A visitor near Mitre Peak. The pre-Covid influx of tourists put pressure on infrastructure. Photo / Supplied
A visitor near Mitre Peak. The pre-Covid influx of tourists put pressure on infrastructure. Photo / Supplied
EDITORIAL
A solid bounce in overseas visitor arrival numbers during summer has been a bright spot in data releases cataloguing a souring economy.
New research shows New Zealanders are understanding the importance of the tourism sector.
The industry was New Zealand’s biggest earner of export receipts some years before beingdevastated by Covid-19 and although nowhere near those highs, Stats NZ figures out today will show the recovery continues.
In January this year, the number of overseas visitor arrivals was 65 per cent of the pre-pandemic number of 410,800 in January 2020. While the $1.9 billion spent by international visitors for all of 2022 is a fraction of the $17b of 2019, it is recovering and adds up in GST receipts, jobs and lively communities.
Research from consultants Angus & Associates finds a significant increase in support for international visitors in New Zealand.
Guides for Kia Ora Guided City Walks in Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser, File
The firm says relaxed border restrictions and resuming international travel means positive sentiments towards international tourism have rebounded in New Zealand.
It has been running “Views on Tourism” research in New Zealand and Australia since 2018 and has found support for international tourism in New Zealand at its highest level since the survey began.
For the first time, the level of support is nearly equal to Australia.
Despite industry efforts to minimise the impact of over-tourism in the years before the pandemic, many residents in visitor magnets felt they’d had enough. Angus & Associates’ approval rating declined from a net positive of 42 in 2018 to a net positive 28 in 2021 in the depths of the pandemic when borders were closed. Last year this bounced up to a rating of 44.
The firm’s managing director, Chris Roberts, says support for visitors is driven by two factors – communities experiencing the positive impacts from the return of visitors and avoiding some of the pain points that were becoming evident pre-Covid.
Positive sentiment is most strongly influenced by observations of “more local businesses opening or being able to stay open”, “improved services for my/our community” and “encouraged more sustainable behaviour in my community” as a result of local tourism activity.
In a twist on the line “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”, Roberts says it seems Kiwis are now more aware of the benefits that tourism activity in their community can deliver ‘’because they have also seen what is lost when there are no international visitors”.
During the past two years, regions have worked on destination management plans, driven by the need to operate within a social licence. How these new plans are applied, as visitor numbers recover further, will be critical in driving the sector and what Kiwis think of it.
The warming sentiment towards tourism should be noted by Minister Peeni Henare, who has been off to a quiet start in the portfolio. His predecessor, Stuart Nash, made his mark by taking aim at backpackers. Before him, Kelvin Davis backed a discredited Covid relief package that favoured large operators.
Henare has an opportunity to ride this more positive wave in tourism and needs to take it.
