Ryan Bridge: Why does no one like New Zealand?

There were two numbers out yesterday that prove that no one likes us. 

Number one - 87%. We're still plateauing in the high 80s for tourism, that's on pre-Covid levels. 

And number two - 55,000 for the year to September, that was our net migration loss of New Zealand citizens, which is a new record. 

Not only are we that unsexy to foreigners —they won't come here and have a piece— but our own people are off flirting up a storm with the likes of Australia. 

And they're not even flirting – it's not a weekend thing, they have left us. It's divorce. 

Sure, we're getting more people in terms of overall migration, meaning an overall net positive number. 

But next year, many economists predict for the first time in a long time, excluding Covid, we will hit net zero migration. We need migrants to support our economy here, and we need tourists to support our economy here as well. 

So what's happened to us? 

Did we stop brushing our hair and cleaning our teeth? 

Do we look like some antipodean mole at the bottom of the world that you'd rather skip over? 

The Aussies are rebounding much better than us on tourism, and they're taking all of our young workers.  

And you look at all the places that are so overcrowded by tourists they're introducing limits – in Florence, just yesterday, they announced that they're banning key boxes to stop Airbnbs in the city. 

Rome, Amsterdam, Athens, Phuket, just to name a few, they're all doing similar things. 

Last year, we ranked 157th out of 180 countries on growth and things haven't improved much there since. 

We are a very expensive place to come, and we are at the bottom of the world. 

The heart of the matter though is we've lost a bit of our mojo. 

Apart from cutting spending and focusing on the basics, which are important, what is this country's big plan to grow our economic future and fortunes? What industries are we targeting? 

Until we can answer that big question we will still look a little bit ugly to the rest of the world. 

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