He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata

There is a Maori saying. "What is important in life?" The answer is "He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata". "It is the people, the people, the people."

Tourism is no different.

A lodge is basically a pile of building blocks without people. An activity is less. And guiding cannot exist without people.

Over the years we have seen various changes in our top accommodation. Management teams have moved on to new challenges and lodges have invariably sufferred a lapse in quality as the new team takes over. In some cases, the rather long lapse in quality came while the old team was still in place.

Fortunes can be spent in placing a lodge correctly with the network of media and suppliers necessary to sustain life. Then a small change can send everything toppling.

Rather than pick out the lodges which are currently going through a difficult time - and anyone with their finger on the pulse understands which those are - we would like to focus on one individual - Heiko Kaiser.

Quite a character, full of energy, and fun to talk to. Those are the obvious bits. The not-so-obvious include; a fanatical obsession with quality down to the last detail (I was involved in a 15 minute discussion about what sort of tit-bit would be exactly right for everyone to have left in their rooms at turn-down time. The discussion was between Heiko, assistant and chef.), a passion for developing and leading people; a permanent dissatisfaction with the status quo and corresponding focus on developing new directions.

The result? A lodge which is fun to be at, which is playing at the top of its form, and which in every way deserves its place at the top table. I personally relax and enjoy myself at Treetops, even with very difficult clients. Why? Because there I can also rely on Heiko and his team. Nice buildings too!

For more information visit the Treetops Lodge website

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