Tourism operators celebrate international visitor bounce-back

Visitor numbers are up, but the industry says it needs more government funding to compete on the world stage for tourists' dollars.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Tuesday, January 23, written by Catherine McGregor.

In today’s edition: Supermarket duopoly under investigation over “dodgy specials”; MSD declines to action Covid subsidy review’s recommendations for existing schemes; Willis says the government is “committed to relationship that the Treaty of Waitangi promises”. But first, visitor arrivals are heading in the right direction – but it’ll be a while before they’re back to pre-pandemic levels.

Tourist operators celebrate a busy summer

It’s New Zealand’s second summer with the borders open, and a very good one so far for the tourism sector. After a cautious return for international visitors over the 2022-23 season, numbers are bouncing back as the country enjoys the tail-end of the global post-Covid “revenge travel” boom. Coromandel and Kaikōura are among the areas where tourism operators are reporting huge visitor surges. Stats NZ last week released the latest visitor arrival numbers, for November 2023, and the trend line is looking strong. Visitor arrivals were up by 70,700 from the same month in 2022, with the biggest increases coming from Australia and the US. Numbers still haven’t fully bounced back, however. Visitor arrivals in November were only 82% of what they were in November 2019 – the last year pre-pandemic – and the Tourism Export Council forecasts they won’t return to 2019 levels until the second half of next year. 

A global tourism resurgence

Those numbers show that New Zealand’s tourism recovery is running a little behind the global norm. According to the UN World Tourism Barometer, international tourism ended 2023 at 88% of pre-pandemic levels, with an estimated 1.3 billion international arrivals worldwide. “Europe, the world's most visited region, reached 94% of 2019 levels, supported by intra-regional demand and travel from the United States,” the UN reports. The Middle East was the only region where visitor numbers exceeded pre-Covid levels, up 22% since 2019. While New Zealand is playing catch-up, there are lots of positives for the tourism sector here. As a niche destination “at the more premium end” of the market, the country could be fairly well protected from any global downturn in 2024, says Tourism NZ head René de Monchy.

More funding needed to help NZ compete, says industry

Beyond the headline figures, the health of the industry is mixed. Many businesses didn’t survive the double whammy of pandemic closedowns and high interest rates, while Tourism NZ – the Crown agency tasked with selling NZ to the world – had its budget cut by the previous government. National’s pre-election pledges to boost tourism included money for a new Great Walk in the South Island and to electrify the New Zealand Cycle Trail, but no promise to reinvest in export marketing. NZ is competing in a crowded international marketplace and needs investment to give it a “louder voice”, says the Trade Export Council’s Scott Mehrtens. Another issue is visa processing times. Mehrtens says inbound operators and hotel chains are reporting last-minute cancellations of group bookings due to visas not being approved in time by Immigration NZ.

Are tourist drivers a danger on our roads?

The return of tourism also means a rise in reports of dangerous driving by international visitors. The West Coast has experienced a spate of accidents involving tourists over recent weeks, RNZ reports, including the January 14 crash that killed Greymouth librarian Sue Johnson and seriously injured her husband. Two days earlier an American tourist hit an oncoming car after driving for at least 10 minutes on the wrong side of the road despite a following vehicle beeping its horn and flashing headlights to grab his attention. While such cases understandably draw attention, a senior road policing officer says the perception that tourists are a major danger on our roads is wrong. “New Zealand drivers crash at a much higher rate than visitors," Inspector Peter McKennie told The Spinoff in 2017. "So sometimes it is a case of having to look in the mirror and consider our own driving before we start getting too critical of those from overseas."

Save on power this holiday season with ElectricKiwi

You can cut your power bill costs and help the planet with Electric Kiwi’s time-of-use power plans.

Pocket some savings by load shifting with Electric Kiwi’s time-of-use and off-peak power plans this summer.

Learn more at Electric Kiwi today (sponsored)

Supermarket duopoly under investigation over ‘dodgy specials’

Woolworths New Zealand, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island are under investigation by the Commerce Commission over their promotional practices and allegations of misleading pricing. The three operators “are responsible for all Woolworths, Countdown, New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square supermarkets”, notes Stuff’s Susan Edmunds, making this ComCom’s biggest inquiry into the supermarket sector since the duopoly inquiry of 2022. The investigation was prompted by a complaint from Consumer NZ, which ran a nine month campaign to uncover “dodgy specials”, receiving more than 600 submissions from shoppers. The Commerce Commission will investigate potential breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

MSD declines to action Covid subsidy review’s recommendations for existing schemes

None of the recommendations contained in a “super-review” of the Covid wage subsidy scheme have been actioned for currently running emergency payment schemes, Newsroom Pro’s David Williams reports (paywalled). Ministry of Social Development documents released under an OIA show that while all 10 recommendations were accepted by the MSD, the six that relate to current schemes have not been put into action due to “operational challenges identified in the report”. The Deloitte review was ordered by Audit NZ to assess progress on recommendations from three previous reports and to consider how to strengthen existing and future schemes. Canterbury University tax researcher Dr Michael Gousmett says MSD’s response is surprising. “It seems to be they’re saying that, while the pandemic’s over, this scheme’s been paid out, let’s move on and forget about what might have gone wrong.”

The Spinoff is powered by its supporters

In 2023, Spinoff readers funded some of our most beloved, well-read, impactful work. Help Me Hera, The Cost of Being, powerful longreads, Election 2023 coverage, laugh-out-loud satire, Auckland stories, Wellington stories, Christchurch stories and everything in between were powered by Spinoff members and donors. If you did support us, thank you from all of us at The Spinoff. If helping fund well-crafted and insightful journalism is on your list for 2024, donate today or sign up to become a Spinoff member.

Click and Collect

• Finance minister Nicola Willis says the government is “committed to [the] relationship that the Treaty of Waitangi promises”, taking a different line than Act’s David Seymour, who yesterday said the Treaty is not a partnership between Māori and the Crown.

• The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 25,000, with no end to the bombing in sight.

• Firearms offences are continuing to go up despite the launch of a mandatory gun registry seven months ago.

• When do all the 7pm shows return?

  Feeling clever? Click here to play 1Q, Aotearoa’s newest, shortest daily quiz.

Right now on The Spinoff

Nadine Anne Hura shares some inspirational lessons from a journey round the country learning about indigenous climate adaptation solutions. For all its cathartic joys, tragedy hung over Saturday night’s Foo Fighters show, writes Chris Schulz. Eda Tang explains how an unknown app helped mobilise 10,000 people at Tūrangawaewae Marae. Tara Ward checks out the first episode of Breakfast for 2024. Alex Casey wonders why every dress seems to be backless these days.

Sporting snippets

• A new Ellerslie race offering $3.5 million in prize money will re-energise a moribund NZ horse racing industry, insiders say.

• All Black Brodie Retallick has confirmed the widely reported “four more years” sledge to Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony during the 2023 RWC quarter-final.

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.