Sorting tourism funding key to new industry strategy

Wednesday, 8 November 2023

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Addressing problems around tourism industry funding will be critical to unlocking the potential in the industry’s new strategy, an industry leader says.

The strategy, which lays out the industry’s ambitions for the years to 2050, and 10 key actions that it believes will help achieve them, was launched at the Tourism Summit Aotearoa on Tuesday.

Actions were divided into three broad areas, and those areas included plans around funding for tourism, growing the workforce, building sustainability capability, and embracing Māori culture.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram said tourism of the future would not look like it had in the past, and the strategy aimed to ensure the industry was well positioned to flourish.

It envisioned a tourism ecosystem which delivered world-class experiences, contributed to local communities, and protected the environment, she said.

“The success of the strategy relies on a united approach, with industry, government, and businesses all committing to transformative actions.

“Each tourism business, regardless of size, has a role to play… It's this collective commitment that will make a difference to all New Zealanders and will propel tourism forward.''

Tourism is a bright spot in New Zealand’s economic outlook.

But it was also dependent on better providing and allocating funding, she said.

“There has been much debate about funding mechanisms, but there needs to be a national solution which is fair and swiftly put into place.”

Possible options included an increase to the international visitor levy, a departure tax, bed taxes, or some sort of conservation dividend, but there was a “plethora” of international solutions to learn from, Ingram said.

“The way New Zealand operates is unique, and we need to find something that is best for us, but it requires local and central government and industry coming together to find the solution.”

The call from the industry for a solution was strong and more unified than it had been before, and with better investment and planning, tourism could build back better, she said.

“Tourism was the country’s biggest export earner pre-Covid, and heading into its second summer of recovery it looks like it will be back to about 80% of pre-Covid levels.

Tourism needs a national funding mechanism, Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Rebecca Ingram says.

“New Zealand is looking for economic heroes, and tourism is a bright spot in the outlook.”

Dame Kerry Prendergast, who is the TIA chairperson, said partnership with the Government was important for the industry, but the relationship had often been undercooked in the past.

“We would like to see a highly placed Cabinet minister given the tourism portfolio in the new Government.”

The industry was concerned about the recent cuts to funding made by the outgoing government, and once the new minister was announced, the TIA would be raising that issue with them, she said.

Some of the other actions in the strategy included defining structures, roles and responsibilities in the industry, equipping the industry with the data and research it needed to develop, achieving net zero carbon, championing biodiversity, and deepening the use of Tiaki, or care for New Zealand.