Minister: bed tax for resort only
ANY bed tax for Queenstown would be for Queenstown alone, the Tourism Minister says.
‘‘I’m not going to have the Far North District Council saying we want one too,’’ Kelvin Davis said at the Trenz tourism conference in Rotorua yesterday.
‘‘It’s just not going to happen.’’ Mr Davis reiterated an indication earlier given by Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford that the Government could support the move, if a referendum this month backed the plan.
Mr Davis would not say if the Government would respond with legislation change to allow the visitor levy, but he did describe Queenstown as ‘‘a special place’’ that needed to be protected.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said that was ‘‘totally consistent’’ with what he had heard from a number of ministers.
‘‘I am very confident they will listen to us, providing we get the support in the referendum.’’
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has proposed a 5% visitor levy that would raise $22.5 million a year for easing the burden of infrastructure on ratepayers.
It had wanted an 8.3% levy, but consultation with the accommodation sector had convinced the council to go with the lower level.
For a $250 a night hotel room, that equated to $12.50, or $6.25 if shared by two people.
The council announced on March 7 it would hold a nonbinding referendum for residents and ratepayers on the levy. Voting papers are being sent to households this week.
The levy would not be introduced before July 1, 2021.
The council would require a Government legislation change for the levy to be put in place.
Mr Davis agreed yesterday somebody had to pay for the infrastructure issues Queenstown faced.
He planned to wait and see what the results of the referendum were before deciding on the Government’s response.
He said the town would be the only one to be allowed a bed tax if it was approved by the community, as Queenstown was ‘‘a special place’’.
‘‘It’s the jewel in our tourism crown, we’ve got to protect it. If we don’t, it’s going to have an impact on tourism across New Zealand.’’
Asked if those comments meant he saw Queenstown as a place a bed tax might be an option, he said ‘‘we’ll see what the referendum says’’.
TOURISM Minister Kelvin Davis says he is aware of the pressure constant tourism growth is having on areas such as Queenstown.
He says a new strategy released yesterday will go some way to alleviating it.
The New ZealandAotearoa Government Tourism Strategy was released at Trenz, in Rotorua, by Mr Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.
It came as figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) showed while predicted growth was ‘‘moderate’’, an expected 4% a year increase in visitor arrivals meant New Zealand would receive 5.1 million visitors in 2025, compared with 3.9 million last year.
MBIE business and economic development manager Antony Kennedy said the total spend of those visitors, not including air fares, would reach $15 billion by 2025.
The new strategy promises to ‘‘enrich New ZealandAotearoa through sustainable tourism growth’’.
Asked how growth and sustainability could happen at the same time, particularly in a place like Queenstown with its bulging tourism sector, Mr Davis said the plan was not just growth for the sake of growth.
‘‘We’ve got to grow value over volume.’’
That meant attracting people in the offseason, getting people to visit more regions, stay for longer and spend more.
Queenstown was ‘‘a bucket list experience’’, but the strategy would work to get people to all the regions, from the Catlins to the West Coast and beyond.
‘‘We’re well aware that Otago is feeling the pressure.’’
If the tourism experience in places such as Queenstown and Milford Sound was damaged by growth, that would damage New Zealand tourism. Getting people
to travel to other areas would be done by investing in the likes of access, making sure people could easily get to areas such as the Catlins, and making sure visitors were aware of what was on offer.
It was also important to make sure attractions were in place, and that people were welcoming.
The strategy, which has more highlevel planning than detail, promises an ‘‘allofGovernment’’ approach to tourism, with sustainable funding from the planned visitor levy.
In terms of sustainability in terms of climate change — more tourists would mean more aeroplanes and buses — Mr Davis said air travel was ‘‘a fact of life’’.
However airlines were working to reduce carbon emissions, and iwi were considering working with airlines to offset emissions.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said this week the sustainability of the industry was ‘‘firmly at the heart’’ of the industry’ growth framework.
Key issues were managing the growth of tourism, improving the management of natural resources and acting on carbon emissions and climate change.
In its strategy, the TIA has actions including making carbon reduction a key strategy and investing in infrastructure such as roads, airports and water systems.
❛ We’ve got to grow value over volume