Queenstown adventure-tourism operators have been praised for their ''huge depth of industry knowledge and experience'' in an open-book test of the new national safety regulations they helped devise.
Tourism Industry Association industry advocate and former river rafting guide Evan Freshwater, of Wellington, made the comments after he helped 25 professional risk managers from the Southern Lakes and Central Otago understand what they need to do to pass the compulsory safety audit in one year's time.
November 2014 is the deadline for most adventure- and outdoor-tourism operators to be registered under Adventure Activities Regulations 2011.
The adventure audit workshop in Mercure Queenstown Resort Hotel on Thursday explained the regulations and how the association and Outdoors New Zealand developed them.
Discussion then focused on where operators fitted and how to complete the forms.
''If we were to score them, I'd score them an `A' for their honesty with us to ensure their thinking, but also honesty with themselves,'' Mr Freshwater said.
''At the start of the day we say grade yourself from zero to 10 on how you feel about your preparation for audit. Hardly anyone's a 10, most operators say I'm a five,
I just need help with the paperwork.
''Some operators who were a seven or nine say actually, now I know, I'm a six, so again it's an `A' for honesty and they've committed to spending the whole day to understand that they're actually a five, a six or a seven.
''They know where they fall short now.''
Mr Freshwater said the introduction of new safety regulations would realistically make little difference to the daily business of Wakatipu operators because they had always had to, and wanted to, take all practical steps to ensure customer and workplace safety.
However, the audit was a demonstration and would be proof operators were taking all practical steps.
''A peer review, or an audit, has always been considered a really sound idea by those old heads in the game and you keep having those audits because you're only as good as yesterday,'' Mr Freshwater said.
''You have competent staff, you let people know what they're getting into and equipment is fit for purpose.''
Mr Freshwater said if they had not already, adventure-tourism operators now contracted to an audit provider and most cases, ''OutdoorsMark'', was the pre-eminent auditor available.
Operators then got the pre-audit checklist for real and went through everything they needed.
The auditor spent up to two days looking through the paperwork and went out with the operator to experience the activity in its different environments, before the auditor completed the audit and notified the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, he said.
Mr Freshwater encouraged operators to visit the Support Adventure website for more information.
