Regional Tourism to benefit from new funding

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Regional Tourism to benefit from new funding

Government funding announced today will improve the performance of tourism in the regions by helping Regional Tourism Organisations (RTO’s) work more closely with local councils. The aim is to develop practical and fair funding methods, and strategies that will formalise tourism considerations within council planning and regulations.

The Associate Minister of Tourism, The Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, has announced funding to Regional Tourism Organisations New Zealand (RTONZ) to undertake a number of projects, contained in the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 (NZTS 2015) on behalf of its members.

“The grant of $ 103,000, together with contributions from the Regional Tourism Organisations collective shows that Government is giving a lead and showing it is serious about regional tourism. Clearly government wants to get councils and tourism organisations working together more effectively, said Paul Davis, CEO of Nelson Tasman Tourism, and Chair of RTONZ.

This project starts to put tourism on an equal footing with other sectors, encouraging Councils to remain supportive of tourism in the current downturn, and recognising that continued investment in their regional tourism organisations is a priority. At the end of this process, we hope to have removed much of the uncertainty that currently exists around local government involvement in tourism, for both parties ”, said Mr Davis.

Tourism is a resilient industry, and will be one of the first to bounce back from the current downturn. This means we have to have to invest in planning for the future and getting our act together now. Taking the opportunity to develop better ways of working with our local body partners is vital.

Key Facts
• Tourism contributes close to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) for New Zealand

• Tourism directly and indirectly employs nearly one in ten New Zealanders. (This includes 108,100 FTE directly and 73,100 FTE indirectly).Tourism in New Zealand is a $50 million per day industry.

• Tourism in New Zealand is a $50 million per day industry. Tourism delivers $24 million in foreign exchange to the New Zealand economy each day of the year. Domestic tourism contributes another $26 million in economic activity every day.

• Total tourism expenditure reached $20.1 billion for the year ended March 2007. International visitor expenditure accounted for $8.8 billion or 18.3% of New Zealand’s foreign exchange earnings.

ENDS

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