Chris Knol
Chris’ career spans long experience as both an outdoor recreation practitioner/adventure tourism professional, alongside an extensive career in international aid and over-seas project development. Chris has built a solid and widely respected reputation as a person who gets things done. He is known for delivering quality outcomes with performance that encourages and attracts clients back to working with New Zealand. He is a strategic thinker who has worked within many private and public partnerships with a significant body of work in international markets.
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Chris' Experience
Chris Knol is a seasoned professional with an impressive career in adventure tourism and recreation. With a passion for the great outdoors, Chris has owned and operated his own adventure tourism company, specializing in skiing, heli-skiing, rafting, guiding, and outdoor recreation tours throughout the Southern Alps of New Zealand. In his early years he held various practitioner roles, including heli-ski guide, mountain and river guide, avalanche instructor and mountain safety field officer. As his expertise became recognised, his career shifted toward a national perspective and he served in senior management roles in renowned agencies such as the Hillary Commission, The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council, The Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Center, the YMCANZ, and Outdoors New Zealand. He has played a pivotal role in the planning and development of a number of New Zealand national outdoor events in outdoor recreation, adventure tourism, and water sports, making this a hallmark skill of his work. Chris has also been involved in the development and implementation of several of New Zealand's policy strategies for outdoor recreation and adventure tourism activities, particularly in safety regulations, licensing and leadership.
Chris now focuses his skills on being a strategic advisor and independent tourism consultant, offering input and advice on policy development, tourism planning, and partnerships with recreation tourism and conservation organizations and communities, as well as feasibility studies, training program development, adventure safety training, sector strategy, and business plans.
Chris Knol
Chris’ career spans long experience as both an outdoor recreation practitioner/adventure tourism professional, alongside an extensive career in international aid and over-seas project development, throughout the Middle East, the Pacific, South-East and Central Asia and Europe.
Working within a central New Zealand Government context has seen Chris involved in almost every major adventure tourism safety development in New Zealand of the past 35 years.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, when a considerable focus on mitigating the dangers in outdoor adventure tourism was prevalent, Chris was closely involved in the development of the New Zealand national Risk Management Training scheme. As an owner/operator of an adventure tourist company (Wilderness Tours), Chris was intimately involved in managing the risks of taking tourists into the outdoors. This work lead Chris to becoming closely involved in the professionalisation of outdoor training standards and qualifications and he moved from practitioner to facilitator by shifting to Wellington to work with the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council, New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association, and the New Zealand River Guides Association, as well as outdoor education teacher training standards in improving safety management in outdoor risk activities.
Chris' Work
Chris Knol has 50 years of professional history in outdoor tourism and recreation, in practitioner roles ranging from mountain and river guide, through to senior management and governance roles including as the Executive Director at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre, Outdoor Recreation Manager for the New Zealand government’s sport and recreation agency (Hillary Commission), as well as National CEO for the YMCANZ.
Chris has led and been involved in the development and review of many of New Zealand’s policy strategies for central and regional government agencies in outdoor recreation, tourism and adventure tourism. These include the Hillary Commission (and its successor, Sport New Zealand), the Departments of Labour and Conservation, the Ministries of Youth Affairs, Education and Te Puni Kokiri, Civil Defense, Careers New Zealand, the New Zealand Army, Water Safety New Zealand, the NZ Mountain Safety Council, Aviation Tourism and Training Organisation, Skills Active, Hospitality and Service Insitute, Tourism Aotearoa, as well as a number of local body authorities. This work has ranged from writing professional standards of practice, policy development, legislative regulations, activity codes of practice, and the development and implementation of destination tourism training systems across multiple tourism activities.
Chris has worked in an advisory capacity in similar roles with the Sultanate of Oman, Kingdom of Bahrain, the UAE, Japan and for the Australian governments.
He has served on numerous Boards of Directors of tertiary education and training providers, adventure tourism, and outdoor recreation organisations. He has also authored many papers and manuals on outdoor and adventure safety.
Chris' Skills
Within international contexts, Chris has served in an advisory and technical consultant capacity within several countries, including the Sultanate of Oman, Kingdom of Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, Japan, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Australia, as well as many of the island nations of the South Pacific. He has also worked on complex transformation projects internationally, including engagements in the Pacific, Central and South East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, working with agencies such as the ADB, World Bank, NZAID, AUSAID, and the ILO.
Chris's expertise and experience have been invaluable in developing and implementing policies, training development programs, and regulations that support sustainable tourism, promote the industry's growth and realise the vision of regenerative tourism. He has authored many papers and manuals on outdoor and adventure safety, and a recent role has been to lead a panel of international experts in designing the NEOM adventure tourism regulations for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Chris Knol continues to inspire and motivate individuals and organizations to explore the great outdoors safely and responsibly. His extensive experience and knowledge have made him a recognized leader in the outdoor and adventure recreation and tourism sector, and his contributions to the industry have demonstrated a deep understanding of the sector's challenges and opportunities.
Adventure Safety
www.adventuresafety.co.nz
Phone/Txt +64 21 773 003
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