Following on from yesterday’s report in TravelMole, a row has broken out over where New Zealand gets the best value for the tourism dollars it spends, with calls being made from within the tourism industry for the Government to channel more money into promoting domestic tourism.
The calls have come about after a significant $762 million drop in the $7 billion a year domestic tourism in since March 2004, over the last two years.
NZ Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor has said that he believes New Zealand gets better value for money overseas as for every dollar spent promoting New Zealand in Australia, provides a return of $25 and that promoting domestic tourism is seen as the job of the regions.
The AA has recently launched a $2 million campaign to encourage more New Zealanders to explore their own country and industry leaders are demanding the NZ Government get more involved in domestic tourism marketing.
Report by The Mole
