Dealing with rising tourist numbers

If you think there are more tourists around than there used to be, you are correct.

The number of visitors coming into New Zealand currently averages 320,000 a month, a 56 per cent increase on 10 years ago.

The busiest month of the year for tourism, unsurprisingly, is December. In the last month of 2016, we welcomed 494,000 visitors, compared with 444,000 the previous year. The statistics for last month aren’t out yet, but expect the number to break the half-million benchmark.

This is all good news for the economy. Tourism now accounts for $14.5 billion, or more than one-fifth, of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Directly or indirectly, it employs about 330,000 people – 13 per cent of the workforce.

On the whole, New Zealanders view tourism positively – according to a survey conducted in November, 92 per cent feel it is a good thing. However, when told of the number of people coming here – 3.8 million a year – respondents were more ambivalent.

Just under half felt that number was ‘‘about right’’. Only 23 per cent wanted to see more tourists arriving, and about the same number felt that we already have too many.

However, more tourists is what we are likely to get. The worth of the international and domestic travel markets combined is currently about $35b. The tourism industry’s objective is to increase that to $41b by 2025.

In the November survey, 40 per cent of respondents said they were worried about the pressures of rising tourist numbers. This proportion had doubled over the past two years. It’s not hard to imagine why. Stories about freeloading freedom campers squeezing out the locals, visitors despoiling the environment and foreign tourists driving badly are now staples of the summer news cycle.

The central Government shows relatively little leadership on dealing with the problems.

A special tourism infrastructure fund announced in National’s last budget, of $100m to be spent over four years, has so far been allocated to mainly a small number of car parks and public toilet facilities in specific areas. It works out to just $6.75 per international tourist.

When problems such as freedom camping arise, it is left to local authorities to deal with them. Shortfalls in accommodation are deemed to be for private enterprise to sort out.

There is a limit to the number of people who can be accommodated without further damage to the environment or stresses on our infrastructure.

If tourist numbers keep going up, the Government and industry may have to accept the need to invest more into making sure New Zealand is ready to receive them.