Outward Bound New Zealand CEO Victor Klap is supporting calls from the tourism and recreation sectors to lift restrictions for non-essential domestic travel at COVID-19 Alert Level 2.

The delivery of Outward Bound courses in Anakiwa relies on students being able to travel to the Marlborough location, a journey undertaken by more than 65,000 New Zealanders since the school opened in 1962.

The school is currently closed due to the pandemic, however its staff have been working hard to put in place a hygiene and physical distancing framework for the school so that it can reopen as soon as restrictions are lifted.

“We already follow rigorous health and safety processes at Outward Bound. Developing our pandemic response plan has been a key focus over the past six weeks so that we can adapt our delivery to reopen and welcome students back to the school.

“Our health screening and rapid response procedures are all in place, and we are confident we can coordinate this with the government’s contact tracing recommendations. We believe we can absolutely keep students safe once they get to the school. What will hold us back from re-opening are the restrictions on inter-regional travel,” he says.

Victor believes if the government’s contact tracing app is released in time for Alert Level 2, non-essential domestic travel could be allowed at that time.

“Our current enrolment and screening process is incredibly thorough. Combine that with the contact tracing app and safe travel protocols and I believe New Zealanders should be able to engage in outdoor education.

“The mental and physical wellbeing of our society is currently very fragile, particularly for young people. Our courses change lives and they build resilience - we’re committed to keep delivering these experiences to more New Zealanders”.

© Scoop Media