Domestic focus to rescue tourism

The tourism industry is in for a major shake-up as the Government plans how it will operate post-Covid-19.

Yesterday, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced that the Government and industry were working together on a plan to restart tourism, which was likely to be a phased process.

He said the tourism industry would play an important role in New Zealand’s economic recovery, but there would be a very different approach, with more emphasis on financial sustainability.

‘‘How we market domestically and internationally, who we market to. Given international travel is likely to be heavily restricted for some time ... this will need to be a phased approach, looking at how we can focus on and promote domestic tourism in the short term and how we can target an international offering.’’

Davis said he expected to receive advice on the recovery plan in the next two weeks, with Tourism New Zealand leading the project and getting input from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Department of Conservation and industry.

The Government will also rethink its use of the international visitor levy, estimated to raise up to $80 million annually.

An investment plan had been prepared and Davis said they would now look at how the levy could be best used to help rebuild the tourism industry as part of a restart package.

Tourism NZ chief executive Stephen England-Hall said the dramatic impact of the coronavirus was an opportunity to address some of the concerns about the pressures tourism had placed on some communities.

Tourism NZ’s remit was previously to promote New Zealand internationally, and England-Hall said he was confident its expertise could be applied in the domestic context until overseas visitors returned.

Graeme Abbot, chief executive of Hanmer Springs thermal pools and spa, said Tourism NZ would need to make sure it got the right advice from the right sources.

‘‘[They need] to talk to some of the bigger domestic players who have been in the market for some time . . . It’s going to be 100 per cent domestic for the next 12 months and that needs a whole lot of different scenarios, pricing strategies, and [different] levels of expectation from New Zealand customers versus internationals.’’

Tourism Industry Aotearoa said it looked forward to participating in the project, and chief executive Chris Roberts said it was essential the private sector was involved at the very centre of discussions, from the beginning.

‘‘The ‘new tourism’ is not something the Government can design and then impose on the industry. This has to be a genuine government-industry partnership, or it will fail.’’