Tourism boom gets a ministry

By SIMON HENDERY

On the same day it unveiled research predicting a 40 per cent rise in overseas tourist numbers in seven years, the Government yesterday said it would soon set up a stand-alone Ministry of Tourism.

Speaking at the start of the annual NZ Tourism Conference in Rotorua, Tourism Minister Mark Burton said the Government would implement a key recommendation of the tourism strategy, released in May, by turning the Office of Tourism and Sport into a fully fledged ministry.

"The Ministry of Tourism will play a strong role in representing the interest of tourism within and across government," Mr Burton said.

It would be set up by January.



In line with another tourism strategy recommendation, the cabinet had given him the job of investigating a revamp of the Government-funded Tourism Board - Tourism New Zealand - as a joint-venture marketing organisation supported by the Government and the private sector.

"The Government agrees that such a partnership approach could significantly enhance the ability of New Zealand to brand itself in international markets, building on the foundations laid by Tourism New Zealand."

A report on how this could best be achieved is due to go to cabinet by the end of October.

Mr Burton's announcements were welcomed by Sky City managing director Evan Davies, who chaired the working party that produced the tourism strategy.

Mr Davies told the conference he was pleased with the Government's commitment to the 10-year tourism blueprint, which predicted that tourism could become a $26.8 billion industry by 2010 (up from $13.2 billion last year) if strategy recommendations were taken up.

It was now up to the industry to "step up to the mark" along with the Government, Mr Davies said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark told the conference's 500 delegates that the Government's initiatives would lead to a more coordinated international marketing strategy.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Research Council and the Office of Tourism and Sport yesterday used the conference to issue new forecasts predicting that the number of overseas tourists visiting New Zealand would rise from 1.8 million this year to 2.75 million in 2007 - an average annual increase of 6.3 per cent.

Visitor spending over the period is predicted to rise from $5 billion to $8.1 billion a year.

The Tourism Industry Association's chief executive, John Moriarty, said a key aim of the two-day conference was to encourage those in the industry to consider how best to manage tourism growth.

"Growth is good and no doubt delegates will be celebrating that increase," Mr Moriarty said.

"The broader issue of sustainability, environmental and financial, needs to be managed by the industry to preserve the qualities making New Zealand such an attractive destination."

Mr Moriarty said that of the 43 recommendations from the tourism strategy, the association would particularly focus on three.-

* Developing business tools and resources to help small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. A private consulting group had been hired to research the needs of the industry over the next six to eight months.

* Developing pricing and yield-enhancing strategies in line with the strategy's aim of boosting tourism revenue above and beyond the predicted increase in visitor numbers.

* Improving tourism industry training opportunities to meet an expected demand for an extra 100,000 jobs in the sector by 2010.

* Simon Hendery travelled to the tourism conference as a Tourism Industry Association guest.