The country, which fully reopened its borders to foreign travelers on August 1, wants to target “big spending”.
The strategy is adopted. After more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand fully reopened its borders to foreign travelers on August 1st. The government now wants to bring tourists back to the country, but not just anyone. On Wednesday, New Zealand Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said he favored “big donors”.
“In terms of targeting our marketing strategy, it will be unabashedly aimed at these high-value tourists,” he said while unveiling a government plan to boost the tourism sector, which is vital to the economy of New Zealand – it made up about 9% of its GDP before the health crisis. “We will welcome backpackers… [mais] We will not target people who post on Facebook how they can travel around our country on $10 a day and eat instant noodles,” he added.
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In 2020, Stuart Nash had already adopted this strategy, saying his country would “shamelessly” target wealthy travelers and try to attract tourists who “fly business class or premium economy class, rent a helicopter, fly around.” [du glacier] Franz Josef then eat in an upscale restaurant”.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, James Higham, a tourism professor at New Zealand’s Otago University, questions the government’s strategy. According to him, the notion that “very wealthy individuals” spend more on travel than budget-conscious tourists is not supported by research. “There’s no evidence for that,” he said, pointing instead to their larger environmental impact.
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