"Lord of the Rings" Tours run on used Cooking Oil

A leading Canterbury NZ tourism company has taken steps to offset its carbon footprint by switching all its vehicles to bio-diesel.

Hassle-free Tours is the first tourism operator in the region to make a complete switch to the cleaner, environmentally-friendly fuel produced in Canterbury by Biodiesel New Zealand which is made with recycled cooking oil from restaurants and hotels.

Mark Gilbert and partner Nikki Marsh, who own and run Hassle-free Tours, say it's important New Zealand lives up to its clean, green image and that tourism operators take steps to reduce their carbon emissions.

Hassle-free Tours operates seven vehicles which take visitors on tours of the Canterbury high country, including spots where scenes for the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. Two of their vehicles are large six-wheel drives, one of which was designed and built in Christchurch, and both successfully switched to bio-diesel.

"Our tours take visitors into some breath-taking countryside. We really want to make sure that we have as minimal impact on the environment as possible which is why we made the decision to change to bio-diesel,'' Mark Gilbert says.

"With overseas visitors, particularly those from Europe, becoming increasingly environmentally-conscious New Zealand tourism operators need to show they are paying more than lip-service to being green.''

Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism chief executive Christine Prince praised Hassle-free Tours' initiative and stressed the importance of the tourism industry taking steps to become environmentally sustainable.

"This is a perfect example of the kind of long-term commitment to change and continuous improvement we are encouraging here," she said. "It is ideal that cooking oil from our hospitality venues can be reused to facilitate amazing experiences for visitors," she said.

The Government announced earlier this year that from April 2008 bio-fuels will form an increasing percentage of transport fuels. It wants 3.4% of all fuel sold by oil companies to be bio-fuel by 2012. Up until recently it hasn't been economically viable to produce bio-diesel in commercial quantities.

The switch to bio-fuel is one of two big changes Hassle-Free Tours has made this year. It's now running the popular Alpine Safari Tour which takes visitors on trips to the picturesque heart of the South Island's scenery on three iconic modes of transport - the jet boat, the 4WD, and the TranzAlpine Express.

Operating Alpine Safari Tours was a logical expansion for Mark Gilbert, 28, and Nikki Marsh, 31, who set up Hassle-Free Tours five years ago after coming up with the idea for the venture while doing their OE in Europe. They spotted a gap in the tourism market and decided to put the knowledge they had gained through touring around Europe to work in New Zealand.

"We've been on enough tours during our travels to know how disappointing it is when a trip doesn't live up to expectations. It's really important to us that people who come out with us really enjoy the experience and every detail is right,'' Nikki Marsh says.

The couple initially started off running ski trips but quickly expanded the business to include a Lord of the Rings Tour, which takes visitors on a journey to the remote and beautiful Mt Potts high country station on Mt Sunday, which was transformed into Edoras, the capital city of the Rohan people in Peter Jackson's trilogy.

This tour is still hugely popular with overseas visitors, with bookings continuing to grow several years after the movies were released.

Hassle-Free Tours also runs 4WD and jet boat adventure tours into the Southern Alps. Its tailor-made programmes are popular for corporate travel incentives and conference groups.

http://www.hasslefree.co.nzt