Otago Daily Times

Tourism operators offered loans

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WELLINGTON: Cashstrapp­ed adventure tourism operators are being offered a helping hand to ensure they can complete safety audits.

Every three years, operators have to undergo a safety audit under the Adventure Activities Regulation­s at an average cost of $4000$5000.

They cannot operate without an audit and many of them will need one in the coming months.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) is offering its members interestfr­ee loans to cover up to half of the safety audit fee.

Chief executive Chris Roberts said it was an unpreceden­ted step for the TIA.

‘‘We have explored the possibilit­y of government funding but have been told by ministers that none is available, so we are using our own balance sheet to support our members,’’ Mr Roberts said.

‘‘Not only are we supporting our operators, particular­ly small businesses, we are also helping ensure that Kiwi holidaymak­ers will be able to enjoy these activities over the summer.

‘‘Safety is always the top priority for adventure and outdoor operators. TIA is proud to support this vital sector of our industry through these challengin­g times.’’

Worksafe has 312 adventure activity operators registered, about half of which are adventure tourism operators. The rest are in the commercial outdoor sector.

Mr Roberts said the government ministers he contacted had ruled out using the Internatio­nal Visitor Conservati­on and Tourism Levy.

In a letter sent to the TIA on September 24, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said the levy was unsuitable to cover the audit fees as they were the responsibi­lity of the operators.

He also said most of the $57.3 million of revenue was already assigned, any changes to the fund would need Cabinet signoff, and the additional funding was being kept for projects that aligned with the levy’s goals.

On August 14, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Andrew Little wrote a letter to Mr Roberts, saying he understood the additional pressure adventure operators were facing.

‘‘My officials have explored various funding avenues within the Tourism and Workplace Relations and Safety portfolios to understand if safety audit costs could be addressed through alternativ­e means. Currently there are no suitable funding sources within government available to address these costs,’’ Mr Little said.

‘‘I understand that WorkSafe is ensuring that flexibilit­y around audit timings for businesses affected by Covid19 is available.’’

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