Most embrace New Zealand tourism in survey, but worry over cost of domestic holidays

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More than a third of those surveyed want to see more tourism in their communities, but the regional breakdown shows 62 percent of people in Queenstown (pictured) believe there is too much in the community.
Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

More New Zealanders are getting onboard with tourism in Aotearoa, but higher holiday costs are causing concern, according to new research.

The research was conducted by Tourism New Zealand, government departments, Tourism Industry Aotearoa, and Regional Tourism New Zealand in May. Close to 90 percent of those surveyed agreed tourism was good for New Zealand which was six percent higher than last May’s figures.

Among the perceived benefits were growth opportunities for businesses, the economy and regions, and sharing of culture and values. Tourism Minister Peeni Henare said the results were promising.

“Hugely encouraging, the number at the moment. But like I said, we won’t get complacent about these matters and we’ll continue to push forward.”

Those surveyed said the biggest downsides included traffic congestion and the increasing cost of domestic holidays for New Zealanders.

Henare was pleased to see inflation was coming down, but he said there would be a lag before those benefits reached consumers.

“I’ve always been clear that what we need, in particular if you want to continue to have social licence, is a good tourism offering that doesn’t continue to price locals out of paradise.”

Henare said he had been monitoring prices to ensure New Zealanders and tourists got a fair go, and had found them mostly stable and pretty fair.

“I’ve seen some amazing operators do some really good work around making sure that they’re competitive, their prices are fair and that they can still to have an amazing offering.”

Tourism Minister Peeni Henare says a close relationship between operators, community, central and local governments is needed to tackle the issues facing Queenstown.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The research also showed about 41 percent of those surveyed were concerned about the industry impact on the environment – slightly less than the 47 percent recorded in May 2022.

“There is also work at a central and local level to ensure that the tourism sector contributes positively to all communities,” Henare said.

“This includes the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan, a positive, more regenerative rebuild of tourism – one that leaves a community and environment better than it was before.”

More than a third of those surveyed wanted to see more tourism in their communities, but the regional breakdown showed 62 percent of people in Queenstown believed there was too much in the community.

Henare said a close relationship between operators, community, central and local governments was needed to tackle the issues facing Queenstown, and authorities were acutely aware of the issues being faced.

“The research, like I said, backs up what we know. There is some good stuff that’s going on on how we might continue to support, to relieve some of the challenges in places like Queenstown.

“But it shows that we’ve clearly got more work to do.”

As for whether this research would influence policy, Henare said there would be no knee-jerk reaction because a lot of work had already been done or was underway.