New Zealand tourism shake up as Government promises to manage growth

Thursday, 16 May 2019

Rhys Darby, Ed Sheeran, Sir Peter Jackson and Jacinda Ardern feature in a new New Zealand tourism ad.

The Government's new tourism strategy aims to manage visitor growth better and make sure more New Zealanders share the benefits.

Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage launched the new strategy at the Trenz tourism trade show in Rotorua on Thursday, promising improved planning and more sustainable funding to tackle the pressure of increased visitor numbers.

Davis said the Government will take a more active role in tourism, so it continued to support national and regional economies, and create jobs.

'We must ensure that we're set up to continue enjoying these benefits, while better managing the challenges that growth can bring.'

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The Government's new tourism strategy aims to manage visitor growth better and make sure more New Zealanders share the benefits.

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Forecasts just issued by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment suggest moderate growth in international arrivals which are expected to rise on average by 4 per cent annually, so we can expect 5.1 million visitors a year by 2025, up from 3.9m last year.

To cope with that the tourism strategy sets out five key priorities which involve Government agencies working more closely with Maori, local government, communities and the tourism and conservation sectors.

They will focus on improving productivity, protecting New Zealand's natural environment, culture and historic heritage, providing good visitor experiences, making sure communities are better off economically, and distributing tourism around the regions.

Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage promised to tackle the pressure of increased visitor numbers.

The draft strategy released last year received more than 250 submissions, just over half of them from members of the public.

Many wanted more focus on communities and social wellbeing ahead of ever increasing visitor numbers.

There were also calls for more investment in transport and visitor infrastructure.

Sage said that it was important that the tourism industry was sustainable so heritage was protected for future generations.

'As visitor numbers rise we must ensure the tourism industry is part of the solution for our biggest conservation challenges; including climate change, impact of pest species, and habitat loss and degradation.

The Punakaiki pancake rocks received $100,000 from the provincial growth fund to help develop a master plan for the township. A new Government tourism strategy will help decide where future funds should be spent.

'Tourism can be a champion for the restoration of the natural environment, and show other industries and sectors how it can be done successfully.

'Previously we've had a bit of an ad hoc response to increasing visitor numbers, now with this strategy it will be a much more sophisticated approach as to where infrastructure is needed, so that we can get ahead of the growth in visitor numbers.'

At a regional level the strategy will put added emphasis on improving destination management and visitor data so the industry has a better handle on where people travel, why they come and what they want to do,

The plan includes an investment strategy to decide where resources should go, and Davis said they would develop priorities over the next few months with hopes of making an announcement by September.

Davis said the strategy would help inform spending from the Provincial Growth Fund which as of April had poured $253m into tourism projects.

Long term funding will also come from the $35 a head tourism and conservation levy that many international tourists will begin paying later this year, raising an estimated $80m annually.

Tourism and conservation will split that money, but many in the tourism industry are still keen on getting a portion of the nearly $2b tourism generates each year in GST.

That does not wash with Davis who said tourists used facilities like roads and hospitals so tax paid by them needed to be spread across New Zealand.

But he did not rule out the possibility of a bed tax for Queenstown, saying the Government would make a decision following the results of a Queenstown Lakes District Council referendum on the issue to be held next month.

However, he said Queenstown was a 'special case' and a bed tax would not be extended to any other councils.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts welcomed the strategy saying it aligned closely with the industry's plan for 2025 and beyond with its emphasis on sustainability and targeting higher value visitors ahead of higher volumes.

'We can only achieve that by steering the waka in the same direction.'

Tourism Export Council chief executive Judy Chen said the strategy was a good start and the industry would be watching to see what actions came out of it, and where money from the visitor levy was spent.

'It's only a small drop in the bucket in the scheme of things … it's important to identify projects that will have an impact so the industry can see some significant change,' said Chen.

Stuff attended Trenz with assistance from Tourism Industry Aotearoa