Aardvark Adventures owner scrutinises Tasmania Parks licenses for tourism operators

A long-term Tassie tourism operator is calling for more to be done to license and regulate nature-based tourism businesses in the state – after claiming he’s losing thousands by doing the right thing.

Phil Harris, owner of Aardvark Adventures, believes more needs to be done to crackdown on unlicensed and uninsured nature-based tourism operators. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A long-term Tasmanian tourism operator is calling for more to be done to license and regulate nature-based tourism businesses in the state.

Adventure tourism operator Aardvark Adventures owner Phil Harris believes he has lost millions in revenue to nature guides without proper licensing and insurance.

In Tasmania, anyone ­intending to operate a business on land that is managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, including reserves and Crown land, must be a licensed operator and hold a nature-based tourism ­licence issued by PWS, ­according to its website.

It is ensuring that Mr Harris meets these requirements year in and year out for his business that he says is putting him behind.

“I make sure that I am up to date on licensing every year, but it’s not always a fair playing field,” Mr Harris said.

The Three Capes Track. For TasWeekend school holiday edition. Picture: Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service The Three Capes Track

“When other unlicensed and uninsured guides compete with me for contracts, they ­always win when they don’t need to charge as much as a business.

“Being licensed and compliant is costing me my ­business.”

Mr Harris has seen primary, secondary and vocational education providers throughout Tasmania hire and search for unlicensed guides or free­lancers online for groups or school tours and said it showed a “clear lack of industry standards”.

“I have lost out on school contracts before that would easily provide $15,000-$20,000 for the business, but schools have chosen to hire people who just have public liability insurance yet operate in our parks for the activities,” he said.

“There no level playing field when no one enforces the rules.”

Mr Harris also called out nature-based tourism training providers in Tasmania, who he said do not focus on teaching future guides to be correctly ­licensed and insured under the law.

A TasTAFE spokesman said its certificate III in guiding covered managing risks and provided training “in line with what is specified in the ­national training package”.

These include industry and legal compliance requirements, national, state and local licensing and industry accreditation requirements and public liability impacts for guides.

“TasTAFE believes this is a valuable program for the guiding industry, and that our dedicated team of experienced guiding staff provide a strong training base to give people the right skills to work in the guiding industry,” the spokesman said.

However, Mr Harris said there appeared to be no repercussions for businesses which did not have the correct ­licence and insurance.

“We would count on PWS to clarify these issues and keep our parks free of unlicensed operators, but they continue to be hired by educators,” he said.

The “assurances” from PWS when buying a licence are a concern for Mr Harris.

The nature-based tourism licensing system provides ­“security of access for contract holders” and “minimum standards” for public safety and liability cover, PWS’s website says.