Viva Expeditions is eyeing further growth in 2026, with founder Rachel Williams back from a year-long trip around Australia feeling re-set, re-invigorated and excited about what’s ahead.
Last year, with Tara Sutherland at the helm, Viva achieved 30% growth year-on-year and Williams says the goal is to pretty much just continue on this track.
Sutherland will remain in the gm role having done ‘such a fabulous job’, and Williams says Viva is growing its reservations team to better support agents—who are the key to its success.
“Our growth has been primarily driven by our trade relationships and our agents,” she says. “At the end of the day, still a majority of clients in New Zealand who are travelling to our destinations are going to book them through their retail travel agent.”
Viva plans to host training events and webinars for agents in the coming months, including an adventure travel roadshow in Aug/ Sep. The company hopes to also offer more famils in 2026. “We’ve been in the position in the past couple of years to really start re-engaging agents…it feels like we’re all moving forward together and it’s a pretty exciting time.”
. . . Trends
South Africa, Latin America and Polar destinations are proving popular as more travellers look to the southern hemisphere, says Williams.
“South Africa is going really strong at the moment with our rugby pack ages; We have a lot of people who are combining a safari with going to see international rugby tests”, she says. “We’ve got some really amazing safari packages on offer.”
Williams says there’s strong interest in Saudi Arabia—an ‘incredibly safe’ destination and highlights its tour with Wendy Petrie this year. She also says there’s growing demand for high value bookings. “People are actually spending big money it seems, so it’s a good opportunity to drive that high value product.”
Williams has also hinted at some new projects that she’s currently working on—but remains tightlipped on those for now.
