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With the reopening of New Zealand’s bordersThe future of tourism is in sharp focus starting next week. The industry is now unable to survive on domestic consumption for the past two years and has been flattened by the pandemic. It has two options: either revive the old ways or create a new model.
Stuart Nash, tourism minister, will have his way. no going back. “Tourism won’t return to the way it was,” he told Otago University’s Tourism Policy School recently, “it will be better.”
But how? The question is coming down to the various definitions of “value” – both the monetary and less tangible kinds.
When Nash A tourism summit was addressed in late 2020, “high value” clearly meant “high spending”. New Zealand would “unashamedly” target the wealthy – the type of tourist who “flies business class or premium economy, hires a helicopter, does a tour around Franz Josef and then eats at a high-end restaurant.”
The minister also asked: “Do you think that we want to become a destination for those freedom campers and backpackers who don’t spend much and leave the high net worth individuals to other countries?”
There was immediate concern about the possibility that such a policy would ignore wider issues. value of “lower-end”Tourism: While backpackers and other budget tourists may not spend as much per-day, they tend to travel longer, bring more money to remote locations, and work in understaffed industries such as horticulture or hospitality.
However, helicopter-hiring tourists with high-end spending tend to put a high burden on the environment and contribute less to it. Climate Change. Clearly, what constitutes “high value” is up for debate.
From high value and high values
The minister is however now The high-value tourist: differently. They give back more that they take, appreciate those in the tourism sector, are curious about the people and the places they visit, are environmentally conscious, and offset their carbon dioxide emissions.
This shift in thinking prompted one participant at the tourism policy school to suggest that instead of “high value” tourism, New Zealand needs to be talking about “high values” tourism.
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The sentiment chimed with the policy school’s theme of “structural change for regenerative tourism”,And a general feeling that this will involve looking inward to certain core values that matter to the country.
Attendees – including industry leaders, academics, government officials and tourism business owners – supported the idea that “regenerative” in this context matches the important Māori values of kaitiakitanga, kotahitanga and manaakitangaThis should inform the future direction for tourism in Aotearoa.
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Mana and manaakitanga
Nadine ToeToe (director of Kohutapu Lodge), a prestigious tourism business on the central North Island, clearly articulated the implications of this approach. She proposed a new tourism model which promotes manaakitanga, kindness and hospitality to guests while also improving the quality of life. ManaTheir hosts, local communities, and the surrounding environment.
ToeToe described the potential for tourism beyond traditional service industry conventions as her business is based in Murupara.
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Instead, authentic, culturally-integrated experiences could be offered. This would be based on building respectful relationships and trust with the people and places visited. This would be manaakitanga, which is reciprocal and benefits both guests as well as local communities.
Tourism is designed to improve people, communities, and places. It would be a departure from the old volume-driven model, which was putting many natural areas under threat. significant pressurePrior to the pandemic.
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Time for a reset
It is one thing for tourism to respect the wairua spirit of the land. It is quite another for them to create the legal and regulatory frameworks that will lead to sustainability.
This is happening already to some extent. For example, following concerns about a promised crackdown on freedom camping, the minister stepped back from banning vans that weren’t self-contained. However, the minister proposed to allow vans that weren’t self-contained. Policy changesThis year’s select committee will be made up of members. New rules will be introduced gradually starting next summer.
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These should be in line with the minister’s view that “… at the heart of the new law will be greater respect for the environment and communities through a ‘right vehicle, right place’ approach” (with fines of up to NZ$1,000 for offenders).
It is important to extend that vision beyond individual businesses and areas of concern, such as freedom camping, to the entire industry. There’s no better time for New Zealand tourism to be values-based than now.
