Association chief executive Martin Snedden said creating long weekends would boost New Zealand's economy in relevant years by stimulating domestic tourism.
The association developed the "tourism future statement", which set out the industry's priorities for Government action, after talking with more than 700 tourism operators around the country. Most saw Mondayising Anzac Day and Waitangi Day as an important way to motivate Kiwis to travel more in their own country, Mr Snedden said.
"It would be a huge boost for domestic tourism, which pours $36 million a day into communities around the country.
"Domestic visitors are the mainstay for many tourism operations.
"They contribute in excess of $13 billion to the tourism industry's total annual earnings of $23 billion as well as supporting thousands of jobs."
Mr Sneddon said Mondayising Waitangi Day and Anzac Day when they fell on a weekend would add extra significance to the commemorations and allow family and friends more time together to remember the days.
While it would create extra costs for some businesses, the association believed they would be outweighed by the overall benefits to the economy, he said.
"Some employers would be disadvantaged, but given this situation will only happen for two out of every seven years, the cost is likely to be reasonably minimal."
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ann Lockhart noted Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fell in the summer and autumn seasons.
Longer weekends would encourage people to take short breaks to resorts such as Queenstown, especially given new direct services from Auckland and Wellington, she said.
"On the other hand there will be additional costs for some employers," Ms Lockhart said.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd also recognised both the benefits to and the burdens on businesses. He supported the opportunity for domestic travellers to have another long weekend and Queenstown was perfectly placed to capitalise on the opportunity, he said.
"From an overall perspective, I would support it because of the upsides of having an additional long weekend or two ... The reality is over the next few years this only kicks in a couple of times because those days fall within the week, so if you looked at a calendar there's not that many years where those days would be Mondayised."
Although the issue did not affect Unichem Wilkinson's Pharmacy, as it opened every day except Christmas Day, owner-manager Kim Wilkinson said some businesses were likely to benefit from Mondayising Waitangi Day because it was in summer.
"But other businesses I know even in February will close on public holidays because of the extra costs and they can't justify opening, so it does depend from business to business."
Nomad Safaris co-owner David Gatward-Ferguson said his company only paid statutory days when they fell and Mondayising would increase costs for businesses.
"When you Mondayise something it loses its impact and people treat it as a day off, not for what it was supposed to be."
