Gardens fee will shrink spending

A plan to charge a gate fee to out-oftowners to visit Hamilton’s renowned botanic gardens will shrink spending in the city, according to tour operators.

Inbound tour companies don’t like Hamilton City Council’s proposal to charge $25 to non-city residents to visit Hamilton Garden’s themed gardens but Waikato River Explorer owner Darren Mills said it should have happened years ago.

Auckland-based inbound tour operator Mana Tours NZ general manager Bob Filiaci said it won’t work. He’d rethink stopping in Hamilton on the way to Hobbiton.

Hamilton-based tour operator Leisure Time Tours general manager Scott Mehrtens agrees. Tour groups will just go elsewhere and take their money with them.

‘‘There is money going into the economy left, right and centre,’’ Mehrtens said. ‘‘As soon as they touch the ground, they pull out their wallet.

‘‘If it’s something the city council want to entertain, they will have to appreciate it will have a knock-on effect to other tourist providers such as hotels and restaurants and bars. It becomes a push factor. We wouldn’t come to Hamilton.’’

Mayor Andrew King’s draft budget for the city’s 10-Year Plan floats the gate fee which would earn $12 million for the garden’s ongoing development but reduce economic benefit.

Visitor spending in Hamilton is on the up - $811 million in 12 months with the city ranking fifth in the country behind Auckland, Queenstown-Lakes District, Christchurch and Wellington. Rotorua was sixth.

Mehrtens said Hamilton benefits from Auckland’s accommodation shortage. The city doesn’t rate as an international destination and the Gardens is ‘‘one of the few things’’ on offer.

He was also scathing that Hamilton residents might have to carry identification proving their city address, saying it was a ‘‘pretty stupid idea’’. About 1.1 million people visit the Gardens annually - a third from overseas.

King first suggested the $25 charge in March as a way of easing the burden on ratepayers. New Plymouth District Council Mayor Neil Holdom, whose council voted in a $15 entry charge to his city’s Len Lye Centre, shares the sentiment. ‘‘All councils are looking at the big infrastructure projects ahead of us and looking at an ageing population and saying how do we pay for this?’’ Holdom said.

Mills, who operates the Waikato River Explorer from below the Garden’s carpark, said visitors expect to pay.

‘‘It would probably open a world of opportunities for us to have mention of our product at point of sale,’’ Mills said.

‘‘We’ve really got to start milking it, I believe.’’

But Tainui Waka Tourism secretariat Craig Muntz said the city should look to leverage from the Gardens’ popularity and create more tourism product - something the city lacks.

‘‘They need to look at what the international visitor market is interested in paying and what they would be interested in experiencing,’’ Muntz said.

King said new streams of revenue must be considered. More than $2m per year is spent on maintenance at the Gardens and unexpected growth has left Hamilton’s finances in a parlous state.

‘‘We need to spread the load further than the ratepayer if we can,’’ King said. ‘‘At the moment, more than 95 per cent of our revenue comes from ratepayers.’’

Hamilton City Council begins debate on the 10-Year Plan on December 6.