Government sheriff agency to lasso adventure tourism cowboys

BY GRANT BRYANT

A review of New Zealand's adventure tourism industry sparked by a death on the Kawarau River has found industry-wide safety inconsistencies that threaten more accidents and damage to the $3 billion industry.

Prime Minister John Key ordered the review after receiving a letter from Chris Jordan, the father of Emily Jordan, an English tourist who drowned in the Kawarau River while riverboarding with Mad Dog River Boarding in April 2008.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said some adventure tourism operators were likely to be shut as a result of planned new safety checks after a review exposed potentially fatal gaps.

Ms Wilkinson said it was "scary" that adventure tourism companies could start up with no checks or controls, and warned that a compulsory register and mandatory safety tests were likely to see some closed or stopped from opening.

"To be honest, if they're operating unsafely, they should be shut down until they can operate safely," she said.

The report, released yesterday, said all operators, excluding white-water rafting and jetboating companies, would need to be registered with a yet-to-be-created control body and submit a safety plan.

A rule covering jetboating, rafting and adventure aviation is yet to be implemented, but will cover safety requirements for these industries.

The review found a high variance in safety guidelines and accepted practice industry wide.

It also uncovered weaknesses in safety controls and found under-reporting of accidents occurred.

A lack of any overall system to identify safety gaps was also highlighted.

Developing safety systems was healthy and proactive, but new companies were able to start and operate below generally accepted safe practices, the report found.

"While these gaps remain, there is insufficient assurance that preventable accidents, which harm individuals and New Zealand's reputation, will not occur," the report states.

However, Destination Queenstown chairman Mark Quickfall defended the resort's adventure tourism industry, saying in many cases local companies were the founders and pioneers of particular activities.

As such they were very safety conscious, and sought to mitigate accidents that would damage their own reputations, he said.

"Many Queenstown adventure operators are already regulated by an authority like the Civil Aviation Authority or Maritime New Zealand, and have stringent safety plans in place," he said.

"I don't think the report will have a dramatic effect on Queenstown, and businesses will welcome it, because we all have the same desire to see things run professionally and without accidents."

A J Hackett Bungy chief executive Michelle Trapski yesterday said the company had supported the review from its inception, and welcomed any changes it recommended.

"I hope it assures the public that the adventure tourism sector pays a lot of attention to our responsibility for duty of care," she said.

Mad Dog River Boarding director Brad McLeod yesterday said he had not had a chance to look over the review, but changes had already been made to ensure another similar incident would not happen.

"Whenever an accident happens there's a process to go through, whether that's a cut on the finger or the unfortunate accident that happened with Emily," Mr McLeod said.

Ms Wilkinson said the details of the industry-led entity would not be known for a few months.

Funding the body would not incur large costs on operators.A small registration fee was likely, she said.

DAUGHTER'S DEATH MAY YET SAVE LIVES

THE man who triggered the adventure tourism review in the aftermath of his daughter's death said her legacy would continue through changes that could save lives.

Chris Jordan said from his home in Worcester, England, yesterday that compulsory registration of adventure tourism operators was a victory.

However, he said, there were still many questions to be answered and he was concerned any industry-led entity created to ensure safety provisions were met might lack the power to fine errant operators.

"Having new companies register with a single body, and demonstrate that they will be operating safely, should have always been in place," he said.

"But this opens a whole can of worms over who will regulate and who will set the standard."

Mr Jordan said the Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Committee was established to set good practice in the United Kingdom adventure tourism industry in 1996 and it was definitely time New Zealand caught up.

"How Mad Dog were operating was why I started this. ... My daughter never intended to risk her life by going on the river with them."

He was still angry at the company and at company director Brad McLeod, Mr Jordan said.

"We've never ever received any apology from them, or the individuals involved, and they continued ignoring safety guidelines until they were forced to change them."

If adventure tourism operators regressed, or started "cutting corners" on safety procedures, auditors had no power to impose fines, according to the review, Mr Jordan said.

"If companies disregard safety when they've been told to change and don't, that's not good enough.

"If someone is closed down because of this, they should be closed and slapped with a $50,000 fine as well."

- © Fairfax NZ News