ACC acknowledges proposed increases in levies for tourism operators are "large and unpalatable", general manager Keith McLea says.
He was responding to operator concerns about proposed changes to ACC levies.
Some Queenstown operators spoken to by the Queenstown Times last week said they were facing increases of up to 100%.
They said the increases would severely impact on their businesses and pleaded with ACC for staged increases.
Mr McLea said ACC had spoken to tourism groups and was aware of the concerns.
"We acknowledge that the proposed increases are large and unpalatable.
However, the levies collected from tourism operators, like many others, have for some years been less than required to cover the true cost of injuries in that sector."
In the past, the gap had been bridged with reserves, which had now been exhausted, he said.
ACC now had to collect significantly more money to meet injury costs and remain viable.
"Introducing levy increases in stages, as the tourism operators suggest, would not allow us to collect enough," he said.
Tourism operators did not have to take out expensive liability insurance because ACC covered tourists.
"The industry itself has acknowledged that much of it would not be viable without the ACC scheme.
This is especially true for adventure tourism operations, many of which operate in the Queenstown area," Mr McLea said.
The best way for businesses to reduce levy costs was to reduce the number of accidents.
ACC was now considering all the feedback received on levies and the final decision would be made by ACC Minister Nick Smith.
