INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS INFORMATION

The Tourism Export Council (TEC) with the Rental Vehicle Association (RVA) two years ago started the process of looking at visiting international driving fatalities and accidents, and wondering how to mitigate this going forward considering the rise in self drive holidays. RVA established a ‘best practise code’ in discussion with NZTA. Two years on with the assistance of TIA there are a range of initiatives the tourism industry and rental vehicle companies have done to help our international visitors.

Visiting Driver Project initiatives at a glance

Tourism New Zealand:

• Road safety training module for overseas travel agents

• Road safety leaflet accompanying Chinese visitor visas

• Dedicated website on driving in New Zealand – www.drivesafe.org.nz 

• Changes to Google Maps to better reflect travel times

Air New Zealand:

• ”Driving in New Zealand” app, available on long-haul flights

• Screening videos focused on driving in New Zealand in a range of languages on all international flights

Rental vehicle operators:

• Three-stage code of conduct targeting pre-arrival, vehicle checkout and on-road periods

• Information safety in vehicles

• Queenstown information sharing network, targeting high-risk drivers, ongoing

Accommodation providers:

• Have access to the Tourism Industry Association’s toolkit with information and resources to help promote road safety conversations with visitors