In a vote of confidence for Blue Mountains tourism, pioneering travel company World Expeditions Travel Group has bought the Katoomba-based Blue Mountains Adventure Company.
Australia’s leading adventure travel specialist, World Expeditions Travel Group has acquired a majority shareholding in the Blue Mountains Adventure Company, a long-respected operator of day adventure activities in the Mountains.
World Expeditions Travel Group’s CEO, Sue Badyari, said their group now plans to expand the range of guided and self-guided walking trips in the Blue Mountains region, while remaining committed to the canyoning specialisation, on which the company’s excellent reputation is based.
“We’re excited about this alliance with a like-minded organisation who are leaders in their specialised fields of canyoning, rock climbing, abseiling and bushwalking,” Ms Badyari said.
“World Expeditions has had a long held desire to have an operational base in the Blue Mountains and the acquisition provides that with its Katoomba office, allowing us to provide even more opportunities for our guide team to have year-round employment, with operations based out of four Australian centres.
Ms Badyari said the cultural similarities between the Blue Mountains Adventure Company and their other brands made “an ideal basis for closer collaboration, with all our brands having a strong focus on the customer experience, safety, adherence to responsible travel practices and philanthropic practices”.
Blue Mountains Adventure Company managing director, Dylan Jones, will stay on with the business for the next 12 months to ensure a smooth transition.
“Having poured myself in to the business over the years, I have a strong desire to ensure the success of the business going forward and looking forward to assisting the new management over the coming year.
“I still love my job here and I care deeply about the staff, the community we’re a part of, and our guests. I also care a great deal about the positive impact that the business makes in the community and the wider world. “
A market leader in day-long canyoning trips in the Blue Mountains, including Hole in the Wall, Serendipity, and Yileen, and other lesser known canyons, the Blue Mountains Adventure Company employs a world-class guiding team with a strong focus on the customer experience, safety and environmental conservation.
Like World Expeditions, the Blue Mountains Adventure Company has a long established philanthropic ethos, supporting Mountains Youth Services Team (MYST), an organisation to empower at-risk youth through outdoor programs.
Mr Jones, said he was “delighted by the possibilities and opportunities that come out of this partnership”.
World Expeditions is an Australian owned and based company with offices in New Zealand, UK, and Canada and tours all over the world (including brands like UTracks, Tasmanian Expeditions, Adventure South, Great Canadian Trails, Australian Walking Holidays, World Youth Adventures, Huma Charity Challenge, Trail Journeys, Sherpa Van, Sherpa Expeditions and now Blue Mountains Adventure Company).
The acquisition, which takes to 13 the number of brands within the WETG, provides World Expeditions with a new operational base near its Sydney headquarters, complementing its existing domestic operations in Alice Springs, Darwin and Launceston.
