Conservation shake-up slammed
Government plans to charge overseas tourists to visit Milford Sound and other popular spots are "double-dipping" says Queenstown Milford User Group chair James Stokes.
On Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced plans to charge an extra $20-$40 per person for high-volume sites.
Milford Sound, Aoraki Mount Cook, Cathedral Cove / Te Whanganui-a-Hei, and Tongariro Crossing are the first four places where the charges will be introduced, as overseas tourists represent 80% of the visitors.
But Stokes says: "So what was the IVL [International Visitor Levy] increase for then?
"It's double-dipping to be honest. We're already in a competitive market for overseas visitors, so why are we trying to make it more and more expensive. It's not helpful.
"We've had the IVL increase beyond what the industry suggested. That's supposed to fund conservation and tourism infrastructure, and I don't believe that's all been allocated yet."
The IVL, which is charged at the border, increased from $35 to $100 in October 2024.
Stokes is boss of flight-seeing company Glenorchy Air, one of the companies that takes tens of thousands of tourists a year on day trips from Queenstown to Milford Sound and Mt Cook, along with RealNZ and others. He says the companies will need at least 12-18 months to prepare for the additional charges.
The charges will raise up to $62 million per year in revenue, which will be directly re-invested into the same areas.
Luxon, speaking at the National Party conference, also announced an overhaul of the Conservation Act, to "unleash a fresh wave of concessions – like tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure, in locations where that makes sense".
"Many New Zealanders already run outstanding businesses on the conservation estate – from guided walks and ski fields, to filming documentaries, grazing sheep and cattle, or hosting concerts and building cell phone towers," he says.
"But to do any of that, you need a concession – and the concessions regime is totally broken, often taking years to obtain or renew and leaving businesses in a cycle of bureaucratic limbo."
Luxon namechecked the Routeburn as one area where tourism is "being held up because the trail crosses artificial boundaries, with different rules and different limits".
The plans have been slammed by Forest & Bird. Chief executive Nicola Toki says they "shift the focus from protection to exploitation, dismantling the very purpose of our national parks and conservation lands".
She points out that the consultation document proposes making around five million hectares of public conservation land available for exchange or disposal if deemed ‘surplus’ or to ‘support other government priorities’.
"We should not be making it easier to sell off conservation land for commercial gain", she says.
