Plans, pay, service minister’s message

Finish your destination management plans, pay tourism workers "a decent amount of money" and lift your service: this was the message from Tourism Minister Stuart Nash to the tourism industry yesterday.

Mr Nash cracked the whip in his opening address at the University of Otago Tourism Policy School conference, which this year addressed the theme of "Structural Change for Regenerative Tourism".

The minister made encouraging points about the opportunities from border reopenings to Australia (April 12) and visa waiver countries (May 1).

He also recognised tourism businesses had "really done it tough" during two years of Covid-19 restrictions and reversed fortunes.

But he did not pull punches.

The industry had to "make a concerted effort to live our brand ... to consider how you present yourselves to visitors, the way you support your employees and ... ways to strengthen your links to your communities and our wonderful environment," he said.

Pre-Covid, tourism was New Zealand’s largest export industry, worth $40.9 billion.

Mr Nash outlined the billions of dollars of Government support doled out since 2020, including $47 million for regional tourism organisations to write destination management plans, many of which have not been finished.

"Let me be clear — these are crucial for the whole sector and the drive to regenerative tourism, in short, tourism’s social licence to operate ... I need to be absolutely direct with you. I was surprised that fewer than half of our RTOs have completed their destination management plans after two years. I urge RTOs to get these plans completed as soon as possible, for all our sakes," he said.

Mr Nash was looking forward to seeing tourism blossom "in all the places it has been sorely missed" but challenged operators to pay workers more than the minimum wage.

He warned a Tourism Industry Transformation (ITP) report due midyear would contain some discomforting truths about poor employment practice.

"If we don’t make changes and allow the relatively small number of operators to continue poor employment practices, they will continue to drag down the reputation of the whole industry. That is not acceptable to me," he said.

"A continued race to the bottom with low wages and poor conditions will not serve anyone well. Least of all workers."

Visitors would have to pay their fair share, too. He stressed New Zealand was after "high value visitors, as distinct from high net worth".

"High value tourists" could be backpackers and people on a budget.

Mr Nash said Cabinet had not made a decision on changing the $35 international visitor levy.

During a question and answer session Mr Nash reiterated "it really does my head in when people say they only get paid the minimum wage ... ".

"The cost of living is really, really high. Employers should be paying the living wage.

"If it means putting prices up, so be it ... Tourism cannot be rebuilt on the back of cheap labour," Mr Nash said.

Visitors expected top experiences and service with a smile. Investing in good people provided that experience and service, he said.