Most tourism businesses support levy

DON SCOTT/The Press

Visitors' view: Tourism New Zealand's chief executive, George Hickton, speaks at the Tourism Industry Conference being held in Christchurch yesterday.

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Most New Zealand tourism businesses favour a proposal to charge international visitors a tax to help keep the country clean and green, Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor says.

The feedback was that more than 50 percent of people within New Zealand's main export industry seemed supportive of the levy included in tickets.

O'Connor yesterday addressed 300 or so industry members in Christchurch attending the two-day 2008 Tourism Industry Conference.

New Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar, Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton, business commentator Rod Oram, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and Ngai Tahu representatives were among those fronting the first day.

So far, airlines had been cautious about the levy idea, also canvassed with wider industry participants including the hotel sector and motor camp representatives, O'Connor said.

"The TIA have committed to having a serious consideration of it, and I welcome that feedback. I have been talking to various sector groups floating it there's been better than 50 percent support, but the industry needs to embrace this wholeheartedly," he said.

"Any major division on it means firstly Government's not going to implement it, and secondly that would cause rumbles across the industry that wouldn't help."

The ministry was forecasting average annual growth in arrivals of 3.3 per cent over the next seven years, but with just 1.2 per cent growth to 2.49 million visitor arrivals in 2008. Visitors would total 3.08m by 2014.

The proposed arrival levy could be either charged on foreign tourism visitors or charged on all visitors "to keep it simple", but would probably not be imposed on New Zealanders returning from overseas trips, O'Connor said.

The levy could be set anywhere between $10 and $25 a ticket. That amount could raise somewhere between $24m and $61m a year.

Proceeds could be put towards the continued conservation of land, through the construction of toilet facilities and roadside recycling.

At this point the TIA was not in a position to fund any of that work, "which is slightly unfortunate given that they represent the No.1 export earner", O'Connor said.

- © Fairfax NZ News