Cultural Awareness
Respect for the local Māori culture is a priority for Elite Adventures as we visit areas with huge historical and cultural significance to the Māori people. As part of our manaakitanga (hospitality) and matatika (ethics), we respect the mana (prestige), mauri (life force) and wairua (spirit) that flows through these attractions. We teach and inform our tourists about the complexities of the Māori culture, its mātauranga (wisdom), tikanga (customs) and kawa (marae (meeting ground) protocols). We work closely with local Māori kaumātua (elders) to ensure that our interpretations are correct, poignant and relevant.
Elite Adventures guides visitors from many different nationalities and backgrounds. We demonstrate respect towards other cultures in the hope that respect for our culture is given in return. For example: our guides speak the basics of many languages in order to respect our visitors knowing that English, in some cases, is not their first language. We also attempt to greet our visitors in their language once their origins have been established and learn a bit more about where they are from. At each attraction we have multiple language translation sheets available for reference.
Tikanga:
Whanaungatanga
Whanaungatanga embraces Whakapapa (genealogy) and focuses on relationships and connections we have to the local iwi and the land. Members of our staff are of Maori descent or have married into Maori families and have excess knowledge on Maori tikanga.
Our guides share their Whakapapa (genealogy) with our Manuhiri (visitors) to display our connection not only to the local iwi but also our connection back to the Pacific Islands/Austronesia. The result being that we automatically connect to the visitors and can further implement our manaakitanga values.
Manaakitanga
Manaakitanga is incorporated into our business philosophy within regard to how we connect and treat our manuhiri (visitors). Manaakitanga is a central focus of Maori culture and it is our responsibility to embrace the hospitality theory of New Zealand and its people. It is the spirit of Manaakitanga which differentiates New Zealand from the rest of the world. Elite Adventures hospitality is well documented within our reviews on TripAdvisor/Viator and Google.
Kaitiakitanga
We are guardians of our land and visitors. The land has a wairua (spirit) and has a mauri (life force) therefore we believe you must protect Papatuanuku (mother earth) and everybody who journeys over here (Manuhiri). Creating awareness about our cultures affinity to the land is the best practice of Kaitiakitanga, Elite Adventures incorporates these values into our spiels, our rhetoric and our way.