Tourism is a major contributor to the New Zealand Economy. Tourism not only offers obvious economic benefits to New Zealand but it also has the potential to make a sustainable contribution to our quality of life and our economic, social and cultural development. Consequentially, tourism benefits and strengthens our communities and families.
New Zealand’s image as a scenic, environmentally-conscious nation provides us with an important marketing edge for promoting tourism in overseas markets. Therefore, tourism should be based on sustainable, eco-friendly industries and infrastructural development should be encouraged to support primary tourism ventures. Flexible economic policies and business-friendly cost structures are also essential to ensure that tourism can prosper and benefit New Zealanders in the greatest possible way.
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Ensure tourism is a strategic economic priority for government;
- Develop effective training programs that ensures higher levels of service standards and take into account the job-rich potential of the industry;
- Review all legislation and regulations that impose coercive powers (e.g. Resource Management Act, Health and Safety in Employment Act) to ensure that the impact on business is minimised yet is consistent with the overall public interest;
- Review the vast array of regulations specifically impacting on the tourism sector;
- Promote self-regulation in the industry, where appropriate;
- Incorporate cultural and community values into industry initiatives, ensuring that cultural protocols are respected;
- Encourage private and public sector tourism bodies to work closely together to produce more coordination across the industry;
- Ensure that labour legislation is not a disincentive to business development and job creation;
- Support working holiday programmes for young tourists;
- Support initiatives to improve the returns from tourism down the value chain, including opening up regional tourism opportunities;
- Investigate the current backpacker tourism market to ensure that it is not devaluing the New Zealand tourism brand and revenue potential through ‘free-riding’ behaviour;
Support the establishment of the "Great Harbour Way" around Wellington Harbour.