KEY POINTS:
The prospect of bed and airport taxes to help fund a national stadium on the Auckland waterfront has got the thumbs-down from the hotel and tourism industries.
The Government is considering levying travellers and people staying at hotels, motels and backpackers to help pay for a $500 million stadium to host 2011 Rugby World Cup games.
It is understood the levies would apply only in Auckland, which has 13,000 accommodation beds.
Tourism Auckland chief executive Graeme Osborne said yesterday that the Government and Auckland councils should fund a stadium.
A bed tax was a clumsy funding mechanism that largely targeted overseas visitors when the main beneficiaries would be New Zealanders.
Mr Osborne said the Government earned $1.9 billion a year in GST from tourism and it should use some of that to invest in a national stadium that would produce regional and national benefits.
Tourism Industry Association chief executive Fiona Luhrs said visitors to Auckland were not "cash cows" to pay for a stadium nobody in the industry had been consulted on.
"We want the issue to be discussed across the industry and any funding initiatives to be introduced in a rational, managed and agreed way, not as a kneejerk reaction to an immediate problem," she said.
Mark Oldershaw, chief executive of the NZ Hotel Council, was opposed to a bed tax. He said overseas research showed bed taxes had a detrimental effect on tourism development.
Mr Oldershaw said there was a feeling of frustration at the lack of consultation, which made it difficult to comment.
Auckland Central Backpackers chief executive Campbell Shepherd said he was totally opposed to a bed tax unless it applied only during the period when events were on at the waterfront stadium.
The Lions and Irish rugby tours last year brought nine days of "extreme benefit" but there were big falls in visitor stays before and after the tours, he said.
Mr Shepherd said a year-round bed tax would be a "kick in the guts" to the Auckland backpacking industry that was already suffering a downturn and strong competition from countries such as Thailand, China, Chile and South Africa.
Bed taxes are used overseas, primarily in the United States and Asia. A 10 per cent bed tax was introduced at inner-city Sydney hotels for the 2000 Olympics but ended with the introduction of GST in 2001.
At present, international air travellers, except children under the age of 12, pay a $25 departure fee at Auckland Airport. Of the $25, the airport takes $22.22 for development costs and the Government collects $2.78 in GST.
An airport spokeswoman said the company had no comment to make about the possibility of a specific airport tax for a stadium.
Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said the national airline would be concerned about the impact on the tourism industry from any bed and airport taxes. It was too early to comment about the consequences until it was known what was proposed.
Tracey Palmer said the airline, which carried 11.8 million passengers in the past year, had not been consulted on any plans to introduce bed and airport taxes.
Waiting on the reserves bench
North Harbour Stadium
* Current status: Located on 28ha in Albany with 25,000 seats.
* Cost of upgrade: $226 million.
* Pros: Consents in place and zoned for expansion. Close to Northern
* Motorway and Northern Busway (due to open next year).
* Cons: The Harbour Bridge factor.
Carlaw Park
* Current status: Former home of rugby league with plans to be turned into a retirement village.
* Cost of upgrade: Not known.
* Pros: Close to CBD, rail and Grafton Gully motorway.
* Cons: Carves 3ha off Domain.
Mt Smart Stadium
* Current status: Located on 22ha with 23,000 seats.
* Cost of upgrade: Not known.
* Pros: Plenty of room for expansion and zoned for expansion. Good motorway access.
* Cons: Lack of bars and restaurants. Limited political backing.
