We’re letting tourists down

As the tourism industry gears up for another bumper summer season, the Government has just released a longawaited draft national tourism strategy for consultation. Spare a thought for our international visitors who, within a year, will be getting a few extras on arrival – an additional tax and instructions on how to behave.

The Government has decided to welcome longhaul visitors with a $35 entry tax and the tourism industry has grudgingly accepted it if its agreed the money goes to our largest attraction, the conservation estate as well as improving infrastructure which is under pressure.

While I can’t see many baulking at the extra tax, I think we need to keep a couple of things in mind.

First: It’s an incredibly competitive business with most of the world’s 195 countries marketing themselves to tourists. Countries can be hot, or not, in the blink of an eye.

For example, central and South America have replaced Australia and New Zealand as Europeans’ gap-year destination choices.

Second: It’s a big deal for most visitors to come here. It’s expensive and takes a lot of time. Visitors are making a big investment and expect a top experience.

So, does destination New Zealand measure up to expectations?

Our headline attraction, our scenery, certainly does, but what about everything else?

Do we provide the kind of service people expect at these prices? Do we offer the quality accommodation now expected even in the midrange?

What about our approach to the environment? My recent experiences overseas have shown me that both our service and our environmental stewardship are not keeping up with other Western countries’ expectations. Given our reputation for clean and green, we know our visitors expect more.

There is a great story about a German couple in a campervan who painstakingly separated their recycling from their rubbish but couldn’t find a recycling bin, so they carefully stacked the recycling next to a bin, only to be unkindly accused of littering.

That’s a cultural misunderstanding. Which brings me to the second point – the rule-book on how to behave in New Zealand.

Last week the tourism industry launched a campaign called The Tiaki Promise, which sets out how we expect visitors to behave while travelling here. Tiaki means ‘‘to care and protect’’ and the guide gives tips on not littering, on driving safely, being prepared in the outdoors, protecting nature and respecting culture.

It’s a smart move because we know most visitors want to do the right thing and nearly all want to learn more about the destination they’re visiting and understand its culture.

It’s also clever of the tourism industry to get ahead of community concerns about the negative impacts of tourism by upskilling our visitors.

But while I applaud the fact that we’ve articulated what we expect of our visitors, we need to make sure we’re fulfilling our end of the bargain in meeting their expectations.

Through our distance, New Zealand is naturally positioned as a premium destination. But if visitors are paying big dollars, we need to deliver a premium product in everything we do.

The better we do this, the greater our reputation will be at the high-spending end of the market and the more big-spenders we should attract.

That surely would mean less impact for a higher return, which would be better for New Zealand. Isn’t that what we’re trying to achieve?