About Haka Tours

Haka tours believe it’s our responsibility to cover and save this inconceivable natural heritage, and they’re committed to doing our part to ensure that unborn generations can enjoy the same stunning geographies and unique wildlife that make New Zealand so special. In 2023, Haka Tenures will once again be awarded Gold under the Sustainable Tourism Business criteria by Qualmark, an independent and sanctioned quality assurance organization in New Zealand that ensures drivers give a quality and safe experience.

What other Aucklanders are saying about Haka Tours.

Charlotte Edgar : Just finished the 10 day south Island lick tour in New Zealand! Absolutely loved it our driver James was awesome, good laugh and joined in with the group! Shame the itinerary online didn’t actually match up with what we did/was offered to us.

Christine Sienna : Advertised as being “created for travellers in their mid-thirties and upwards”, it was stated that “the biggest difference on a Haka Plus New Zealand small group tour is the style of accommodation. You’ll stay in trendy hotels, boutique motels, lodges, and rainforest retreats – no backpackers and no dorm rooms”.
Unfortunately, this certainly was not the case. We were to be provided “A Night of Glamping Under Southern Stars: Luxury camping experience on a historic farm surrounded by breathtaking scenery and enjoying high country hospitality.
The alternative accommodation provided was completely unacceptable. Instead of twin share accommodation in a comfortable, hygienic setting with a private bathroom, we were presented with a rooms in the YHA Backpackers hostel with unclean shared bathrooms- toothpaste had been left in the sink; odorous dorm rooms with old and worn furnishings, and wifi unavailable in the rooms. Feeling unsafe being in this unhygienic Backpackers accommodation setting with no privacy or cleanliness, we paid $450 out of our own pocket for these two nights for accommodation in Wanaka of the standard that was promised- NOT BACKPACKERS & DORM ROOMS- as stated on the website regarding Haka Plus Tours. We were promised Twin-share hotel style accommodation and this was not provided at Wanaka.
As a compensation we were promised a dinner paid for by Haka Tours at the Pub on Dec 28th 2022 – not including drinks. The tour group attended this dinner at Lake Bar, Wanaka. As we had finished eating, the tour guide left with the 2 male members of the group to play pool and left the girls at the table. As everyone was leaving and settling the tabs for their own drinks, the last lady to pay for her drinks was then told that none of the starters had been paid for by the Haka Tour guide and that she would be financially responsible for this. This is unacceptable, underhanded and dishonest behaviour on behalf of the tour guide and shows a complete lack of responsibility or care for the wellbeing of the tour group participants.
As stated on the Haka tours website: “ All these New Zealand escorted tours come with an experienced and knowledgeable driver guide who is extremely passionate about showing off New Zealand. In their safe hands you will be sure to fall in love with the gorgeous country that we at Haka Tours call our home.” On the whole, the behaviour of our tour group leader was very flippant and juvenile; and he seemed disorganised and disinterested in giving us information or providing tour participants an educational as well as enjoyable experience. For example, when asked if the tour group members were staying at the YHA Backpackers Hostel Accommodation at Wanaka, he refused to answer the question and said that he would talk about that issue later, constantly deferring and deflecting when asked for information. He also repeatedly used expletives when speaking, spoke about getting ‘sh*tfaced’ and drinking- where his favourite drinking holes were and listened to heavy metal rock music in the bus where swearing was featured constantly. There were mature ladies in their 50s and 60s as part of the tour group. Vaping was a constant activity on his part and care was not taken to avoid exposure of the tour participants to the nicotine vapours. He certainly did not present as a “Passionate and knowledgeable local Kiwi guide” as stated on the Haka tours website.

​Hello team at Haka Tours,

It has been over a month since our last correspondence and we are still awaiting our FULL refund of:

* 20% of the original tour price ($3999 for each person which would equal $799.80NZ refund per person)

PLUS

* the refund we are both owed for the Heli Hikes at Franz Josef that did not occur due to the weather conditions, fully pre-paid (a refund of $499NZ per person)

Please refund the 2x(799.80) + 2x($499) = $2597.6 TOTAL (minus $749) directly to the original credit card used for payment IMMEDIATELY

Rachael Baker : Just did the 10 day Southern Pioneer tour, with the awesome George as our guide and it was by far the best experience! First time solo travelling outside of Aus and we were so lucky with the beautiful group, but also the amount of beautiful scenery and activities we did. George was very warm, welcoming, down to earth and relaxed and he most definitely made the experience enjoyable. I absolutely loved the trip and would do it in a heartbeat again, highlight was the 2 night glamping experience on Wanaka, loved having the property to ourselves! Some discrepancies between Intrepid’s itinerary but nothing major. Loved the greenstone carving that was extra special! Could not fault the smoothness of the trip and the accommodation was fantastic! Especially in Lake Tekapo/Lake Ohau – the lodge was lovely and would have been nice to stay an extra night there actually. Special props to George for providing daily Māori word of the day’ and giving us such a wonderful, memorable experience.

Adrienn Balázs : I did the Coasts & Culture North Island tour in December 2022 and I had a blast! Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bad during the entire trip, but that didn’t stop my group from having fun. The activities were absolutely amazing, especially in Rotorua, and my guide, Summer, was fantastic. Her positive vibes, always cheerful attitude and knowledge of New Zealand made this trip unforgettable. I’m sure the tour wouldn’t have been the same without her and she definitely positively influenced the mood of our group.

MingandPo L : 10 Days Southern Pioneer Haka Plus tour on 23 Dec to 1 Jan 2023. In accordance with the Consumer Guarantees Act, We have written to Haka seeking a refund due to the misleading tour advertised and the inferior tour provided after departure. We are still waiting for a response from Haka. We require a refund of the money paid for the pre-booked cancelled Franz Josef Heli Hike and Wanaka cruise and in addition, compensation for the following items:

Inclusions that were not provided:
* We seek a refund for the Wanaka accommodation. Itinerary stated: Wanaka Glamping (luxury camping) on Criffel Station. When we arrived in Wanaka at 9:30pm at night, we were told that the Glamping site was booked out and that instead we had to stay at YHA Backpacker Hostel in Wanaka and 4 guests will share a dorm with one shared bathroom. Also there were no twin beds available for our room so two people are forced to sleep together on the same double bed. Also a man sharing a dorm and bathroom with three women – highly inappropriate. The Haka PLUS tour should not have placed guests into dorms. The situation with accommodation being booked out is poor planning on the part of the Haka team who as experts in NZ tourism should have anticipated accommodation capacity during peak Xmas Holiday season.
* We moved out in the middle of the night at 10pm to the only closest available accommodation with vacancy – Wanaka Hotel. The receptionist at Wanaka Hotel told us this was not the first time Haka has placed guests expecting to go Glamping into the YHA backpacker hostel. This is a very unsatisfactory situation that has forced us to spend additional out of pocket costs for alternative accomodation that should not have happened on tour.
* Website stated ‘feast on daily hearty breakfasts’ – No breakfast was provided for the two days in Queenstown and two days in Wanaka.
* Itinerary states ‘Cruise through Wanaka on a guided e-bike. There was no guide for this activity. Only bikes were provided. The actual route itself was unsuitable for beginners – in particular, the Lake Wanaka Outlet Track.
* Queenstown Dart River Funyaks – we paid for the funyak 2 months in advance $399 per person however we were told on 24th December before reaching Queenstown that Haka did not follow up an email with the Funyak company and the booking was not made. Rhys put us on the shortlist and luckily a couple dropped out and we were able to go on the activity. However this was again, another demonstration of the subpar planning and back office mishap that plagued our tour.
* Website stated: “Comfortable and air-conditioned bus transport” – the bus provided was dusty, dated and not comfortable. Our guide Rhys admitted to the whole tour group on Day 2 (24 Dec 2022) that this was not the usual bus used for Haka Plus tours.
* Website stated: “Passionate and knowledgeable local Kiwi guide” and “Orientation tour of each and every location” – our guide Rhys was very caring of each traveller and a great guy, but he was set up to fail by his company. Rhys has not been a guide for a long period of time before this tour and had minimal local knowledge of each location especially since many things have changed since covid lockdowns. The company should have briefed him in advance on the history and local guide information of each key location to share with guests. Instead he was more like a bus driver taking us from A to B. He did not provide any orientation tour of each and every location.

We have taken many tours with your parent company Intrepid in the past, so we are very familiar with the tour format and types of accommodation offerings. Haka tours has good ratings online and with the acquisition from Intrepid and the country being New Zealand, we were shocked that the tour could not provide a basic reasonable standard of professionalism in managing bookings during peak season and the itinerary online was misleading to customers. We appreciate your prompt processing of the refund and response.