Will Queenstown benefit from $100 border levy?
Queenstown Lakes tourism numbers shouldn't be hit too hard by the massive border levy hike, says DQ boss Mat Woods.
The fee increases from $35 to a whopping $100 this October. But, as Woods points out, our largest international market, the Aussies, won't need to pay the levy.
Still, the Coalition Government's announcement last week that the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) will almost triple "was a surprise" he says.
"However we now have the great opportunity of ensuring funds contribute towards specific tourism and conservation initiatives in the Queenstown Lakes district," Woods, the chief executive of Regional Tourism Organisation, Destination Queenstown, says.
"Queenstown is the reason many international visitors come to New Zealand, yet as one of the country’s largest contributors to tourism GDP, Queenstown hasn’t benefited from the IVL since it was introduced in 2019."
One in three international visitors come through the Queenstown Lakes, which records 20% of NZ's visitor nights, second only to Auckland. But the district gets no direct funding through the IVL, which is split 50/50 between tourism and conservation.
That was also one of the complaints from Queenstown Lakes District Council in its June submission to MBIE on the potential increase and changes. QLDC believes the IVL lacks the "the rigour, the scale, and the targeting" to address the real impacts of tourism. It wants to be in control of its own local visitor levy, to pay for the infrastructure needed to support the millions of visitors per year, rather than the burden falling on ratepayers.
Queenstown Mayor Glyn Lewers told the Wānaka App he's disappointed with the IVL decision, announced Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Matt Doocey and Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka last Tuesday.
Lewers says they provided "no further clarity" on how the money should be spent, with it remaining "opaque in how it’s dished out".
"We haven’t seen a track record of spending that levy in places that really need it," he tells Wānaka App reporter Sue Ward. He expects the government will once again make accessing IVL funds a competitive process, repeating "the same mistakes".
iFly Queenstown owner Matt Wong, who is also a QLDC councillor, has also called for more transparency about how the levy will be spent. He told RNZ the hike comes at a challenging for the sector, which is still recovering from the pandemic years.
"The market is really price sensitive at the moment. There's a lot of competition from international so it may put off quite a few visitors," Wong says. He is not against an increase to the levy, especially in light of inflation and rising costs, but does not believe the $65 increase is justified.
Woods, meanwhile, says DQ is advocating strongly for the fund to contribute towards mixed used infrastructure currently funded by ratepayers, as well as initiatives in the Zero Carbon by 2030 destination management plan.
"We’d like more transparency around how the increase will be spent while ensuring it’s considered alongside other fees and levies to enable growth and regional development," Woods says.
