Heather du Plessis-Allan: I don't think now's the time for a higher tourist levy
Today, the Government has done the thing that the tourism industry was hoping they wouldn't do and increased the visitor levy - the amount that tourists pay to come here - from $35 bucks to $100.
That is the high end of what they were considering. The Government could have gone with $50, or $70, or just left it at $35. But they went full noise to $100.
Now in principle, I'm on board with this. I've long thought tourists need to pay more for what they use here, because if they're not paying for it, we're subsidising them.
How long have we talked about the poor punters in Queenstown who have to…
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