Riding ebb and flow of thrills business

Giving customers an adrenaline rush still gives Kaitiaki Adventures' Jason Wright a buzz - even after 10 years.
"There are always fresh demands and challenges, such as a one-year recession that has lasted for two years!"
Jason has been the general manager and a board member of the business since it started in 1999. During the last decade he has seen changes in visitors' expectations of their experience, with a greater focus on the cultural and environmental aspects of the activities they do, and changes in the expectations of the industry, with the introduction of Maritime New Zealand's white water rafting rules in 1999.
This code of practice puts the rafting industry ahead of the game as the Government considers the recommendations of its adventure tourism review - including proposals to license operators in the sector.
"It will be business as usual for operators who have been established for some time and who work within an extremely regulated professional sector."
Jason says New Zealand is a global leader in the adventure tourism industry, through activities such as bungy jumping, white water rafting, jet boating, and skydiving, and operators are able to measure themselves against their peers with the help of regulated authorities such as Maritime New Zealand, the Parachute Industry Association, the Department of Labour and Qualmark.
"But for start-up companies, this will give them firm guidelines to benchmark themselves against the sector and offer assurance to clients participating in adventure tourism within New Zealand."
At 95 per cent, international visitors are Kaitiaki's main clients. But Jason is keen to get more Kiwis and Rotorua people out enjoying what the region has to offer.
He and his team have got involved with promotions such as the AA Guide and Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing's Locals' Week, coming up next month.
"This will help build more awareness among New Zealanders of what is available in Aotearoa - we all agree this is truly God's Own."
But the natural environment and the adrenaline rush is only part of the experience for Kaitiaki's customers. He says having the right people working in the business is key to its success.
"Our world-class stable of guides and whanau-based staff environment leads to an extremely low staff turnover. Therefore, we find it easy to maintain a consistently high level [of employees]."
He sets high expectations of new crew members because he believes the working environment is such that staff are "extremely privileged" to be employed at Kaitiaki.
"Key traits we look for in new employees are the ability to deliver manaakitangi, personality, guiding ability and their capability to work within our demanding, yet casual, working environment."