Wendy van Lieshout is stepping down from her role as ceo of Active Adventures, but isn’t stepping away from the travel industry.
After a very full-on experience leading Active Adventures, which during her tenure grew to include American businesses Austin Adventures and Discovery Bicycle Tours, she is looking for more down time. “It’s been the most incredible ride of my career for sure,” she says. “We managed to get it obviously through that nasty pandemic and have also grown it hugely to more than double its original size when I first came in, through some acquisition and some growth.” And now, with the company set up to continue on without her, it’s time to step back. “It’s absolutely positioned to just keep growing, to fly.” van Lieshout is looking forward to spending more time with her family and being outdoors and is hoping to follow her passion for governance work. She is already a chartered member of the Institute of Directors and is on Evolve Travel’s board. “It’s always sort of been on the periphery,” she says. “Part of the decision to move on is to be able to give that the space and energy it deserves… where I can really make a difference.” While travel and tourism is her passion, it’s what the Otago region has to offer that’s really caught her eye. “I’m just really stoked to be able to hopefully help some companies here to have that profile and to attract investment and really just help the region move forward.”
. . . Time For TIME
Mentorship, including with TIME, is also on the horizon. Before anything else happens, van Lieshout is Italy-bound, where she says she’s excited to not only see the destination, but also have a break from her phone.
