Lifeguards say regional tourism push increases risks of drowning at Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach is being promoted in a new Tourism New Zealand campaign. Photo / Supplied

A campaign to encourage tourists to visit regions in off-peak times of the year has lifeguards worried more overseas visitors could drown.

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says she was open to talking with surf clubs about their concerns and another tourism group says it is time for a national debate on funding them.

Tourism New Zealand last week launched a $1 million campaign to encourage Australians to do road trips around the north of the country - including some beaches - as part of a broader strategy of getting visitors more widely dispersed around the country outside peak times of the year.

Hot Water Beach has experienced a surge in visitor numbers during the past few years and says the new campaign will put more pressure on its lifeguards, some who are paid for a limited season but most of who are volunteers.

And Surf Life Saving New Zealand says the tourism industry, particularly those promoting the area, also had a role in ensuring the basic safety infrastructure is in place to support the increased numbers.

"What is already a drowning 'black spot' will only get worse if lifesaving services don't increase to match the visitor numbers - and this will do New Zealand's international reputation no good at all," said the organisation's eastern region manager, Chris Emmett.

Although beach drownings are not broken out, 19 of 456 drownings during the last five years were tourists, according to Water Safety New Zealand figures.

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett said she supported the regional visitor push and made it clear the funding of surf life saving fell outside her portfolio but said she would listen to the clubs' concerns.

"I'm really excited by the prospects of Tourism New Zealand's campaign to get more people out into the regions seeing more of New Zealand and staying longer," she said.

"There are always challenges to growing tourism and I'm certainly open to talking with the surf lifesaving community, to listen to their concerns and see what government can do to assist."

The minister said she hadn't seen anything to indicate that the Tourism NZ campaign would cause any additional water safety issues but the government would always monitor it and was ''always open to doing more''.

Head guard and chairman at the Hot Water Beach club, Gary Hinds, said a fraction of the $117 million put into Tourism New Zealand marketing would make a huge difference.

His patrol also covered Cathedral Cove, another gem of the Coromandel which features heavily in tourism promotion by a range of organisations.

"Beaches can be as dangerous as the roads," he said. "We're attracting people here and they have no understanding of the sea."

On the eve of the last British and Irish Lions test a fan was rescued by fellow supporters at Hot Water Beach after wading into the sea and being swept away after a hot soak. Luckily two rescue boards were on the beach.

"They heard him yell for help - they just hopped on the boards and went out."

Hinds said the rugby fans were stunned there was no fulltime professional rescuers at the beach, which was packed.

There had been 12 rescues at the beach during the past two months, more than what some clubs performed all summer.

What is already a drowning 'black spot' will only get worse if lifesaving services don't increase to match the visitor numbers - and this will do New Zealand's international reputation no good at all.

Waikato Regional Council has took over from local councils to fund surf lifesaving two years ago.

Under current arrangements it will contribute $69,235 per year for two years from 2016 to 2018.

A council spokesman said in May this year the club asked for $20,000 in "emergency funding" for this coming season.

"We replied that we understood their issues but that it wasn't possible to give the extra sought as our 2017-18 budgets had already been locked in."

Funding would be reviewed for the next 10 years.

Hinds said the $20,000 would ensure continued coverage from Labour Weekend to Queen's Birthday Weekend every year.

Because visitors often cooled off after a hot soak in sand pools during winter, the beach was unique.

"Within five years I can see us having paid guards all year round," he said.

January is the peak month for visiting Cathedral Cove and excluding water taxis and boats, the number of people walking there increase from about 25,000 in 2013 to more than 55,000 in the same month this year.

Hot Water Beach Lifeguard Services chairman Gary Hinds on patrol. Photo / Alan Gibson

In January of 2016 there were 34,161 visitors.

Surf Life Saving NZ chief executive Paul Dalton said volunteers do the weekend work from Labour weekend to Easter and paid guards, mainly students patrolled during the week.

The numbers at tourist areas like Hot Water Beach has gone up dramatically.
Anything out of university holidays becomes a real challenge because their main source of labour is not there.

The push to tourism push increased the drowning risk, said Dalton.

"You've got the worst case combination of people who don't understand New Zealand waters and rips and now turning up at a time when there's no lifeguards on duty - Hot Water Beach is a classic," he said.

"The kind of funding that is needed to extend a paid lifeguard service into those shoulder seasons is not huge - it's a collective issue, everyone wants to see those tourists have a great time and come to those places and survive and go back to tell the story."

Beaches can be as dangerous as the roads.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa represents tourism operators and says enjoying New Zealand beaches had always been a popular activity for our visitors, both domestic and international.

"Safety information is available from many sources, such as websites and guidebooks. At most beaches, international visitors comprise a small proportion of beachgoers," said a spokeswoman.

"Surf lifesavers perform a vital community service - it may be time for a wider national debate about how they are funded, rather than focusing on a small proportion of beachgoers."

Tourism New Zealand says it advises everyone to take the same safety precautions on holiday as at home.

According to MBIE research, only 16.8 per cent of our international visitors claim to have done some form of swimming or surfing while in New Zealand.

Tourism NZ chief executive Stephen England-Hall said his organisation's mandate was offshore and couldn't get directly involved in the issue.

"The challenge for those services which are impacted by more people is that they've probably been designed at a time when people weren't the issue - there's real pressure around whether we've thought it through."