Following the death of 39 adventure tourists in New Zealand, local government has decided it needs to set up strict rules for the industry and plans to launch an audit and compulsory registration of all companies offering adrenalin activities.
Adventure tourism belongs to one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Travelers are spending thousands on adrenalin activities and each year brings more and more inventions and new daring attractions. While the great news means the industry is doing well, the downside of it are many unfortunate incidents, and in worst cases deaths caused by the lack of health and safety regulations and their fulfillment. New Zealand Labor Minister, Kate Wilkinson, is currently working on a new scheme which will completely shake up the rules around adventure tourism providers in the country.
Chris Jordan’s daughter died in an accident while river-boarding in New Zealand. As a result of the tragic event, Mr. Jordan wrote a letter to local Prime Minister criticizing the current health and safety rules and regulations of the industry. The situation was assessed and the results were rather alarming. Over five years, between 2004 and 2009, 39 people died during adrenalin or adventure tourism activities. Many of these deaths could have been prevented simply by better health and safety rules and their rigorous abiding. The Labor Minister is now responsible for creating a plan aiming to improve and regulate the safety of the $3 billion industry.
The plan is to feature compulsory registration of all providers of adventure tourism as well as an initial audit and subsequent regular checks to assure health and safety procedures are being kept. Another issue raised is that all staff needs to be fully qualified and tested. The Ministry is to present the final plan on 30th November. Hopefully, it will be put into practice soon after the presentation and ascertain maximum possible safety and reliability of the immensely popular and crucial branch of New Zealand tourist industry.
