May 11, 2020
Cheap holidays no answer for tourism sector
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis says New Zealanders need to rethink the way they see their country as a tourism destination.
With cabinet today considering whether to move the COVID-19 alert to Level 2 and making final decisions on Thursday’s Budget, some stimulus for the beleaguered tourism sector could be in the mix.
Mr Davis says there’s no point in throwing stimulus money at every region and letting them fight it out to attract visitors, and they also have to consider what is being asked for and offered.
He says many people loosen the wallet when they go overseas, but treat New Zealand as a low-cost destination.
"We definitely try to go budget, save costs, stay with whānau, stay with friends, and we don't treat ourselves like we do when we go overseas. So there needs to be a campaign that's more than just 'Her's the Hole in the Rock, go there, here's the ski fields, go there, here's Rotorua and the mud pools, go there," Mr Davis says.
There are also questions about how comfortable people will be to travel between regions once Level 3 is lifted.
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