A couple of weeks back we ran an opinion piece by Simon Brandon, warning about the risks New Zealand faces as tourism booms and infrastructure sags. Without taxes on tourists, Simon warned, New Zealand risked becoming like heaving Venice: "There's no premium placed on such a special part of the world."
Many readers wrote to express their support.
Personally, I'm not keen on hitting our visitors with blunt tariffs and taxes, but I'm very keen on keeping our tourism product premium.
With summer upon us, and many Kiwis about to spend a month or so as holidaymakers in their own land, it'll be interesting to see how the roads and infrastructure holds up. Last year the airport was surrounded by gridlock. If it happens again, expect the infrastructure question to be a hot topic for the new Government in the new year.
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