Conference Outcomes 2008

Click to download a full summary of the Ecotourism NZ Conference outcomes.

Opening Sessions

The Minister's session key areas:
• Environment
• Offshore marketing
• Tourism research
• Maori tourism
• Capability and workforce issues
 
Time to raise the bar on environmental, social and cultural performance.
 
Certification
Aim to have one NZ-wide certification standard
Generally seems to be approval of new standards however questions on:
  • Where is Kaitiakitanga & Manaakitanga and other cultural elements in the new environ standards
  • How will Qualmark fit with other certification standards such as Green Globe?
  • What is the evidence that certification impacts the bottom line?
  • Acknowledging the unique elements of ecotourism such as interpretation and guiding
  • How will it differentiate between mainstream tourism and ecotourism?
Concessions 
  • DoC objective to enable business opportunities to occur on DoC land
  • Significant Changes announced at TIANZ on the allocation of concessions
  • Favours well performing businesses, involves compulsory Qualmark certification for the life of concession & to continually perform
  • Now 15 to 20 year leases
  • Rigorous review process approx. every 5 years
  • Aim to build long-term partnerships with high performing operations
Feedback from new concessions policy:
  • Generally positive
  • Simplifying process
  • Process needs strong enforcement to protect the integrity of the system
  • Some questions on compulsory Qualmark certification
  • Acknowledging the potential impact of competing uses of our environment (e.g. for the West Coast mining and dairying)
  • On-going communication is key between DoC & concessionaire
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