huge success story. Our guides all buy into our purpose of changing the way people experience tourism, native forests and connecting people.
Our zipline in Rotorua is guided by two incredible guides. And we know that we need all our guides to gel to deliver 10/10 tours every time. We have always worked hard to continually improve the team culture and we’ve ended up with some great initiatives. These have supported the team emotionally and given them the support to deliver great experiences and to grow as people. We have also done a bunch of fun stuff with our team over the years to connect them. Regular staff parties and sporting events.
The Reviews
You’re only as good as your fans and our reviews prove that we’re a great option to zipline. In fact, I think it shows we are the best! We keep track of our review sites, and we read and reply to every single review. I find the reviews are inspiring and compared to other activity companies, our reviews are deep and emotional. These make you so proud to be involved in Canopy Tours.
On Tripadvisor, we currently have 6,878 reviews. And an unbelievable 97.5% of them are 5 stars. On Google, we have 1,444 reviews, and we average 4.9/5 stars. On Facebook we have 1,155 reviews and the average is 5/5. Our reviews are all replied to by our guides and our customer experience team. They need to get feedback from their guests to understand how good the experiences are, and what points of the tours are highlights for our guests. Although sometimes they feel awkward doing it, it’s so connecting for them to have that follow up.
The Conservation Project
We are the leaders in the regenerative tourism space in New Zealand. Our courses journey through 180 hectares of old-growth forest.
Before we started to operate, this forest was uncared for, unloved, and certainly unknown. Back then, we discovered that the forest was infested with rats and possums. We removed 800 pests in our first week of trapping work. It became a costly and time-consuming task. Over the years, we’ve had to get smarter to efficiently remove all the pests.
When we began, the forest was silent with no birdlife. Now the regeneration is obvious. We have Tomtit and North Island Robin calling the forest home, and we have a permit to hand-feed them! We also have a family of fantails that follow all our guests as they walk to the first platform. There are also many less common birds that are now more prevalent, including the NZ Falcon, Grey Warbler, Whiteheads, Shining and Long-tailed Cuckoo, and even the occasional Kaka!
I could go on and on here, as the forest is in such great health. The guides can tell you story after story of new findings of rare invertebrates, fungi, skinks, and even bats. The forest is getting better and better every day that we’re in there. Our trapping network of 850 traps is always baited and ready to go. Even guests who return after a year or so can see a noticeable difference in the forest’s health.
The Ziplines
I feel like I have talked about everything but the actual zip lines in Rotorua. To be honest for us it makes a lot of sense as we know Canopy Tours is more than just the ziplines. We know that the ziplines are the hook that draws people in. But after they have experienced Canopy Tours they leave with the engagement of the guides, the conservation of the story, and the connection they had with those around them.
I remember when I first did Canopy Tours zipline, I thought it was an absolutely breathtaking and eye opening experience. Not to mention, fun! But, please don’t take my word for it. Come try it risk-free! Our experience is guaranteed to meet your expectations or we’ll give your money back.