Kawarau Jet Fined £30,000+ For Safety Breaches

Our readers may remember when, in September 2008  Chinese tourist, Yan Wang, died whilst on a Kawarau Jet Boat excursion. The craft she was in flipped at the confluence of the Shotover and Kawarau rivers. She was trapped beneath the 2.5 tonne boat and discovered 90 minutes after the incident, despite pleas from members of…

Coalition For Social Justice

Press release “A new group has been formed called the Coalition for Social Justice. Its aim is to organise concerns around the governments Budget proposals and their implications for ordinary New Zealanders. Spokesperson Meredydd Barrar says, “cuts to working for families, Kiwi Saver and student loans and general austerity measures are not working in the…

Emily Jordan Inquest Opens In UK

The inquest into the death of British tourist, Emily Jordan, has at last opened. But not in New Zealand, the country where she was killed whilst river boarding, but in Great Britain. At the time of her death some adventure tourism activities in New Zealand were operating in a “regulatory vacuum.” Emily Jordan drowned whilst…

Doubts About New Zealand’s Ability To Host Rugby World Cup

A New Zealand based travel industry magazine, Traveltrade  has questioned New Zealand’s ability to host the Rugby World Cup and has hit out at the high prices tourists have to pay for accommodation, rental cars and flights during the event. The mag’s editor, Gordon Gillan, used an example of his brother and his friends being…