Announced last week, the regulations followed an adventure tourism review ordered by Prime Minister John Key after Englishwoman Emily Jordan (21) drowned on a 2008 Mad Dog trip.
The regulations require tourism and outdoor education operators' exposing participants to "a managed risk of serious harm" to be audited and registered, taking effect from November 1.
Mad Dog operations manager Arno Marten told the Otago Daily Times this week the regulations were a move in the right direction, but were unlikely to mean any changes.
"At the moment, the new guidelines are not really affecting us ... Anyone who sets up a new company gets audited, and we have done this process many times." The guide, who recently took over from co-owner Brad McLeod and changed the name back to Mad Dog from the River Boarding Co, said safety in such operations had always been paramount.
"When this whole thing started in New Zealand, it was taken like we had never done anything like this [auditing] before, which is sad, as all the companies have safety plans ... It made it out to look like we were cowboys."
However, he was concerned the people carrying out riverboarding safety audits might not be qualified for the specialised task.
One solution would be to start a riverboarding organisation working towards promoting safety, he said.
