Helicopters in Tourism

In many parts of the world, helicopters are restricted to flying set routes on a set flight plan, submitted days before the event. This has resulted in the development of fixed helicopter product.

In New Zealand we are blessed with very few restrictions. It is possible to use a helicopter like a personal vehicle. Two weeks ago I was with some clients and we had no ground transport pre-arranged at all. Our helicopter was our primary means of transport, waiting outside lodges, on beaches, and on one memorable occasion outside an upmarket fish & chip shop in the Wairarapa. When we needed to, we hooked up with specialist guides on the ground who provided their own vehicles on an ad hoc basis.

This flexibility means you have enormous choices when in a helicopter. Always subject to the weather of course. During the course of one of our normal (ground-based) VIP tours, we would have a couple of back-up options available for clients to be activated as weather or sudden loss of interest dictates. Helicopters put a lot of pressure on the heli-guide in that you can cover a lot more territory a lot quicker, and that therefore one would need probably 10-20 contingencies in a day. We have found that once clients become used to the flexibility and to the depth of experiences we can give them round the country - they then take it for granted and start piling on the demands, which makes for interesting discussions the night before between myself, pilot and any number of possible options in the local area.

So we definitely recommend helicopters for use in tourism in this country, but attach a warning. Unless all you are after is a simple point to point transfer between one lodge and the next, then you really need to ensure your pilot knows what he is doing, that you have the right machine for the conditions and that the pilot (whose primary function is after all flying the machine in a safe manner) is backed up by a guide who is totally proficient with the area being covered. Like most things it's easy to do it to an average level, but difficult to do it well.

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