Adventure tourism operators contribute to safety plans

Adventure tourism and outdoor commercial activity operators are being invited to contribute to new guidelines to help improve safety across the sector.

The Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIANZ) and Outdoors New Zealand (ONZ) are holding a series of workshops around the country to get operator feedback on what they want to see included in a new generic guide to operational safety practices.

The guide is one of the recommendations from the government-led review of safety in the adventure tourism and outdoor commercial sectors. TIANZ and ONZ have been jointly charged with a range of actions, including developing the generic guide which will aim to provide clear and succinct safety guidance for adventure and outdoor operators.

It is likely to cover a range of subjects, including crisis planning, staff rostering, planning for audits, developing safety operating procedures, communications and legislative obligations. While it would be aimed primarily at commercial activity operators who are not regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority or Maritime New Zealand, it will also be a valuable resource for all organisations operating in the outdoors, both commercial and non-commercial.

TIANZ Advocacy Manager Geoff Ensor says that it became clear during the adventure tourism review that operators would value clear and simple guidance on safety management, over and above that provided by the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

Ensor explains "the review found that operators were highly safety conscious, but many had to develop their own safety practices as limited information was available that met the specific needs of adventure tourism. TIA and ONZ see the development of this new generic guide as a way to make our adventure and commercial outdoor sectors even better at providing high quality experiences to our clients.

"Through the workshops, we want to hear to hear what sort of information operators believe should be included."

The workshop series begins in Wanaka and Queenstown today (27th April) and continues in Te Anau and Invercargill tomorrow and Friday respectively.

For more information go to www.tianz.org.nz/main/adventure-tourism-review