28 Dec 2014

Adventure tourism fears 'unfounded'

3:08 pm on 28 December 2014

The Tourism Industry Association says fears new safety regulations could halve the number of adventure tourism operators have proved to be unfounded.

white water rafting in Queenstown

Photo: AAP / Queenstown Rafting

All but 83 of 350 adventure tourism operators have registered and undergone a safety audit, in accordance with the new law.

Those offering adventure tourism activities were given an extended deadline of 12 September to make themselves compliant after just 86 met the initial deadline.

Association chief executive Chris Roberts said there were fears a large number of operators would leave the industry, but that had not turned out to be the case.

"We're not fully there yet but we're close to it, and of the tourism businesses who were required to meet these new regulations most have now got there. There are a number of small operators who still have to decide whether they're going to complete the process or stop offering that product."

Both the association and the health and safety regulator WorkSafe said they were not counting how many had closed or stopped offering activities.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs