Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Ryan Bridge: Don't we want higher spending, higher yield tourists coming here?

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Ryan Bridge: Don't we want higher spending, higher yield tourists coming here? · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I have zero issues with foreign visitors paying more to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: visit New Zealand. The tax hike that is being touted
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: is big, thirty five dollars up to one hundred dollars
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: per visitor. That is substantial. Crucially, though, our Aussie mates
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: are exempt and they make up forty percent of our market,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: so that's a good chunk who won't be contributing, so
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be affected in terms of numbers visiting us here.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: The impact overall impact still quite unclear. The government, on
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: one hand says they've got MB advice, which is always
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: good advice, saying that it won't be a significant impact.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The industry says, we will have forty eight thousand fewer
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: visitors coming here and they'll take their almost three hundred
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: million dollars spend elsewhere, thank you very much. The industry
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: says this is alarming. It's possible. They're both right here.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The total tourist numbers visiting in the year to June
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: three point two million, so forty eight thousand is both
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: not significant if you're the government, but alarming if you're
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the industry. The cold, hard reality is we're not as
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: hot as we used to be. When it comes to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: a New Zealand as a destination, not as sexy, you
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: could say. Post COVID, our recovery has stalled. I think
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: we're at about seventy three percent of pre COVID levels
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: in terms of visitors. Largely this is about costs, not
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: because our mountains are any less beautiful, our lakes less attractive.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Largely about the cost of getting here. But those issues,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: you know, the plane supply, the roots, etc. Should subside.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: And when that happens, don't we want the extra money
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: to maintain our walking tracks and to give the Germans
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: somewhere to go to the loop? I would have thought so.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: And if it's going to put anyone off, wouldn't it
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: be the low spending, high infrastructure, using smelly backpack of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: variety of which I have been one, of which I
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: have been one. I'm not disparaging them. Well, I suppose
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I am a little disparaging myself. But don't you want
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: sort of higher spending, higher yield tourists coming here using
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: less of the country and less of its resources and infrastructure,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: but spending more. For more from News Talks B listen
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: live on air or online and keep our shows with
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.