Proud, honoured and humbled were the words Robert, known as Jules, Tapper used to describe his being made an Officer of the New Zeaand Order of Merit for services to aviation and tourism.
Born and raised in Invercargill, Mr Tapper later moved to Dunedin and attended John McGlashan College, before finding his passion for the aviation industry.
An active pilot of aircraft, helicopters, gliders and paragliders over nearly 49 years, Mr Tapper had attained considerable experience through qualifications and practical application in several aspects of aviation both in New Zealand and overseas.
For more than 35 years Mr Tapper had made a substantial contribution to tourism and aviation in the Queenstown-Fiordland area - he was the co-founder of the Hollyford Valley Walk, which had won two tourism awards, Walk New Zealand Marketing Group and Hollyfordair Travel.
Mr Tapper revitalised aviation operations for the Mount Cook Group and held several senior executive positions there and at Airwork (NZ) Ltd.
A past director of Alpine Guides Mt Cook, Queenstown Chamber of Commerce and Destination Queenstown, Mr Tapper was also Tourism Flightseeing's general manager.
He is also a past executive member of the Southland Aero Club, where he instigated specialised mountain training programmes and has been actively promoting their inclusion in the pilot licence curriculum.
He is a past chairman of the Air Transport Division of the NZ Aviation Industry Association, past president of the New Zealand Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and he recently retired as an active trustee of the Croydon Aviation Heritage Trust at Mandeville.
As chairman of the Project Prevention Trust in Queenstown he was instrumental in securing funding for the installation of the original security cameras in the Queenstown CBD; is a volunteer mentor with Business New Zealand; and in a committee investigating installing water-enhancing machinery to restore Lake Hayes.
Mr Tapper is the Lakes District Air Rescue Trust chairman, and a trustee for the NZ Fighter Pilots Museum Foundation and the Southern Regional Air Ambulance Trust.
Now a semi-retired company director, Mr Tapper said he was "extremely grateful and proud" of the award.
"[I'm] humbled when I think that it is my peers who have put my name forward."
