In December 2015, Tourism Ministers approved the Government Tourism Strategy, which aligns and coordinates government efforts to boost the economic contribution of tourism across the country, and plan for the future. The strategy aligns with the industry-led growth framework, Tourism 2025. It identifies three broad challenges and priority areas for government, aimed at driving higher value from the tourism sector:
Attracting the right mix of visitors to give the greatest return on marketing investment, balancing established, high growth and emerging markets (Box 2.1); and better managing visitor flows to help smooth seasonal peaks and troughs.
Ensuring continued provision of high-quality visitor experiences through good infrastructure, skilled and committed people, and by responding to challenges placed on communities, services and infrastructure by higher visitor numbers.
Supporting regions to benefit from increasing visitor numbers and ensuring that opportunities to host tourists are available to all regions of New Zealand.
In March 2017, TNZ released a revised four-year strategy, with priorities to: target near and long-term value, including through the shoulder season and regional growth; strategically manage markets and sectors; and work with others to sustain and improve the experience of tourism for all. To address seasonality issues, TNZ currently allocates all of its marketing spend to promoting the shoulder seasons.
The government also invests in major events that generate significant, immediate, and long-term benefits for New Zealand and align with wider government objectives. These events may attract significant numbers of international visitors as participants and spectators, or generate significant media coverage in markets of interest for tourism and business opportunities. Preferential consideration may also be given to events which are timed to fall within off-peak or shoulder tourism periods. The New Zealand Major Events unit located within MBIE works across government, including with TNZ, to provide advice to Ministers and to identify, attract and leverage major events. It administers the contestable Major Events Development Fund, which has a current annual appropriation of NZD 10 million, much of which is committed several years in advance.
Several initiatives are in place to support the growth of regional tourism. DOC is expanding New Zealand’s Great Walks network by adding two new Great Walks, and promoting a network of Great Short Walks and Great Day Walks. By developing and promoting areas of the conservation estate which are less well-known, the new Great Walks and the refreshed promotion of Great Short and Day Walks will encourage dispersal while relieving pressure on hotspots. The government also continues to invest in enhancing and extending Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail, to encourage visitor flows into the regions.
In New Zealand, the government releases a Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport to signal government priorities that influence transport investment decisions across the country. Tourism was emphasised in the draft GPS 2018 to ensure that roads and supporting infrastructure used by visitors were fit for purpose.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, a Crown Entity, facilitates connections between investors and potential hotel projects to address accommodation constraints in New Zealand’s main tourism centres.
The government established the Regional Mid-sized Tourism Facilities Grant Fund (MFF) in Budget 2016 to support local tourism infrastructure development. To help maintain high-quality visitor experiences, a Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF) replaced the MFF in 2017. The TIF provides up to NZD 25 million per year over four years as co-funding for the development of tourism-related infrastructure that contributes to quality experiences for visitors, particularly in areas where the local population is too small to completely fund the work themselves (Box 1.4).
