Tourism Does Not Feature

“If you are thinking that New Zealand’s leading export earner is catching the thoughts of our country’s politicians then think again” says the New Zealand Hotel Council CEO Mark Oldershaw.

In a review of the parliamentary debate on the Prime Minister’s Opening Statement tourism was only mentioned once – that by the Green Party Co Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons in a sweeping remark about general environmental policy development.

“It was a bit disappointing that in the opening party policy debate of an election year tourism was not mentioned by either the Minister of Tourism or any of the Opposition tourism spokespeople” Mr Oldershaw said. “I don’t know how many times we need to remind our representatives that tourism represents 9 percent of GDP, almost 20 percent of our export earning and employs one in every ten New Zealander’s. That is a fair chunk of voters” said Mr Oldershaw.

Our sector does matter to the economic health of the New Zealand economy. We know that tourism provides central government alone with a net return of around $500 million pa.

“We need to ensure that tourism is at the forefront of all political parties during this year and in all future years. It is a case of changing the mindset of many people that tourism is not an endless cash cow but rather an integral part of the New Zealand economy that faces as many sustainability issues as our other key export sectors such as diary and agriculture.”

ENDS

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