WELCOME TO OUR SPOTLIGHT ON SUCCESS S E R I E S
with John Finlay from World Surfaris In this series, we catch up with some Sunshine Coast businesses that were in some of our very first issues of Business Matters Magazine and find out what has happened for them over the last nine years. For our first of the series, we sat down with one of the directors of World Surfaris, John Finlay, to find out more about their local Sunshine Coast business with massive worldwide success. World Surfaris is a unique business, it is the premier surf tourism company in Australia - maybe the world! They are the recognised industry leader and have established an enviable reputation for innovation, reliability, integrity and outstanding service. World Surfaris still hand picks their unique surf adventures, and are only prepared to represent operators and destinations that offer the best qualities for their clients. Like many entrepreneurs, the company founder, Shaun Levings had a vision that would allow him to combine two of his greatest passions – surfing and travel - and pursue them as an income producing initiative. He knew that there were many magnificent overseas surfing destinations that Australian surfers would enjoy. World Surfaris was initially founded as a division of another travel agency, until the Levings were granted their own travel agency licence (the travel agency licensing system was abolished by the government as of 1 July 2014). 68 ISSUE 72
BM asked WS, “What’s changed in the last 10 years for World Surfaris?”
From humble beginnings representing just one boat in the Maldives and operating from a home office, World Surfaris has grown to occupy two offices (Head Office in Mooloolaba and an office within KirraSurf on the Gold Coast), employ the equivalent of 12 full time staff including two working Directors and represent boats and resorts throughout the world. In early 2014, the Levings sold 50 per cent of the business to John Finlay. The new partnership has proven to be very effective and their complementary skills have allowed Shaun to concentrate on marketing, with John looking after the finance and administration.
“How has business in general changed over the last 10 years?”
Probably the most dramatic change has been the impact of the digital age. Let’s remember that it was only 10 years ago that Facebook first launched. World Surfaris completed its previous website in 2007 and by the standards of that day, was quite advanced with a ‘Surfari Suggestor’ feature and an image gallery with a slideshow. Fast forward to late 2013 and the website was looking very tired and outdated. It took many months of work to the website, finally going live with the new site in October 2014. It has wowed the industry with its slick videography and imagery, and user friendliness
