Grieving UK dad welcomes safety audit

Sarah Bond.

The father of a young British backpacker who plunged to her death during a quad bike tour at Waitomo is pleased New Zealand tourism operators will be audited.

Jack Bond, whose daughter Sarah Katie Bond died in August 2008 after the quad bike she was riding went over a 50m bank, told the Weekend Herald safety guidelines were imperative to prevent avoidable tragedies.

"From my point of view and from what I know of New Zealand's tourism ... something definitely has to be brought into place, even if it does cost them money," he said.

"What would they rather have? Would they rather have a record of people getting hurt or killed using their facilities or do they not think it's worth spending anything from $4200 to $5100 on making sure it's safe for people hiring their facilities?"

Mr Bond, now 61, admitted he was "extremely biased toward health and safety" but said he did not understand the mentality of tour operators prepared to hire out unsafe gear at tourism attractions.

He felt the safety audits should apply to all tourism operators, not just guided trips, and said any person who could hire equipment for activities should not be exempt.

"If you hire a car and you're driving down the road and you have an accident that's down to you or the other party. But tourism equipment that is hired out on an individual basis should be safe and up to a high standard."

Ms Bond, 23, from Ilford, was only two weeks into her Downunder 'OE' when she died.

"She would have been 30 in two months. It certainly doesn't get any easier as time goes on. It's just something that we will never get over," Mr Bond said.