Tourism sector in New Zealand – demand-side measures are necessary

Abstract

The paper argues that to support its tourism industry New Zealand must move beyond the current supply-side measures and take action to stimulate demand. In the absence of international guests, tourism recovery has to focus on domestic travel. We suggest a system of holiday vouchers is introduced – a concept which has been adopted by numerous countries in Europe already.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• tourism
• holiday vouchers

Acknowledgements

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author. The author is a researcher and an active licenced tourist guide in his home country. He has never had any business activities in New Zealand. Under ‘normal’ economic conditions he is a strict opponent of any sector-specific subsidies, including tourism vouchers.

Notes

1 For example, in Czechia the COVID-19-related subsidies programme led to hundreds of fraudulent applications submitted on behalf of businesses without their knowledge and with bogus bank account numbers. Even though the author fully understands cultural and behavioural differences between New Zealand and Central Europe, it must be noted that fraud is always a risk, even though it can be minimized by bullet-proof rules and its extent might vary.