The Regional Tourism Organisations of New Zealand are supportive of the need identified by Minister Kelvin Davis and government to plan a better future for the visitor industry.
Kelvin announced that a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world was needed on Wednesday.
Communities across Aotearoa are aware of the economic contribution tourism makes to a community as well as the vibrancy tourism brings, making many places in New Zealand better places to live. This emphasises the need for a plan to be formulated for a post-COVID-19 tourism sector.
“Many of the regional tourism organisations and economic development agencies that represent regional tourism interests already have a broad mandate provided by their funding Councils to participate in broader community engagement, place making, workforce development and economy building measures, each of which is critical to building a more sustainable tourism sector,” Regional Tourism New Zealand chair David Perks says.
Councils across New Zealand are already considering exactly how to revitalise and stimulate their local economies to recover from COVID-19; many have already announced measures they will take immediately.
“Regional Tourism New Zealand is ready and willing to join the Government in planning the future of tourism for New Zealand,” says David.
“We have supported the Government’s own New Zealand-Aotearoa government tourism strategy development and the destination management guidelines published earlier this year and we would look to build on the important recommendations these documents make.
"It is from within each of our regional organisations that direct contact with businesses in every community are maintained; almost every business in New Zealand is touched in some way by tourism from Air New Zealand to your local café and service station.”
RTNZ members recognise that planning must encompass the whole of tourism and know that for most regions domestic tourism has always been more important.
The knowledge of domestic tourism and understanding of how to motivate Kiwis to travel is experience we look forward to bringing to the discussions that Tourism New Zealand will lead.
