On Thursday, December 17, the virtual gala of the Prix Excellence Plein Air 2020 of Aventure Écotourisme Québec was held.
Contact Nature was the winner in the Innovation in crisis situation category. Congratulations to Camp de Base Gaspésie and to Karavaniers also nominated in this category.
It is an honor to be one of the three regional organizations that won an award at this gala. Congratulations to the Sur la pointe des pieds foundation which won the Jury's Coup de cœur prize and to the UQAC Outdoor Expertise and Research Laboratory (LERPA) which won in the Partner category.
Innovation in a crisis situation is a very meaningful category for us. Like all businesses, we too were affected by the crisis and had to innovate. How do we explain this success?
First, we were fortunate to have a management team that could have chosen to sit idly by and wait for the crisis to pass, but instead chose to roll up their sleeves, develop different scenarios and floor on new ideas. Although these ideas sound bold, they dared to undertake them.
However, the most important element that explains this success remains our human resources team who have agreed to take risks with us.
Thank you to our guides who agreed to become the leader of a brand new day camp
Thanks to Jenny and Maxime who worked with the local farm Jardins Baielactée to diversify our offer
Thank you to the Okwari Le Fjord team who reworked the name and packages to adapt them to a Quebec clientele
Thank you to the team at the Bec-Scie Outdoor Center, the Au jardin de mon père campsite and the Rivière-Mars for the resilience they have shown this summer, without ever giving up despite the heavy task that has been constant adaptation.
Thank you to Marc-André and Pierre-Luc, our managers, for their proactivity and their weekly calls to each employee during the lockdown.
Thank you to our board of directors who supported us in this difficult situation.
Thank you to all the employees for having jumped in with both feet in this daring. It is thanks to you that we can still be so active today, in the heart of the second wave.
Finally, we are aware that all companies have had to face challenges and have had to reinvent themselves. That is why we wholeheartedly share this victory with all the organizations in the field. Congratulations!
As our Managing Director Marc-André Galbrand says: "You should never waste a good crisis".
A beautiful winter season awaits us!

