Counting on no ‘May surprises’
Tourism boss warns he doesn’t want changes in the sector and insists certainty is important to the industry
Tourism businesses are hoping to avoid a “May surprise” in next week’s budget at a time when the industry is consolidating record growth but still facing infrastructure pressure.
They are also eyeing the $1 billion Provincial Growth Fund as a way of boosting the industry, which vies with dairy as the country’s top foreign exchange earner.
Tourism Aotearoa Industry chief executive Chris Roberts said a “boring” budget would suit him.
Three years ago the Government stunned the industry with a “border clearance levy” which imposed extra charges of up to $22 a traveller to cover processing costs. Then Tourism Minister John Key had given no indication to the industry just days before at its showcase, Trenz, which will be held this week in Dunedin.
“A boring budget suits us right now,” Roberts said. “We’re not looking for a handout, we’re not looking for any sort of change, certainty is really important.”
And Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has indicated he may oblige, at least in the short term. His Govern- ment is working on a new tourism levy but there is still another round of consultation to do.
“The problem is with that growth we haven’t kept up with investment in infrastructure — hence the discussion around a tourism levy. Work has been going on around it — we’ve had to decide who would have to pay the levy, who would be excluded, where is it collected, how it is collected and how much it should be,” he said.
Opponents say deciding who would pay is complicated as many of the 3.8 million visitors are here on business or visiting friends and relatives and don’t put so much pressure on the tourism infrastructure.
Roberts said it needed to be clear what the money would be spent on and there was a need for full consultation on a new tax.
“Whether it’s coming out of Queenstown with its needs or at a national level, the talk doesn’t go away — we need a proper conversation about it.”
Roberts said there could be a temptation to wind back the marketing budget with the high number of visitors.
“Marketing has a long-term impact over many years and it would be naive to stop marketing the country just because things are good now.”
The new digital campaign, #getNZonthemap, featuring Rhys Darby and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was another promotional strand. Tourism NZ said the video had attracted millions of views around the world in the first 48 hours.