A founding member of Horizon Tours, James enjoys showing Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula to all visitors. A relative newbie to the tourism industry James' 7 years has been fun and rewarding.
James
Wife of James and founder of Horizon Tours, Kylie has over 30 years experience in the Tourism industry. Kylie runs our unique stargazing tour and the occasional day tour. Kylie is also the Managing Director of TRC Tourism, a global leading tourism consultancy, which unfortunately for star gazers can affect the tour's availability.
Kylie
Oli helps Horizon Tours when demand is highest, the Cruise Ship Season. Oli is an experienced guide having worked in tourism throughout New Zealand for decades. Oli also speaks Spanish, French and some Mandarin.
Oli
A founding member of Horizon Tours, James enjoys showing Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula to all visitors. A relative newbie to the tourism industry James' 7 years has been fun and rewarding.
James
Wife of James and founder of Horizon Tours, Kylie is multi talented with over 30 years in the Tourism industry. Kylie runs our unique stargazing tour and occasional day tours. Kylie also consults for Australian and New Zealand company TRC Tourism which unfortunately for star gazers can affect the tour's availability.
Kylie
Oli helps Horizon Tours when demand is highest, the Cruise Ship Season. Oli is an experienced guide having worked in tourism throughout New Zealand for decades. Oli also speaks Spanish, French and some Mandarin.
Oli
Our Team
James Karawana
Guide/Owner
A founding member of Horizon Tours, James enjoys showing Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula to all visitors. A relative newbie to the tourism industry James' 7 years has been fun and rewarding.
Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana
Owner/Guide/"Historian"
Wife of James and founder of Horizon Tours, Kylie is multi talented with over 30 years in the Tourism industry. Kylie runs our unique stargazing tour and occasional day tours. Kylie also consults for Australian and New Zealand company TRC Tourism which unfortunately for star gazers can affect the tour's availability.
Oli Ramanoel
Guide (Contractor)
Oli helps Horizon Tours when demand is highest, the Cruise Ship Season. Oli is an experienced guide having worked in tourism throughout New Zealand for decades. Oli also speaks Spanish, French and some Mandarin.
The name Horizon Tours means a great to deal us. The Māori whakatauki (proverb) means that a person with a narrow vision has limited ideas/views, whereas, the person with wider vision is more embracing of new things and the world before them. As the excitement for our business built, we were taken with the idea of the ‘horizon’ also as a space of connection between human-beings and the natural world; as a place where past, present and future intersect.
It is a name that reflects a time when James was looking for something new - new horizons! The creation of a business venture that combined their passion and commitment for culture and conservation. Many cups of tea, and the odd beer later, Horizon Tours was born as a Dunedin based tourism experience that offers a dynamic blend of eco-tourism and a cultural lens.
He rangi tā matawhāiti,
He rangi tā matawhānui
The person with a narrow vision sees a narrow horizon, the person with a wide vision sees a wide horizon.
The Horizon Tours logo has the graduated colour scheme from green to blue to reflect the connection between the landscape and the sky.
Our Team
Kia ora! We are Horizon Tours, a locally owned Māori whānau (family) business. Founded by husband and wife team, James Karawana and Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana in 2018, we specialise in connecting our visitors with the culture and community of our beautiful city, Ōtepoti, Dunedin.
We set out with our commitment to offer premium small group tourism experiences and we love that this is reflected in customer feedback to Horizon Tours or on our social media platforms like TripAdvisor.
It is also important to us that we are giving back to the places we visit. A portion of our tour fees help us to support community initiatives that mean a lot to us as a whānau.
Join us on one of our tours, we look forward to sharing Dunedin’s unique history, wildlife and landscape with you, sharing our love of this place as seen through our eyes. We will welcome you as guests, but farewell you as family.
Nau mai, haere mai - Welcome!
HORIZON TOURS - Winner of the Westpac Otago Māori Business Award 2020
About Us
Ford Transit 10 Seater
Comfortable, Air Conditioned, Large Windows, Retractable Step for easy access, Luggage space.
Ford Tourneo 6 Seater
Comfortable, Air Conditioned, Limited luggage space.
Oli's Fuso 18 Seater
Comfortable, Air Conditioned, Large Windows, Three steps access, Luggage space.