Safety a priority in tourism
Waikato adventure tourism operators say drug use by a minority tarnishes the whole industry, but they are confident operators are adhering to the highest safety standards.
Their comments come in the wake of reports into a fatal balloon accident in Wairarapa and plane crash in the South Island.
It was found both Lance Hopping, 53, the pilot of the balloon that crashed in Carterton in January killing all 11 people on board, and two of the tandem masters in the Fox Glacier crash that killed nine people in 2010, had smoked cannabis before their flights.
And although the Transport Accident Investigation Commission said the drugs played no part in the Fox Glacier crash as the pair were not piloting the plane, using drugs was not a behaviour Waikato tourism operators would tolerate from any of their staff.
Chris Coker, the father of Bradley Coker, an English tourist who was killed in the Fox Glacier crash, has launched a Facebook campaign to try to tighten New Zealand Tourism’s safety standards.
Scott Bason, general manager of Taupo Bungy, said it was difficult to tell if the current slow-down in the market was linked to the high-profile crashes, or simply due to Europe’s financial crisis.
However he said the bad publicity was a matter of concern, with a minority spoiling the record for safe operators around New Zealand.
‘‘We work to the highest safety standards,’’ he said.
‘‘We do pre-employment (drug) testing and random testing of staff.’’
Mr Bason said in the decade of testing, only one person had had a positive preemployment test, and they were not employed.
Camjet owner/operator Aaron Crossan said drugs and alcohol were no problem in his one-man jet-boating operation, but he had no doubt the Carterton and Fox Glacier crashes would impact the whole industry.
‘‘It’s a no-brainer. You can’t drink and drive your car so you definitely shouldn’t be endangering people’s lives when you go to work.
‘‘It’s something that’s frowned upon across the industry,’’ he said.
Jodi and Mark Horning, directors of Skydive Waikato, said coming from the United States they had always had employee testing and a ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy around drugs and alcohol.
‘‘For us it’s never been an issue,’’ Mrs Horning said. ‘‘The skydiving industry is very small. A couple of calls and we can find out [a potential employee’s] past history.’’
The Hornings had recently closed their Matamata operation for the slower winter months, and were working on building up the Fox Glacier business, where they bought assets, but not the company itself, following the 2010 crash.
Mr Horning said the activation of the Civil Aviation Authority’s ‘‘115’’ regulation on May 1 meant many smaller skydive operators were currently grounded due to what he ‘‘very roughly’’ estimated to be a $10,000 price tag on completing the registration.
‘‘We were doing everything anyway; it’s just a whole lot more paperwork.’’
Mr Horning said he understood only six of the 23 operators around the country had been registered so far, and he believed only 10 would be ‘‘any time soon’’.
The Hornings were waiting for the warmer months and to see the impact of ‘‘115’’ before deciding whether to reopen their Matamata operation.