Heather du Plessis-Allan: I don't think now's the time for a higher tourist levy

Today, the Government has done the thing that the tourism industry was hoping they wouldn't do and increased the visitor levy - the amount that tourists pay to come here - from $35 bucks to $100.

That is the high end of what they were considering. The Government could have gone with $50, or $70, or just left it at $35. But they went full noise to $100.

Now in principle, I'm on board with this. I've long thought tourists need to pay more for what they use here, because if they're not paying for it, we're subsidising them.

How long have we talked about the poor punters in Queenstown who have to pay for the roads the tourists jam up, the water infrastructure that tourists get to use to have a nice time, the public toilets the tourists use - it's not fair for ratepayers to have to subsidise an industry.

But I don't think now is the time to be doing this.

For some reason, tourists just aren't coming back here like we thought they would. Five years on from Covid really starting, our tourism numbers are only back to about 80 percent, and we don't know when they'll get back to 100 percent.

Meanwhile over in Australia, they reckon they’ll be back to 100 percent in three months. But for some reason, we're still lagging.

Our attractiveness as a tourism destination has deteriorated, and it's perplexing. Even the experts can't work this out.

Part of the problem is that China isn't flying like it used to - and another reason is that this isn't the only extra cost the Government has lumped on tourists. 

Just last month, it increased the cost of tourists getting a visa to come here. Now people in places like China, if they were to bring a family of five - it would now cost them $2200 just for the paperwork before they arrive.

I don't think making New Zealand more expensive right now, while we’re struggling to recover, is a smart idea. Especially because we need to recover - we’re in our third recession in two years, we need the money.

Frankly, this feels like a short-sighted money grab to try to balance the Government's books. It's short-sighted because it will help make the books look better today - but won’t help bring in the tourists tomorrow.

So yes on principle, but the timing is way off.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So today the government has done exactly the thing that
the tourism industry was hoping that they wouldn't do. And
they've increased the visitor levy, which is the amount that
tourists pay to come here, and it's going from thirty
five bucks to one hundred bucks, which is the high
end of what they were considering. I mean, the government
could have gone fifty bucks, could have gone seventy bucks.
In fact, they could have just have left it at
thirty five bucks if they wanted to, but they went

(00:22):
full noise to one HUNDI Now, in principle, I'm on
board with this. I've long thought and it's not you know,
I'm not alone in thinking this. I thing a lot
of us think this that tourists need to pay a
little bit more for the stuff that they're using here,
because if they're not paying more for it, we're paying
for it for them, right, we're subsidizing them. I mean,
how long have we talked about those poor punters who

(00:42):
live in Queenstown who have to pay for the roads
that the tourists jam up. They pay for the water
infrastructure that tourism gets to use. So tourists have a
nice time. They pay for the public toilets that the
tourists use. The list goes on right, and it's not
fair on ratepayers in Queenstown and frankly anywhere else in
this kind where tourists like to go, who are essentially
subsidizing an industry. But while I'm on board with this

(01:06):
in principle, I really think the timing is massively often
this is the wrong time to be doing this. For
some reason, tourists are not coming back to New Zealand
like we thought that they would five years on from
COVID and I'm counting it from COVID really starting back
in twenty nineteen, five years on, our tourism industry numbers
are only back to about eighty percent, So where we
used to have five, we've only got four. We do

(01:27):
not know when they're going to get back to one
hundred percent. We can't say Australia knows, but they're going
to be there in three months time. But for some
reason we're lagging. It appears our attractiveness as a tourism
destination has deteriorated, and it's perplexing even the experts can't
quite put their finger on why people don't want to
come to New Zealand quite in the same numbers. And
part of the problem is China is not flying like

(01:47):
it used to. And the other problem will likely be
that this is not in the future at least, that
this is not the only cost that the government has
lumped on tourists. I mean it just last month it
increased the cost of tourists getting a visa to come here.
So now you're talking about people in places like China,
if they were to bring a family of five costing
two two hundred dollars just for the paperwork before they

(02:09):
even get here, before they even jump on the plane,
and they've already shelled out twy two hundred dollars. I
don't think making New Zealand more expensive right now while
we're struggling to recover is a smart idea, especially because
we really need to recover. We are in our third
recession in two years. We need the money. Frankly, this
feels like a short sighted money grab by the government.
They're trying to balance the government's box and it's short

(02:30):
sighted because it's going to, yes, today, make the government's
box look better, but it's not going to bring in
the tourists tomorrow, and that hurts us all in the end,
so yes on principle, but timing is way off. For
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