National leader John Key wants to "liven up" New Zealand's "100% pure" brand. And Tourism New Zealand will have to reshuffle its budget to pay for it, because Mr Key, who wants to be tourism minister, says it can use its $85 million a year better.
Mr Keysaid 100% Pure would not be thrown out, but "refreshed". "Their [the tourism industry] view is it's a good brand, it just needs livening up a bit."
The work on the brand would not cost any extra as National believes Tourism NZ could find "economies in the back office to be reallocated to more important tasks".
A policy backgrounder shows National sees "the refreshening of the New Zealand brand being undertaken by using funds freed up from lower priority expenditure in the Tourism NZ budget". Mr Key could not detail where the savings would be made.
He said while Tourism NZ could get more funding if needed, it was not about money, but giving the tourism portfolio "profile and grunt".
If Mr Key becomes prime minister, he will take on the portfolio in a similar way that Helen Clark has presided over arts and culture.
Mr Key released National's tourism policy to a group of tourism operators in Queenstown yesterday. He said National would require Tourism NZ, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to work together more effectively.
They would be located together at international markets as the "international division" of "NZ Inc". He also wanted to see if an "Australasian" approach could be taken to marketing New Zealand and Australia.
He said he would take a strong interest in the Rugby World Cup to be hosted here in 2011, saying he wanted organisers Jock Hobbs and Martin Snedden in his office "once a month, if not once a fortnight".
