Issue #967

by Scott Stevens - Lakes Weekly Bulletin

The America’s Cup is on, in Barcelona, and the locals love it so much they are marching down the streets shooting water pistols at tourists visiting the iconic city and shouting “tourists go home”. To be fair most in the angry mob wouldn’t even know the yacht race is on. The message is the same though, “tourists go home”. The city is at capacity, it’s overrun, the locals are squeezed out by housing affordability, quality of life deterioration, and frustration they are not getting value from tourism that exceeds the cost the industry leaves behind. The price Barcelona is paying for being too amazing and wonderful.

Here in the Queenstown Lakes our statistics at peak tourism time are about the same as Barcelona, three tourists for every local. We have housing affordability problems, our lifestyles are impacted, and we pay via rates for the infrastructure and waste cost tourism leaves behind. Where our stats differ from a big European city is that our teeny tiny economy in the Queenstown Lakes is built and almost exclusively reliant on tourism. Directly or indirectly, we need it. We need them, so please do not go home tourists, come and stay longer. Despite all the talkfests deep in the Covid hole, we haven’t built a diverse high value economy, we are still a one trick pony. Our fortunes go up and down with the seasonal influx of tourist dollars. Our problem is getting maximum value. Value being defined as not just monetary but environmental and community impact too.

Are we getting the best value out of our hospitality? We invite tourists, we feed and accommodate them, we share our space and put on a pretty good show. About the only thing half intelligent that came out of ex-tourism minister Stuart Nash’s mouth a few years ago, was the desire to restart the tourism economy after Covid with value over volume visitation. What is a valuable tourist? It’s pretty simple really: they stay longer. The longer someone settles in, the less impact they have and the more they spend. For every flush of the toilet they have a meal, unlike the 40 flushes of the public toilets in Arrowtown with every tour bus that comes and goes in 30 minutes. All this rushing around trying to see New Zealand in eight days, spending most of it in a car or bus, is leaving nothing but cost to most of us. I sense an angry mob on the horizon with water pistols in hand if this continues.

Barcelona has hordes of cruise ship day trippers. Glenorchy has a trail of rental cars full of camera clickers who spend less time in the township than they do getting there. Same problem a world apart: it costs more to locals than what they receive in return. Despite the grandiose delusions of Stuart Nash, the volumes will continue to increase. The only way to slow it down is to be so amazing and wonderful, rushing through is not on the itinerary. Stay longer, enjoy more and we will never march on the streets demanding your immediate departure Barcelona-style.