DOC Proposed Visitor Fees Increases
“TECNZ supports the Department of Conservation with the great work they do for all New Zealanders and international visitors and the critical role they play in the visitor economy. The news of proposed fee increases is not unexpected as we’ve been engaging with officials discussing numerous matters relating to conservation funding, concessions, the Milford Opportunities Project and potential fees.
TECNZ doesn’t support the idea of charging for carparking or charging access fees to national parks. We believe extra charges will dampen demand by international visitors to include regions where some of New Zealand’s most scenic experiences are located. The negative impact for communities is potential changes in future itineraries and visitors flows that may see less visitors go to off the beaten track regions.
It is important when looking at what countries around the world are doing with visitor fees to note that these countries do not have an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (increased from $35 to $100 per person excluding Australians our largest visitor market currently 1.3million visitors) like New Zealand does. We are envied around the world that 50% of the IVL fee has gone/goes directly to conservation and 50% to tourism infrastructure projects. It is easy for visitors to see and understand how their fee is going to support the conservation estate and visitor economy.
The recent increase in immigration visa fees and IVL fee (increased by 185%) along with proposed charges to access National Parks and carparking in key spots is concerning when putting into context that the only message prospective visitors are hearing offshore at the moment is ‘NZ is getting more expensive’ to travel to and around with all the fee increases.
If a $20 to $30 charge for carparking at key spots is implemented, it will affect the amount of time visitors will stay in an area. The concept of slow tourism, regional dispersal and visitors taking their time to enjoy the environment may be counter intuitive if carpark charges affect decisions on where to go and what to see. If a visitor previously may have spent one hour at a place for a short walk and now only stays for 10minutes will this impact volume and congestion more or less? Would a charge of $20 be out of proportion for value for a 10-minute stop. Will regions where the carparking trials are to start see a decline in visitation?
When adding potential National Park fees into the mix, all of this feeds into New Zealand’s value proposition. New Zealand is struggling to come out of the pandemic and is viewed as an overpriced destination. Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs) are hearing this constantly from their offshore trade partners.
International visitors do pay their way and contribute significantly to New Zealand’s economy, particularly with the GST take of $1billion that goes straight into the government coffers plus the IVL fee expected to generate $150million. The government is at risk of double or triple charging visitors for their ‘once in a lifetime holiday’ here and that ultimately could work against New Zealand’s global reputation and growth plans to double international tourism export receipts and our tourism recovery.
Any increases in fees paid by international visitors must relate to and demonstrate increased and improved services and experiences for visitors on the DOC estate to validate additional charges so New Zealand is not outpricing itself in a very competitive global market to attract visitors.
We hope after reviewing submissions that decisions made reflect the feedback from TECNZ members with practical and sensible decisions being for the future funding of DOC and that visitors will still find New Zealand an attractive and affordable destination to make a booking and travel here.”
ENDS