New Zealand asks its locals to help the country's tourists to know the dangers of its extreme surroundings. Earlier this month, a 53-year-old man found dead on Mount Tongariro. With a series of accidents and fatalities, this is the best time to show the New Zealanders' friendliness to educate the nation's visitors.
New Zealand asks the help of its locals to talk to its tourists in hotels, pubs, and shops. This move is to educate the foreigners of the country's dangerous environment after a series of accidents occurred.
According to the South China Morning Post, Police and the Department of Conservation unusually asks for people's help to educate tourists about their country. But the officers can't help but seek for their aid after an Indian man died on Tongariro Alpine Crossing. His demise is said to be the "second preventable death" in the area.
New Zealand has hit its record high tourism numbers. Most of its tourists visit the bush without proper types of equipment with little knowledge about the country's extreme environment.
About 57 hikers died in New Zealand in 10 years from 2007 to 2017, per New Zealand Mountain Safety Council. Almost half of the said numbers were international tourists.
With the increase of visitors, about 600,000 international tourists went hiking in New Zealand in 2017. It is a 34 percent surge from 2014.
There is also an 83 percent rise in related injuries in New Zealand over the past 10 years. In average, there are recorded 4,000 injuries a year. There are 500 cases of search and rescue operations every year to look for the lost hikers in the area.
NZ Herald reported earlier this month that Tongariro Alpine Crossing was ordered to close after a hiker died. A 53-year-old man was found dead on Mount Tongariro.
Police said four men went out to hike over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to Mangatepopo from Ketetahi around 8 a.m. on October 1. They stayed together on the bush edge below Ketetahi Hut. However, three of them continued the journey without the other guy.
The missing man's wife reported his husband's lost at about 5 p.m. that afternoon when he didn't return to their vehicle. The officers searched for his body until midnight but found no luck with the blizzard condition. They found his dead body the next day.
A rāhui prohibited visits and access to an area where someone died for a whole day, thus Tongariro Alpine Crossing was closed overnight. A karakia was performed on Mangatepopo Rd that afternoon.
