Tourism threatens idyllic NZ
New Zealand may have to limit the number of tourists or risk losing the idyllic environment that draws people here.
That is the message from parliamentary commissioner for the environment Simon Upton, who says tourism is ‘‘eroding the very attributes that make New Zealand an attractive country’’.
By 2025, it is estimated, the number of people visiting will match the number of residents.
Now, a new report from Upton makes it clear tourism cannot continue to grow and ways must be found to limit it.
Crowded sites, crowded skies and crowded parking lots were all part of the picture, Upton said.
‘‘What will another three decades of more of the same mean?’’ But Upton said Kiwis were also contributing to the problem: ‘‘The lion’s share of tourist activity actually involved New Zealanders taking a break’’.
Anyone who has visited the Abel Tasman National Park in recent years knows it – thousands of tourists each year are putting pressure on the park’s bridges, tracks, toilets and environment.
In other parts of the country, attractions like Milford Sound and
the Tongariro Crossing are nearing or over capacity – overcrowding has already been pointed out for years.
Upton said the country needed to ask: ‘‘Are we in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg?’’ ‘‘Tourism is often seen as an environmentally benign form of economic development,’’ he said. ‘‘This, together with it being so closely interwoven with the wider economy, has probably shielded it from the scrutiny attached to other industries such as agriculture.’’
The pressure placed on peace and quiet, water quality, infrastructure and biodiversity are all detailed in the report.
Tourism is also churning out greenhouse gas emissions, and the report questioned whether tourism could continue if the world was to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
‘‘This is an existential issue for the industry globally but particularly so for a destination as far flung as New Zealand,’’ it says.
Professor Michael Hall, of Canterbury University’s department of marketing, said the country did not have good measures of how tourism affected the environment and the culture.
Policies and strategies to deal with tourism were limited, Hall said. ‘‘As the inquiry progresses they will need to look at international practices including, perhaps, looking at actually limiting visitor growth.’’
Auckland University of Technology professor of tourism Michael Lueck said concerns about tourism had existed for more than two decades, and the issues were becoming urgent.
‘‘It would be fairly easy to, for example, limit the number of cruise ships coming into the country. These put a disproportional burden on infrastructure, environment, and culture, while the economic benefits are comparatively small.’’
The report does not offer any solutions or strategies, which are promised to come in the near future. ‘‘[Tools] range from regulations to limit visitor numbers at particular sites, to awareness-raising campaigns intended to shape visitor behaviour,’’ the report said.
The Government’s recent tourism strategy sought ‘‘highspending tourists’’, Upton’s report said. ‘‘The ... strategy states ‘we want the value of tourism to continue to grow faster than volume’ but provides no mention of limiting volume itself.’’ In many cases limits on visitor numbers and enforcement could safeguard some sites, it said.
Upton decided not to make recommendations at this stage but to gather feedback to understand key challenges. A later report would elaborate on policy options, Upton said.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) manages 326 campsites, 967 huts and 13,429 kilometres of tracks. Its heritage and visitors director, Steve Taylor, said an increase in visitors had put pressure on its popular sites.
DOC planned on futureproofing and enhancing West Coast glaciers, Milford Sound, the Mackenzie Basin, Tongariro and Taranaki.