Chad Carey is a pioneer. Even though he is an adventure travel specialist, we’re not talking about only that kind of pioneer. Chad is also, in fact, a pioneer of Australian Reality TV. Who doesn’t remember one of Australia’s first reality TV shows: The $20 Challenge? Ok, maybe it was too long ago, but Chad was one of the show’s shining stars.
The $20 Challenge was on Channel 10, hosted by Tim Bailey. The concept involved dropping the four contestants in different countries with only $20 to survive. Not only did the show make Chad a household name for a few months, but it was also the primary impetus for him to find his way into the travel industry and co-start Chimu Adventures.
What’s happening in your business, and how does the forthcoming period look?
Coming out of the pandemic, I feel that we’re in a good place. Our Great Southern Flights program kept our core team employed during the pandemic, and now we’ll be ready to spring back to full capacity in 2023.
We set some ambitious sales targets for 2022, and we’re already above those targets. We’re hopeful of a significantly bigger 2023.
What are you excited about right now?
We’re really starting to get into full operations focus for our inaugural Antarctic season on the Ocean Endeavour, our joint venture Antarctic vessel with Intrepid Travel.
Our inaugural season was supposed to be in 2020, so it’s certainly been a long time coming! It’s less than three months until we start operating now, and it’s exciting to see it all come together so well.
Are there trends you are seeing that are driving change in the business or the industry?
There is certainly a drive towards experiential journeys, and I think that will only grow in the coming years. For example, we’re finding our new South America Signature range, including our curated behind-closed-door experiences, resonating strongly with both the trade and passengers.
The average age of our cashed-up traveller has dropped. This is a combination of the spending of pandemic savings and the younger generation seeking out bucket list travel while they can. Time is more important now than ever.
What are the biggest challenges for travel?
Undoubtedly the lack of airline capacity is our biggest challenge and will continue to be in the months to come. It’s certainly very frustrating to have clients wanting to book with us to Antarctica but not having reasonably priced seats to fly them to Argentina.
On the plus side, it’s clear that the long-haul travel boom is yet to come. Once long-haul airline supply returns, we expect very strong demand for our products.
What about the biggest opportunities?
In the medium to longer term, I think the big opportunity will be around delivering zero-emission travel.
I’m not just talking about those somewhat tokenistic things that are happening in the travel industry, such as a paperless office, encouraging less towel washing in hotels or a few carbon offsets.
Making a real difference means reducing operational emissions. Let’s face it; it’s the emissions in ships and planes that are causing a lot of environmental damage.
The technology isn’t there yet, but it’s the companies that are planning to use lower emission vehicles in the coming years that will be successful by the turn of the next decade.
How important is leadership right now?
There has never been a more important time for strong leadership. Our entire industry is in a chrysalis of sorts; as we emerge from the cocoon of the pandemic.
With the right people at the helm, we can reset the compass to be better than ever. Better for our planet, better for our communities and better for our travellers. It’s not only our desire, but our responsibility to do so. Without protecting this trio, how can we protect our industry?
Leadership, I believe, is all-encompassing and found at every level of our companies, not only in management teams. It’s important for the decision-makers to listen to their people with intent. Be optimistic role models, encourage challenging conversations and react to great ideas.
What would you like to see change?
I think more tangible results in terms of real sustainability. I get frustrated that the technological change within the industry isn’t coming fast enough.
At Chimu, we’re currently working towards making our entire business net zero emission for 2022.
In the coming years, I’d like to see our trips generate lower emissions in the first place and rely less on carbon offsets. I strongly believe that technological change is coming in the next five to ten years, and that is exciting in itself.
How key is collaboration in the industry?
One massive takeaway from the pandemic is how important solidarity and collaboration helped us to survive as an industry. This took many forms, for example, the likes of AFTA and CATO lobbying for the government to support.
But the collaboration was much wider than that. In the early days of Covid, when we were organising our repatriation flights from South America back to Australia, we collaborated with our competitors to get all Australians home. It was liberating to all come together as one. The usual competitive strains disappeared completely.
The collaboration was also apparent with our trade partners. Our Southern Lights and Antarctica scenic flights gave trade partners a chance to sell intercontinental travel in a period where it was near impossible to do so.
This not only resonated well with our existing trade partners, but we made a huge amount of new partnerships, too. In the end, 72% of our scenic flight passengers booked during the pandemic were through trade partners.
We have a lot of work to do as an industry, and it is imperative that we walk as a united front into the next chapter and beyond. We will be able to achieve so much more if we do.
Do you think enough emphasis is being placed on sustainability in travel and addressing the climate crisis?
I think we shy away from the elephant in the room, which is that travelling in itself is a somewhat self-indulgent carbon emitting exercise, thanks to the fossil fuel vehicles that power our industry.
Until we actually heavily reduce vehicle emissions, we can’t really talk about the industry being fully sustainable. This is something I’ve struggled with personally in the last few years because I just didn’t see a real answer to these questions.
I recently attended Seatrade in Miami, which is an annual conference for everything shipping-related. I was really impressed to see so many exhibitors already focusing on either zero-emission or close-to-zero-emission shipping solutions.
We’re not seeing these vessels depart shipyards yet, but they will in the coming years.
What are your personal learnings from the pandemic?
I think, in all honestly, that humans are amazingly adaptive individuals. If you had asked me if we could survive two years of limited income in 2020, I would have said that we wouldn’t stand a chance. But somehow, we made it through, and so have so many other businesses.
If only we could apply the same amount of ingenuity and adaptability to the climate crisis.
What is your message to the industry?
We haven’t come this far only to come this far. The best is still yet ahead of us!
You can find out more about Chad or get in touch with him via his Linkedin profile. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to track down a copy of the $20 Challenge yet!