New Zealand is experiencing a boom in tourist numbers, no doubt, with some 3.6 million tourists annually and double-digit growth rates for the last two years: tourists added 5.6 per cent – or $12.9 billion – to GDP, and employed 188,136 people – or 7.5 per cent – of the workforce. As resources are stretched, there are calls to target value rather than tourist numbers.
Years of tourists' positive word-of-mouth have created a ground-swell of good will and more airlines fly into the country to harvest the windfall: both create a strong pulling power. We will likely see a further increase of between 12-15 per cent in visitor numbers yet, as prices climb and with barely sufficient accommodation available, how can New Zealand keep delivering value?
Even the shoulder seasons are beginning to flatten, particularly in the South Island where the accommodation sector booked a 10 per cent growth rate in 2016 compared to the previous year. The Lions' Tour in June [2017] brought some 25,000 additional visitors and an $85 million windfall. Yet these tourists found it difficult to get a place to sleep, with freedom campers continuously maligned and price gouging not uncommon.
The tourism sector now looks forward to the America's Cup in 2021. Four years away, it will take place during the peak season, putting even more pressure on the accommodation sector and likely to lead to a drop-off in domestic tourism.
The cracks are beginning to show: prices for accommodation, entertainment and activities are at an all-time high – and New Zealanders are beginning to complain. Lacking proper social impact studies, it is local newspapers that are highlighting increasing protests about too many freedom campers, steep hut fees and crowding. They signal the end of Kiwis' love affair with overseas tourists. Soon international tourists, too, will note that New Zealand is pricing itself off the market as it provides less rather than more value for those coming from far away.