Minister at tourism forum

Mining and freedom camping were among issues raised at the Totally Tourism West Coast Tourism Forum held at Franz Josef recently.

The forum was part of the Westland Tai Poutini National Park 50th anniversary celebrations.

About 70 members of the public and local operators, and Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson attended the forum.

Ms Wilkinson and Department of Conservation officials took a scenic flight on to the Franz Josef Glacier on Sunday.

The pilot was Giles de Garnham, of Glacier Helicopters, which is part of the Totally Tourism Group.

Queenstown-based Totally Tourism managing director Mark Quickfall said the flight gave the minister an opportunity to see for herself how a commercial operator worked with the Department of Conservation.

"We often apply rules to our commercial activities that are completely voluntary, in conjunction with the Mt Cook and Westland National Parks Resident Users Group.

"These include observing minimum height levels over the glacier and establishing no-fly zones in some valleys and areas to keep disturbance to other users to a minimum," he said.

The company was trialling the Eurocopter EC 130 helicopter, which was quiet because it had an encased tail rotor.

It was also able to take seven passengers, one more than most helicopters, meaning potentially fewer flights over the sensitive glacier area.

If the trial was successful, the company would buy the machine for $US2 million ($NZ2.85 million).

It would be a huge investment, so the company needed to be awarded concessions with long enough terms to make it viable, he said.

"It was good to talk to the minister about being awarded concessions with long enough terms to encourage operators to make investments of this size."

Mr Quickfall said many of those who attended the forum had reached some broad-brush agreements about looking after national parks and conservation land so it could be handed on to the next generation in a good state.

"It wasn't so long ago that most people just wanted to look at our stunning environment.

"Now they want to ski it, walk it or land on it, and we're happy to help them do that in such a way that they appreciate and respect this land," he said.

Forum participants had differing points of view about mining national parks, he said.

"It's a contentious issue and everybody has got an opinion, but we need to have mature debate," he said.

The forum was facilitated by Tourism Industry Association (TIA) advocacy manager Geoff Ensor.

Mr Ensor said the forum was for tourism operators to discuss and debate commercial recreation on the conservation estate and how to foster it and tackle the challenges.

The theme was: "Fostering commercial recreation on public conservation land.

What will success look like?" It also featured a two-hour panel discussion.

The panellists included Ms Wilkinson, director-general of conservation Al Morrison, TIA chief executive Tim Cossar, Mr Quickfall and Tourism West Coast general manager Matt Ewen.

Mr Ensor said New Zealand's approach to many environmental issues had a "profound" effect on the tourism industry.

"It's important tourism operators play an active part in discussions and decision-making around those issues.

"Resource use, environmental management and energy policies will influence their businesses and ultimately New Zealand's future."