The next Government must give a revitalised tourism industry a central role in the recovery of New Zealand’s egions, Tourism Industry Aotearoa says.
“Tourism operators and our visitors – both domestic and international – are an integral part of our regions and communities," says TIA chief executive Chris Roberts.
"With support from the incoming Government we can improve how we manage the interests of visitors and communities so that great places to visit are also great places to live."
TIA’sTourism Election 2020 Action Plan identifies ‘Regions’ as one of the six categories where action will be required from the incoming Government. It has listed fiveaction points in this category:
•Expand the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment’s programme to assist regions with destination management planning
•Provide funding to support local government investment in tourism related infrastructure
•Continue Tourism New Zealand’s mandate to work in partnership with regional tourism organisations and tourism operators to stimulate domestictourism
•Invest in building a resilient and safe transport system that promotes regional dispersal
•Give local authorities the tools to manage freedom camping.
The importance of the tourism industry to our regions has never been more apparent than now, says Chris.
“When Auckland went back into lockdown on August 12, communities around the country noticed the drop in visitor numbers.We had already lost our international visitors this year and now we had lost our biggest domestic market too.
"From Northland to Southland, tourism and hospitality businesses took another hit, and more jobs were lost.”
TIA’s latest Domestic Visitor Satisfaction survey, carried out by Angus & Associates,shows that New Zealanders overwhelmingly love travelling in their own country. The average rating for their most recent domestic trip was 8.7 out of 10.
Those who included Canterbury, Northland, Taupō and the Coromandel in their itineraries experienced the highest levels of satisfaction but no region rated below 8.6. It also appears that the longer the trip, the higher the level of satisfaction.
One in two Kiwis said their expectations of their domestic trip were exceeded.Just 3 per cent did not have their expectations met.
