Mayors from some of New Zealand’s biggest tourism hotspots back the policy, including those from Auckland, Rotorua, Ruapehu, Wellington, Marlborough, Christchurch, Timaru and Queenstown.
But critics say it’s just another tax, one that could make New Zealand more expensive and harder to compete as a travel destination.
Regional Tourism New Zealand (RTNZ) chair Andrew Wilson told The Front Page that they’re hoping for bipartisan support for the idea.
“We’re getting to a point where the funding pressures on looking after our destinations and supporting continued tourism growth, which is something we’re all ambitious about achieving, are just getting to the place where they’re no longer sustainable.
“I think there’s a growing realisation across the country that actually we do have some challenges around the age and quality of our infrastructure. The things that support the visitor economy are quite often the things that are most likely to suffer first,” he said.
RTNZ’s most recent proposal would introduce a bed tax collected nationally by Inland Revenue and distributed back to regions.
“I think it comes down to a political willingness, and I think, unfortunately, maybe this is a factor that relates to our electoral cycle in terms of three years, the word ‘tax’ gets everyone pretty animated.
“At some point, we’ve gotta reflect that actually as a country we’re missing a few funding tools in the tool chest,” Wilson said.
The idea of a “bed tax” has been debated for at least a decade. In 2016, then-Auckland Mayor Phil Goff suggested a 3-4% levy on visitor accommodation, which he said could raise up to $30 million a year.
At the time, Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Chris Roberts told Mike Hosking they’d support a better thought-through, national approach, rather than piecemeal regional rates.
The same year, the Government welcomed a report proposing bed levies and raising airport departure charges commissioned by the chief executives of Air New Zealand, Auckland Airport, Christchurch Airport and Tourism Holdings.
They wanted to introduce a 2% national bed tax and a $5 increase in the border levy to fund facilities and infrastructure growth.
The then-Air NZ chief executive, Christopher Luxon, said it was time for significant investment in infrastructure, beyond a $12m fund the Government had set up for small communities this year.
“We need to do that each year to fix the obvious gaps and the pain points and make sure we’re future-ready as well,” he said.
Read more about what regional mayors think about the proposal.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Different region, different needs
- Push for bipartisan support
- Who pays?
- Growth vs strain
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
