Industry stirs up politicians with wishlist for tourism

By SIMON HENDERY

The election wishlist of the tourism industry includes lower compliance costs, more public spending on infrastructure and a stronger Government commitment to training.

Despite tourism's significance to the economy, only three political parties - Labour, National and the Greens - took up an invitation to speak at a forum organised by the Tourism Industry Association in Auckland yesterday.

Association chief executive John Moriarty laid out four key points the industry wants the next Government to address:

* Recognition of the significance of tourism, which earns more than $5 billion a year in foreign exchange and employs one worker in 10.

* A commitment to investment in support activities such as education and training.

* More investment in public infrastructure such as roads.

* Reduced compliance costs.

Labour MP Chris Carter (filling in for Tourism Minister Mark Burton, who was at a Cabinet meeting) said the Government had invested heavily in tourism.

That investment had included direct spending on tourism projects, and indirect action such as bailing out Air New Zealand.

Labour had also spearheaded the Tourism Strategy 2010 and established the Ministry of Tourism.

In its next term, a Labour Government would work towards implementing recommendations of the Tourism Strategy and cut compliance costs through e-commerce, said Carter.

National's Wayne Mapp (also a fill-in because party tourism spokeswoman Katherine Rich was sick) said his party's key focus would be to boost economic growth to 4 per cent.

Other National policies that would have a major effect on the predominantly small-business-based tourism sector would be its plans to reduce corporate tax, reintroduce a competitive ACC system and change employment law, including bringing in a 90-day trial job period.

Green candidate Jon Carapiet said the influx of tourists was putting pressure on the country's natural assets and his party would work with the industry to find ways to alleviate that stress.

He said New Zealand needed to make the most of marketing its clean, green image, and his party's plans to buy back the rail network and develop a national cycling network would help to achieve that.

Association chairman Geoff Burns said the next Government should make tourism a frontbench portfolio because of its significance to the economy.

He told the meeting there was not enough understanding among politicians of the way tourism marketing worked and the type of visitors New Zealand needed to attract.

Burns said Tourism New Zealand needed $20 million to develop a world-class website that would attract high-spending tourists.

* A $2 million Government campaign to lure travel-wary Japanese put off by the September 11 attacks has been proclaimed a success by Burton.

The Tourism Minister said 23,900 bookings were received during the six-month campaign, 13 per cent more than the target of 21,150.

The Government contributed $2 million to the marketing campaign, the tourism industry spent $7.5 million and Air New Zealand made a "significant contribution" through discount airfares.

Air New Zealand's Japan marketing manager, Michio Fujita, said: "The success of the recovery campaign has increased New Zealand's visitor arrival figures by 3.1 per cent from January to May at a time when the total outbound [market] from Japan has decreased by nearly 13 per cent."

Japan is New Zealand's fourth-largest tourism market, with 150,000 visitors arriving in the year to the end of June.

Japanese tourists spend more than any other nationality while in the country - an average of $4556 a visit.

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