Tell us about Majestic Whale Encounters.
Majestic Whale Encounters is an eco conscious company that takes small group travel to destinations like Tahiti, Tonga and Norway to swim and interact with Humpback whales, Orcas and Dolphins. All tours are packaged and inclusive for a stress free adventure holiday and each tour also has a give back scheme, which allows guests the opportunity to give something back to the countries, locals and animals they encounter. All our tours are operated with total respect for the whales and all encounters are on the animals’ terms.
Most tours have a maximum of 8-10 guests plus a personal guide making each tour a great way to get up close and personal to the whales and dolphins. It also means maximum interaction with minimal impact to the ocean, animals and environment. Touring with Majestic is also a wonderful way to meet like-minded people who become friends for life!
What inspired you to start Majestic Whale Encounters?
The inspiration for Majestic came from a recurring dream of swimming with whales and dolphins when I (Carmen) was a very young girl, well before swimming with whales was something you could actually legally do. That dream turned into reality with the introduction of the internet and the new possibilities it brought. With searching the Internet I could see that swimming with whales had been legally introduced to the islands of Tonga and that then set me on a brand new path to swim with whales and dolphins and to be able to share the experience with anyone else that had the same aspirations.
I have always believed if you want something badly enough you will move heaven and earth to get there. With the support of family and friends that dream of a young girl finally became a reality!
Tell us about your career and background.
I come from a background of Zoo Keeping and although I had always loved my work and felt like I was doing all I could to contribute to species conservation and education, I faced a constant struggle of how I could best help the animals I loved so much. Maybe I could take people to see animals in their natural environment wild and free and continue in their protection, conservation and public education in that manner instead?
Turns out it was the right decision and I can now utilise the business of Majestic as a platform for many conservation issues that both marine life and land animals face. This also gives the public a chance to learn more about these animals in their natural environment, which in turn allows them to gain a newfound appreciation and connection to these animals through close encounters.
Describe a typical workday for you (if there is such a thing).
Every day is so different for us, and that is one of the reasons that we love it so much. Some days it is just all paper work… invoices, bulletins, enquiries etc. Other days are spent creating tours, planning new exciting adventures. Then of course we have days on tour with guests and also trips where we are scouting out different locations. The only sure thing is that no day is the same as the other.
Has COVID-19 affected your business? How are you navigating that?
As a tourism business, the pandemic has impacted our business in every way. All the tours we run at Majestic Whale Encounters are international, so it essentially stopped us in our tracks. In beginning our main priority was just to keep guests informed and let them know we were going to take care of them. At this point, we have had to cancel more than a year’s worth of tours and still just crossing our fingers that the borders open up soon so we can resume business.
We have tried our very best to keep our heads up and thought of some new ways to survive. We are introducing a new trip in Kangaroo Island this year in the hope that we can run something here on our home soil and we have also headed in a new direction with our brand new children’s book series, Little Ocean Warriors.
Once the world is back to normal, we intend to hit the ground running and be bigger and better than ever, so during COVID we have been working hard. We have gone through our services with a fine-toothed comb and made improvements where we can. Lots of effort has gone into keeping everything running and keeping potential clients keen and ready to book once borders open.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
There are so many lessons we have learnt over the past seven years, but the overwhelming theme is to just keep going. You will have wins, which will feel absolutely amazing, but you will also have many failures. Use the failures as a lesson to improve and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
What’s next for you, and Majestic Whale Encounters?
Once the international borders open up and we can travel again, we will be resuming all our tours and we are also looking at broadening our horizons with plans for a tour in Antarctica in 2023. In the meantime, we are working hard to put together our new children’s book series. Our first book, Nellie the Narwhal has been received well and we are releasing two new books in the coming months.
To book a tour, or find out more about the ocean encounters, head to: http://majesticwhaleencounters.com.au/
To buy Nellie the Narwhal: littleoceanwarriors.com.au
