Crashes hit tourist operators hard
Serious crashes in the deep south are taking a financial as well as a human toll on tourism businesses and one company estimates trip cancellations cost up to $100,000 a day.
In the past month three crashes have caused delays on the Queenstown to Milford route, including one near Kingston on November 1 where the road was closed for more than eight hours after a tour bus collided with a rental car. Two American occupants of the car died.
Wayfare chief executive Richard Lauder said cancellations cost their Real Journeys brand up to $100,000 a day in passenger refunds because there was no alternative route if morning outbound schedules were disrupted.
Peak season could see up to 60 coaches a day making the 600km return trip between Queenstown and Milford so accidents had a substantial flow-on effect for tour companies.
‘‘Customers may only have one opportunity to go, so they miss out,’’ and on the return journey a crash could result in a detour through Gore that added five hours to an already long day.
The company was comfortable with safety-related road closures caused by bad weather or avalanche risks, but while not wanting to sound unsympathetic, it was a bit frustrating when they were caused by accidents, said Lauder.
As the chair of industry body Tourism Industry Aotearoa he supported the Tiaki Promise, which promotes safe driving, and he said it was important not to lay all the blame for bad road behaviour on tourists.
‘‘Half the drivers on the roads around Queenstown are tourists and half are locals.’’
Ministry of Transport data showed that over the past five years, about 4 per cent of drivers involved in crashes were overseas licence holders.
Efforts to educate visiting motorists about New Zealand road rules and conditions will continue this summer concentrating on Otago, Southland and the West Coast.
The campaign will range from digital messages on screens in petrol stations and hotel lobbies to stickers on coffee cups in cafes frequented by tourists.
Go Rentals general manager James Dalglish said those efforts were paying off and his company’s accident rate had dropped 10 to 15 per cent over the last three years.
‘‘With our Asian, American and European markets that are driving on the other side of the road, we’ve had some fantastic successes.’’
Go Rentals’ Queenstown branch will continue trialling a driving simulator launched in August with a view to possibly installing units in Auckland and Christchurch.
It gave visitors a taste of what it was like to drive over the windy Crown Range road, and was primarily a chance to practice their driving, rather than acting as a screening tool.
Dalglish said they questioned customers about their driving experience before they arrived.
‘‘I can tell you hand on heart that we have elected not to let customers leave with rental vehicles because we have decided it is not safe for them to do so.
‘‘Numbers were reasonably significant a couple of summers ago, but they’re not as big now because the education is starting to take an effect, and people are realising they need to be more prepared when they come to drive in New Zealand.’’